Thank you, Patty & Dean:

What wonderful stories. I too have some tapes of my Father (and Mother) as well as some music sung at a Christmas gathering one year, including one of my sisters playing autoharp. I never even knew she had one, and never heard her play it again, so the tape is wonderful. I have tapes of my kids singing when they were very little, too. I am transferring every slowly to CD, and making many copies.

Patty: As I write these family memoirs, I am sending copies to both of my sisters and a couple of other friends who don't have computers.
I'm also e-mailing them to a long list of interested friends, including some Catters here at the kitchen table, who might be interested. Many of the memoirs relate directly to songs that I've written and are just an expansion on introductions I've honed over the years when I was performing them regularly.

Dean: One of the hardest things to imagine is our parents being young and romantic. Especially our fathers. My father was of the school when challenged by my Mother, "You never say you love me!" by answering. "I don't have to day I love you, I take out the garbage, don't I?" Piecing together the old stories a picture of my Father emerges that bears faint resemblance to the unexpressive, private man I knew as my Father. Every fragment of the past is a precious jewel, in my mind.

And sorry you're going through all that STUFF, Ron. I know how upsetting it is to see a pet suffer. I hope the new vet can correct the problems with your cat.

Jerry