Friday, January 26, 2007

We Take A Break From Travel Blogging

As I sit in a corporate cafetaria sifting through emails and skimming PowerPoint® files, an email comes through with the following text:
Need help, fast: Sometime between 1:30AM &
6:00AM this morning we were burglarized and my
greatgrandfathers colt revolver and the pipe he
carved while in prison were taken. Would you be good
enought to send out an alert to the group for me.
I know this is mice nuts to the world at large but it's the sort of thing that places a permanent spot of darkness in the life of a man, as well as to his children, whichever one was hoping to inherit. In a mobile society such as ours, wherein the vasy majority of people descend from penniless immigrants, family objects of any antiquity can be treasured miles beyond their intrinsic value. I can just imagine the man's heartbreak.

I have the Colt Model 1911 .45 that my grandfather was issued as an Army officer in 1917. I would be upset if it was stolen. But not nearly so much, I think. The above message suggests personal stories, personal connections that are lacking for my little heirloom.

Related note, a collector of Civil War memorabilia in Germany acquired a pistol and researched its origins. He found it had been issued to a cavalryman with a unique Germanic surname. He contacted the few people he could find with that name and, long story short, a friend of mine now owns the weapon that had been taken from his great-great-grandfather upon being captured by the Army of Northern Virginia in 1863.

3 comments:

Deadman said...

"He contacted the few people he could find with that name and, long story short, a friend of mine now owns the weapon that had been taken from his great-great-grandfather upon being captured by the Army of Northern Virginia in 1863."

It is very cool that that connection could be made so many years down the line.

I do have to wonder what grandpa was in prison for, though. I think I might have left that little piece of TMI out of the alert.

Don said...

He got his stuff back and the message suggested the GGGF might have made the pipe while a prisoner of war.

Deadman said...

Oh, well, never mind.

:o)>

Cool that he got the stuff back - priceless heirlooms and all.