Blasts from the past!

Today as I was messing around with a bit of organizational work in my office, I went downstairs to put away an album that was out and came across an album with these photos. The quality of the photos is lessened by the years and despite being in an album that pledged to guard their color correctly, they still bring back strong memories.

Wirod Memonsoom is a wonderful friend that Mary Kay and I met in 1973 or so at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Wirod was an international student from Thailand, there at the behest of the military, for which he was serving at the time. We took him and his soon to arrive wife Wilai under our wing. We had a wonderful time and were treated to so much wonderful Thai food, most of which we are unable to reproduce despite having the recipes and having watched them cook. We lost touch with Wirod over the years but some researching on Facebook allowed us to reconnect. There is nothing like a good friend.

The black and white photos from a photo booth are probably the last photos of me and my dad alone as he passed away on June 11, 1959 after a long illness. I have precious few memories in my head of him and about the only thing I can recall is the sound of his voice. I think this was a boys day trip into Cleveland proper, the downtown area, and a boat ride on the Cuyahoga River (before it went up in flame).

The black and white photo of a young man is a cherished teacher mentor for me when I did my student teaching in French at Parma High School in Parma, Ohio in 1973. Robert Dzama is remembered (he is apparently deceased) as a professional and a warm and nurturing teacher for students and also for his teacher intern. He allowed me to be quite independent in my situation and in the photo is seen with students in the background as he was also the Yearbook sponsor.

The Bories (my uncle/godfather, Aunt Hilda Swoboda Borie, and Barbara Ann Borie Kerro) represent an interesting part of my family. Uncle Joe pretty much put his Hungarian  origins aside by never speaking in Hungarian to my knowledge, changed his name from Bori to Borie (finding it more American perhaps?), and was not impressed by my going into teaching. They lived in Chardon, Ohio in a very beautiful ranch that we were invited to once a year for Borie Burgers. Aunt Hilda was a reacquaintance of mine a few years after my uncle passed and I happened to be in Florida. Babs (Barbara Ann) supposedly lives in Cleveland, Ohio but seemingly does not want to reconnect with any of us. She had, according to my info, two daughters who are also in the Cleveland area, and her ex is in another state.

Young Soon Lee was a musician we had met at Ohio University, another international student coming from South Korea. She fell in love with a fellow musician who happened to be from Japan. Their parents were less than happy about their wedding so they got married without a parental blessing (from either side) in the Galbreath Chapel at Ohio University.  There is history between Korea and Japan that at the time was more than the parents could deal with.  The photos I have are the few left from quite a few that I took as they didn’t have anyone else to take pictures. We have since lost touch with her.