May 1, 1994:
The first day of May. Thoughts of May Day, Law Day, and May Processions. It is also my birthday month, along with Marge and others. I was biking down Avalon Boulevard and doing it “no hands” – like a kid and I thought – “65 years of age” no way! I never could believe anyone “that old” would be riding a two-wheeler to begin with, much less not using his hands. Such “hot dogs” are for twelve year olds, which is the way I felt while I was doing it – or maybe teens! It is a good sign of how I feel. No way is it “old” -if by that you mean “rocking chair” material. I was never more sure than I am now, that age is a state of mind not years. I’m sure we can all think of people with a lot less years than 60 or more who are “old” and others of 80 or more who still come on as young.
The last weekend of April we had an active and wonderful time at Hershey, Pa. We were there as a result of Christmas gifts from the McSorleys and Mike and Cindy and Walt & Tracy. We also had a bonus from The Hersey Hotel of one extra night, if we stayed for two nights, so we obliged. We visited the Indian Echo Cavern, toured the town of Hersey and the Chocolate Factory on Saturday and drove to Gettysburg on Sunday. It was active in that we did most of the visiting via shanks-mare and I even got to play 18 holes of golf between tours on Saturday. So it was energetic and “wonderful” -full of wonder in learning about nature in the cavern, millions of years in coming to be and how the town of Hershey and the Hershey School came to exist. It, the school, began as an orphanage for “males only”. The reason for such selection, which seems odd to us, was that female orphans were more likely to be taken into homes because of their domestic talents-or they could be expected to learn, i.e., become maids. Males, on the other hand, for reasons then considered important, were not thought to be good materials for such tasks. Today the school is co-ed and the students live in homes of about 12 students with foster parents – who, by the way, can have or bring their own children to live there, but those children are not permitted to attend Hershey School.
Another startling fact is that the millions amassed by Milton S. Hershey were, before his death, placed in a Trust Foundation to support this project. Today all of the profits from Hershey Foods, Inc., Hershey Park, etc. are deposited into the Foundation, making the school one of the most highly endowed institutions in the world.
We were also surprised to learn that Hershey Foods, Inc. is the second largest producer in the world of pasta. They own the “San Giorgio” label. So Hershey is more than a candy bar and “Reeses Pieces”.
Earlier in the day we visited “Indian Echo” Caves, just three miles from Hershey on the Swatra Creek. Swatra was the name of the tribe who initially used the caves as cellars and living quarters in the winter.
We had a very enthusiastic guide. His name was Mark and we later learned in speaking with him that he is a college student who is majoring in environmental science, so he is learning while earning. He started from the (under)ground up. We walked through the dark, dripping caverns of some millions of years in age, like we belonged there. The guide advised that there was nothing to fear, including bats, since they were all asleep. He showed us two glued to the ceiling overhead. They were smaller than a fair sized hand, even with their wings spread. It seemed he had no sooner finished with those assurances as we walked into another vaulted room, when there flitted by in the air a fairly large flying object – which – by George! was a”bat”. Despite his apologies, the women, including June, immediately covered their heads.
The large stalagmites and stalactites looked like beige and cream ice cream cones or sand castles built by dripping sand. The difference between stalagmites and stalactites is that one grows down from a roof or ceiling, the other grows up from the floor.
Gettysburg is some 50 miles from Hershey. It is the site of a National Cemetery and one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. It is most remembered for President Lincoln’s eulogy and has been the subject of thousands of words. As recently as 1993 a book was published by Gary Wills, entitled ”Lincoln at Gettysburg”. It was on the history of the speech, how it came to be written and its deliverance at Gettysburg. The book won several awards. It is an interesting insight into the learning of the rail-splitter and his poetic prose. I learned that Lincoln was invited only as a second thought; that the cemetery was the idea of Pennsylvanians, from Governor Curtain down to a lawyer, Mr. Wills (no relation to the author) in Gettysburg; that the main speaker was Senator Everett from Massachusetts who spoke for four hours and that Lincoln had some help, as usual, from his staff, including Secretary Hay, who trimmed and edited with him right down to the train ride from D.C. Lincoln almost didn’t make the dedication on November 19, 1863 due to the trains being used mostly for troop movements. He also stayed in the home of Mr. Wills and traveled alone, without a bodyguard.
