Category Archives: Family History

He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

Posted on May 15, 2023 by ivanbenson

My recent trip to the ENT doctor has left me with a new revelation: I’ll probably never hear like I used to hear in my left ear. All this started about seven years ago when a particularly bad sinus infection … Continue reading →

Posted in Family History, Uncategorized | 8 Comments

The Big Eraser

Posted on June 26, 2022 by ivanbenson

It seems like the first things you learn when you start school become the bedrock upon which all future learning rests. Maybe Robert Fulghum was right when he wrote, “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.” Paper, … Continue reading →

Posted in Family History, Stories, Uncategorized | Tagged 1st grade, 2nd grade, chattanooga, computer history, consequences, Eraser, errors, guilt, ink pens, mistakes, pencils, permanent record, Robert Fulghum | 2 Comments

This Is Us

Posted on June 5, 2022 by ivanbenson

Finally watched the final show in the sixth and final season of This Is Us last night; I rank this series up there with the series, LOST, in terms of cinematography, acting, and story line. Excellent stuff! One of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Family History, Stories, Uncategorized | Tagged addiction, alcoholism, body image, cancer, death, dementia, discouragement, disillusionment, divorce, Family, Forgiveness, grandparents, LOST, love, Pittsburgh, racism, sex, sibling rivalry, This Is Us | Leave a comment

Playing Favorites

Posted on May 11, 2022 by ivanbenson

The last few days I’ve been pondering an odd question: “What’s the best water you’ve ever tasted?” Funny, isn’t it, where the mind goes sometimes? I was remembering a hike in Southern Arizona, one I repeated several times with various … Continue reading →

Posted in Family History, Stories, Uncategorized | Tagged Bellows Spring, best water, Charlie's Steak House, Coronado National Forest, Corvette, hiking, Hopkinsville, Kentucky, Montana, Mt. Baboquivari, Mt. Baldy, Mt. Haggin, Mt. Wrightson, Santa Rita Mountains, Southern Arizona, Tucson | 2 Comments

The Vicissitudes of Life

Posted on April 26, 2022 by ivanbenson

My father loved vocabulary, and he encouraged us to learn words, too. One way he did this was to use words unknown to us, so that we would have to look them up to find their definition. At the time … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging Parents, Family History, Stories, Uncategorized | Tagged 2016, 2020, 9/11, alterations, authentic, catalyst, change, depression, disaster, genuine, heart attack, honest, horizon, inventions, pacemaker, Pearl Harbor, penicillin, plastic, Vicissitudes, vicissitudes of life | Leave a comment

The Gift of Memory

Posted on December 23, 2021 by ivanbenson

A tattered and worn out teddy bear named “Teddy” stands guard near our bedroom window on this cold December morning, awaiting his 64th Christmas morning this year. He is surrounded by other ancients: the Chattanooga Lookouts baseball given to me … Continue reading →

Posted in Family History, Stories, Uncategorized | Tagged 1957, Chattanooga Lookouts, Christmas 2021, forget, gifts, memories, teddy bear, unforgettable | 6 Comments

Electric Trains

Posted on September 26, 2021 by ivanbenson

If you were a boy like me, growing up (initially) in the South in the early 1950s, then you probably like trains as much as I do. There is both a mystique and an irresistible call in the air when … Continue reading →

Posted in Family History, Fathers, Stories, Uncategorized | Tagged 1950s, 1963, Arkansas, Chattanooga Tennessee, Don Cossack Choir, electric trains, Hebrew, HO gauge, idyllic, Isaiah 53, Kinsett, Lionel, Mayberry, Searcy, Southern Railroad, Tucson Arizona, Utopia, virus | 4 Comments

R.I.P. Mawmaw

Posted on July 11, 2021 by ivanbenson

We called her “Mawmaw” (with an accent on both syllables) after the grandkids came along (“Mamaw” was an alternate pronunciation, emphasizing the first syllable), but she was always “Mom” to my wife, and “Mary” to her husband, Marty. Born in … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging Parents, Assisted Living, Family History, Nursing Homes, Stories, Uncategorized | Tagged 1949, brain aneurysm, breast cancer, Coat of Many Colors, Dolly Parton, Flatwoods KY, Globe KY, Guillian-Barre, Portsmouth OH | 12 Comments

My Tribute to Pop on Pearl Harbor Day

Posted on December 7, 2019 by ivanbenson

December 7 has been a reminder all my life of the horrific Sunday morning attack at Pearl Harbor in 1941. But today . . . it will take on new meaning. My father-in-law, Martin Henry Glynn will be laid to … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging Parents, Assisted Living, Family History, Fathers, Nursing Homes, Stories, Uncategorized, World War II | 6 Comments

The Running Joke

Posted on January 27, 2019 by ivanbenson

There’s been a running joke in my family ever since my wife and I married 43 years ago. You see, my father-in-law, Marty Glynn had begun to cook a good bit soon after we married, since his wife, Mary, suffered … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging Parents, Comedy, Family History, Fathers, Stories, Uncategorized | Tagged 1600s, 17th century, bell pepper, dogmatic, exclusive, freedom, green pepper, Halloween, inclusive, mango, mangoed, mangoes, Marty Glynn, Ohio, pickled, refrigeration, religious fanatic, skeptic, trick-or-treat, truth, worldview | 8 Comments

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