A Can of Spam and Bread Filled with Whiskey!

I thought I'd end this Memorial Day with a story I heard from my Great Aunt this weekend. We were talking about the war and how it was when her husband was stationed in the Phillipines in the 40's.

All the women would show their love and appreciation for their service men by sending letters and care packages to those stationed far away. Ellie sent photos of herself so John would have something to remember her by. He told her not to send those sexy photos of her wearing her bathrobe anymore because she was driving him wild.

Ellie also loved to bake cookies and other treats and package them up for John. Then she started worrying that he wasn't getting enough to eat in the Army, so she wanted to send him something more substantial.

A can of Spam was her food of choice; the one thing she knew would keep him strong and nourished and for some reason, this was what she decided to send. Of course, John didn't want the Spam—he probably had more than his share of canned meat while he was there. Nobody else wanted it either. For days it sat on the table; unclaimed by any of the soldiers. Finally it became the company joke and it was finally claimed. That can was the perfect thing for target practice!

So John wrote to Ellie and said: "Please don't send any more Spam." If she wanted to send a treat, could she please send alcohol! Of course, alcohol wasn't allowed, but she was determined to send some anyways! She hollowed out a loaf of bread and hid a pint of whiskey inside. But to make sure he didn't throw it away, she put a note on the outside of the box: "Look inside the bread!" We're not quite sure if he even got this care package, but it was surely sent with love.

Finished Product!

Whew! I finally had time to scan my photos and finish my layout! I started on this intending to use photos of my great-grandfather holding two of his grandkids; my mom and her cousin. But when I went through the photos, I could only find one of the photos.

Instead I found two fabulous photos of my great aunt in about 1950. She lived in Tokyo with her husband who was in the army. She is modeling a kimono! While I would love to see a color picture of this, the sepia-toned and aged photo is so delicate and beautiful looking! I really love these photos and I think they went perfectly with the coloring and round shapes in the background sketch I used.

Once I knew I would use these photos, I just had to use that awesome Kanji brush-stamp that I had in my digital collection. I really love that this is heritage and Japanese at the same time!

Things I learned from Grandma

My grandmother died of lung cancer when I was only nine years old. I was really "grandma's girl" and I still miss her. Here's some funny little things I learned through her.

• Nothing beats a good mystery novel!
• If you don't want to cook, there's always KFC!
• When weeding the garden, pull all the largest weeds first—that way if you get tired, your garden still looks nicer and then you can go play!
• Afternoon naps are so refreshing!
• It's always more fun to play cards if you have pretzels to snack on!
• Have a hobby and enjoy it whenever you can!

Hey Sailor!

Lately I've been obsessed with sailors! I inherited a bunch of photos of sailors from the 40's that were in my great-aunt's scrapbook. I don't know who any of the men are, but most of them had a name next to the photo. They are small photos that look like they were taken in automatic photo booths. They were cut out crookedly and given as a memento of a soldier on leave. I love the antique metallic sheen on the surface of the photos. The scratches, fading and discoloration on the surface only seem to give them a richness and flavor of mystery. I imagine stories about each one and imagine what thier lives were like. Did they die in the war? Did they meet their true love in NY port? Maybe they had a family and a long, interesting life just as my great-uncle did. I'm not even sure if these were my Uncle's friends or friends of my Aunt. I'm guessing that they were taken near Brooklyn, since that's where my Aunt and Uncle lived.

The names give so much character to the photos and seem almost quaint today! Names like "Hartzel", "Baxter" and "Mac" make me feel like I'm living back in the swing era. I wonder if Leo was really as shy as he looks in the photo. Was Perry a lady's man? Did Ed give his sweetheart some candy and red roses before he boarded ship again?

What about Clude? His photo is so different from the others. It must have been taken in a studio; it is a pose full body shot with a painted background. He looks so wistful, I wonder what he was thinking about when the photo was taken.

I just finished putting them in a matchbox-style album and I feel happy knowing that they have a permanent home. It was so rewarding to work on something completely frivolous that just cried out for attention! For some reason I just *had* to do this project--those poor photos almost got thrown away by my mom's cousin, but I rescued them so they could be loved!

An American Classic

Here's a musing about a car. I took this photo at my cousin's wedding last year. It was a rainy day and his '55 Chevy looked so good against the grey sky and raindrops! The text below is actually journaling I wrote for a scrapbook page about the car. I'm still not happy with the page, so I'll share the journaling and the photo!

Oh, what feelings our cars evoke! A vehicle like this deserves to be babied; polished and loved until it becomes a part of the family. Matt B's fully-restored beauty reminds me of the blue and white '55 Chevy Bel Air that mom had when I was a kid. It was an old "clunker", but I have so many fond memories of it. I remember the time we drove to San Francisco and points north—just me & my mom together with all her clothes on hangers strung across the back seat! I remember childhood nights; falling asleep on the way home and pretending to stay asleep so I would have to be carried inside.

I was still so young when someone stole that perfect car and I cried and cried when we had to get another one. I knew things would never be the same again; the new car was a practical Japanese economy-mobile. My whole life seemed to change in an instant and it wasn't for many years that I could again appreciate the love of automobiles that we Americans seem to share. [note: I think mom's old car gave me a love for classics and now I'm lucky enough to work in a place where I see beautiful American classics like the one in the photo every day.]