February 23, 2000

Are you ready to ramble?

If you're anywhere near my age, from time to time you've been reminded you're mortal. One particularly pointed occasion was the day I opened page two of the Tribune and found five obits, each about someone my age or younger.

A niece e mailed me recently, asking about a co-worker of hers named Azevedo. I assured her he was no relation. At the same time, it jolted me to realize no one in the family under 20 have very clear memories of my dad. He died in 1986. Their memories of my mother are fading as well. Nothing surprising. If my parents were alive, both would be into their nineties. But my niece's e mail did start me on a course of action. I put together some e mail memories and genealogical info. I call it Ramblings, to justify hopscotching all over the map of my memories. I wrote of my grandfather's ranch in the forties, when my dad and uncles during family get-togethers would gather in front of the bunkhouse and shout at each other. They weren't angry, you understand. They were just re-living their boyhood. As a kid if my dad wanted to say something to my uncle Manuel or uncle Johnny down at the barn, naturally the two kids would shout. The ranch was at the east end of the lane. One phone line served all the ranchers on that long road. There were no secrets, but they were all friends, always ready to help each other out. The phone was an antique even in 1945, an old wooden device that wouldn't have been unfamiliar to old Alex Bell himself.

The ranch produced wine grapes, and apples. Cattle foraged in the hills behind the ranch house. My grandmother's garden was lush. My favorite tree was a huge old fig. It produced two crops a year, and I loved to be there when one or the other crop was ripe.

None of these memories are hugely important in themselves, but the people who could have told them far better than I are gone. It's mostly up to me and those close to my age to pass on the history of the family. If you've memories of the thirties and forties, and you and your younger relatives have e mail, perhaps your family would like to be on the receiving end of your ramblings. If you send them out to half a dozen younger relatives, at least one is likely to be interested. E mail has a major advantage. It can be read at leisure, and it can be saved and printed out. It can even be ignored. That's ok. No one wants to be boring, just as no one wants to be bored. Odds are someone in the family will enjoy your comments.

All you need is a computer, a modem, and an Internet provider, and the e mail addresses of your recipients, all reasonably easy to access these days. If you're retired and have the time, gather your memories, type them out, edit them, eliminate anything you've second thoughts about. After you're satisfied with what you've written, transmit the result to your family. In all likelihood, you'll find an enthusiastic audience for your words. Be prepared for the fact not everyone has the same level of interest. Don't let that bother you. Once you've written it, and printed it out, you can make a book out of it. With computers, printers, and an occasional visit to Mail Boxes Etc., you can put together a gift of memories the whole family can treasure for a long time.

Some recent Reactor columns may be found at Paul Azevedo's website, http://www.thereactor.net/ Reach him by e-mail at Paul@thereactor.net