His speech will long be remembered and so it is that the dedicated ground is well kept and well visited by Americans year in and year out. It is a pleasant, small town with some obvious commercial buildings to handle the tourism, but the countryside is pleasant and rolling Pennsylvanian farmland, now dotted with stone monuments to the dead heroes.
We saw where Pickett charged across an open field for a mile and then up Cemetery Ridge. We could see looking across the field where Seminary Ridge lay – it was so named because along the crest there rested a Lutheran Seminary in July of 1861, and it is still there. We saw where hundreds of young men and boys fell to their deaths – and where the South reached its highest point in the war. It was never to cross the Mason-Dixon line again.
The constant reminder of dead young people was a bit depressing, but then the history of man with its wars and death, even today, is just as depressing. We enjoyed the history, especially as spelled out in the little amphitheater where we watched the battles re-enacted on an electric topographical map, listened to a Park Ranger guide point out the different places from which the different units came, and those that waited to meet them, and enjoyed looking down over the landscape from a 368 foot tower that Js octagonal in shape. We walked around on the top and viewed in 360°s the places where the events occurred.
There was also the Cyclorama. It was an oil painting, some 30 to 40 feet in height, painted on a wall in a circle. The painter took months to complete the project with a crew. The show consisted of a trip by a narrator with a spotlight and other lights illuminating the subject of the narration as we traveled over the battlefields. Cycloramas were popular in the 18th century, like the movies of later America.
Gettysburg is a good place to teach history. It certainly made me more aware of the Civil War and the moving words of Lincoln. I’d recommend it as a place to visit in the off-season, i.e., not during the summer, since even in the last weekend in April it was a very busy place.
May 17, 1994:
Fifteen years ago this past weekend (5/14-5/15), we celebrated the joint graduations of Suzanne McSorley and Tom Baker, she from Columbia Law School and he from Columbia University’s Master’s Program. This weekend we celebrated Tom’s ordination as a Deacon, with Suzie joining him in that endeavor, along with their three girls, one of whom, Colleen, is now just two months old.
The celebration in 1979 also had the added attraction of being my 50th birthday celebration. It was done at the Warwick in New York. This time we had a pre-65th birthday celebration at Sue & Tom’s.
Once again, as in 1979, all the McSorley children were present, and now happily added were their spouses, Lori and Donna and the grandchildren, Tommy, Linda, Matthew, Karen, Kate, Margaret, Colleen and Megan. It gave me the opportunity to thank them all for their support in January and to tell them I loved them.
What I had to say was that I had recently read a book entitled “Embraced by the Light”. It came recommended by Jim and it has been on the New York Times Best Seller list for 54 weeks. It is the story of a woman’s “near death” experience some twenty years ago. But I have “real life” experience everyday, in that I am “Embraced by the Love, the love of my wife, my children, my step-children, my grandchildren, my nieces and nephews, brothers and sisters. It is better than being on any “best” list and it enables me to say “I am a most happy fellah!”
I also noted that we don’t get to choose our children, as we do our friends and associates, but that if I had, I would have picked them all. (They have often noted they didn’t get to pick their parents either!).
After my celebration they sat young Tommy down and sang Happy 10th to him – his is due on June 1st. He was very much surprised, particularly when his Dad whipped out a poster acknowledging the event of the decade and that we, his grandparents, uncles and aunts, Mom and Dad were going to send him to “Space Camp” in Huntsville, Alabama for a week in June. It’s one of the few times I saw Tommy speechless – he really was surprised and overwhelmed.
I also received a lawn trimmer and edger which was gleefully opened by the grandchildren. It is a regular macho-motor machine with lots of horsepower. It brought a number of grunts from the crowd as they imitated Tim Taylor, the toolmaker of the TV show “Home Improvement”.
A thought for the month: “Ideally, couples need three lives: one for him, one for her, and one for them together.” -Bisset