Walter T "Curly" Price Day

It's that time of year again. Time to contact someone you haven't seen for a while and tell them how great they are — what I've deemed to be the annual ritual in tribute to my father who never forgot a face or name, who was impressed with everyone and didn't hesitate to tell them so.

Family portrait. Somehow my family got through 50 years of my parents' marriage before we all appeared together in one picture. But I was going through old photos and found a set from a party at Christmas, 1978. There was a tiny photo of each of us — amazing.

That Christmas was an interesting moment in time — the first Christmas after my Grandma Price died and all of her children, most grandchildren and a few great-grandchildren gathered at our house for song and story.

For us four kids, it was also a moment when we paused... and took a deep breath in preparation for the rest of our lives. I was a year away from Paul and, though Jim had entered my life, remarriage was the last thing on my mind. Ellen and Kathleen had not yet met their future husbands. Tom was also single, his daughter Molly still a twinkle in his eye.

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Digging someone up out of your past to tell them you remember how "really neat" they were is easier said than done. How many of us construct our personal mythologies around our loss of innocence, shaking our heads at the idiots and rolling our eyes at those who've abused our good natures? How few of us choose to remember exactly what was interesting and wonderful about every person we've ever met?

With those thoughts... Happy Curly Price Day.

4.19.07

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Curly Day 2006