I am so thirsty for the knowledge in these letters. They tell me things I could never grasp in the short 14 years I had with my Grandparents. They quench my thirst and relieve my aching heart. Speaking of thirst quenchers, let's talk about Beer. Beer is part of my familial history. It is present at every celebration and a drink of choice at dinner. It is present in my family but not an issue in my family. It adds to the joy that is my family.
My Father has a stake in a local brewery and is known through out our extended family as the beer connoisseur. I have been popping beers open since I was 6 and my test question to potential suitors was, "What beer ya drinking?" Which was quickly followed up with, "What beer do you want to be drinkin?" Give me the cheap and watered down answer, you were never going to get along with my Father, and hence you were never going to get along with me. NOW, I find that beer is in my maternal history as well! My Great-Grandpa Robinson worked for Budweiser as an engineer, and they saved my Grandfather's family during the Great Depression. Beer is a part of the family's social and generational history. It connects us across the generations.
On August 7, 1944
My Father has a stake in a local brewery and is known through out our extended family as the beer connoisseur. I have been popping beers open since I was 6 and my test question to potential suitors was, "What beer ya drinking?" Which was quickly followed up with, "What beer do you want to be drinkin?" Give me the cheap and watered down answer, you were never going to get along with my Father, and hence you were never going to get along with me. NOW, I find that beer is in my maternal history as well! My Great-Grandpa Robinson worked for Budweiser as an engineer, and they saved my Grandfather's family during the Great Depression. Beer is a part of the family's social and generational history. It connects us across the generations.
"I don't know when Bud and I will be married. I doubt until after the war. He is Scotch-Irish, some German -- a mongrel like we are. I have been kind of leary about telling you where his Dad worked because he works for a beer company. The Budweiser (sp) beer company. I guess he is an engineer of some kind. Bud has told me but I forgot just what he said and I hate to keep asking him, and I am scared to tell him you might disapprove. I have read letters his Dad has written to Bud and he seems to be well educated -- he writes very well. He wrote and told Bud that he approved of us and he said, "May God bless the two of you and go with you the rest of you(r) lives" or something like that. I thought it was awfully nice of him. Bud has two sisters, he had 3 sisters but one died a few years ago."
Any information that brings me closer to my Grandparents urges me to understand what is important in life. Above all it's your family, and whatever joys or pains they bring you. They shape you and they share in your life no matter what. If they bring beer, it usually adds to your joy and eases your pain. Hence why most of my family gatherings are pretty joyful.
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| Grandpa and his parents with some Random person who crashed the party My Great-Grandfather (the beer engineer) is on the far right |
On August 7, 1944
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