Precious Birthdays

Today and tomorrow are birthdays for two loved ones who have died: my daughter, Betsey, would be 64 today, and my brother, Stewart, would be 95 tomorrow. Betsey passed away in 2016 and Stewart in 2013. I miss them both so much. They both were intensely interested in what was happening in our nation and in the world, and I especially miss being able to talk with them about the dramas that are being acted out today. Betsey traveled quite a bit, and she would often send her dad a postcard. I found one of them today, a very special one, sent from the British Library in England during a trip she made there with her husband, Rob, in October, 1990. She was very excited to have seen up close pages of beautifully ornamented MSS of the Gospel of Luke - the Lindisfarne Gospels. And I, as a bibical scholar, shared her excitement. Thank you, Betsey! I miss you!

Betsey's card

Page one of the Gospel of Luke in the Lindisfarne Gospels

Betsey Crockett (1958-2016)************************************** Stewart was a wonderful big brother - six years older than I am. Readers of this blog will recall that over the past several years I have posted letters he wrote during his military service in WW 2 - the years c. 1944-1946. We had some special time before he left for the service when I was 11 years old, and we played games together, made model airplanes together, etc. Then he went into the service and I was left at home with my mother while both my father and my brother were in the army. That was a difficult time, but also an important time for my development. I "grew up" during that time, and by the time I entered high school in 1946, I was a lot more mature and ready to take on challenges than others my age. So, for example, in 1949, at age 16, I was offered a job driving an 80-year-old glove salesman all over Iowa, Illinois and Missouri - over 10,000 miles of driving in just that one summer. I suspect that similarly, that military experience contributed to Stewart's development as a responsible person also. Thank you for being you, brother! I miss you!

Stewart C. Crockett (1927-2913). This is a photo I found on-line I had never seen before!