It’s about that time of year when we brace for the annual round of year-in-review news stories.
It’s also a time when many of us conduct our own personal years-in-review — perhaps in the form of a Christmas card letter, perhaps just as a mental exercise.
I assume my grandpa gave his calendars a once-through before he took them down. I can imagine him leaning over the dining-room table, reliving another year of doctor’s appointments, trips out of town, postage-rate increases, and all the other daily events he documented so thoroughly.
(And of course, we know he saved at least some of those calendars; otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this.)
He didn’t usually write print summaries of each year’s goings-on.
Except for one memorable year:
1966. Click for larger view.
His calendars came with a year-end “Recap Record” page for major happenings. And for whatever reason, in 1966, he decided to use it.
It was a pretty big year:
- My dad graduated from college, got his first job and got a new Mustang.
- My aunt was off at college.
- My grandparents celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary — several times, from the looks of it.
- My great-grandmother turned 80.
- Various parts of the house got painted and papered.
Other entries, while less obviously historic, must have had some resonance at the time. Like the entries for July 24 (“Lake George – bash”), Aug. 14 (“Lake George – blast”) and Aug. 28 (“Lake George – gasser.”) Whatever went on at Lake George, it must have been fun.
Or the trip on Oct. 2 to see my dad play organ at a Presbyterian church in Albany. Not sure what occasioned a special journey to go see him — my father had been playing church organ for a while — but apparently my grandparents and great-grandmother took one.
As for February ’66, everyone in the Blumenau family must have had their noses to the proverbial grindstone, as nothing from the month was deemed worthy of the year-end roundup. Some months go by like that.
If I looked back over my 2012, I’m not sure my year-end calendar would be quite this rich in occasions. I’ll have to work harder next year.
