Memory Pushups

Last night his Lordship did his mind exercise by doing memory pushups. With sisters Louise,Patty, and Susie, and brother in law Ned, we reviewed the life and times of everyone we knew growing up. Sister Melissa will be here on Friday, she is the oldest and could have been a lot of help. Mentally Lord Kadizzle went up and down the street and all over town to see who could remember what. The names that came out of the either were amazing . Some of the names had a ring to them but that was all. Some of the strange twist and turns peoples lives took was interesting.

After we returned to the mother ship to go to bed The Commander said “ You guys sure knew a lot of people”. Wheeling, West Virginia, where we grew up was a strange place and had social interconnections that were like spider webs. Wheeling was probably just about the right size so everyone on certain levels knew everyone. Since the town was founded so early in the countries history there were a lot of old families that went back a long way. The fact that the town started as a very wealthy town that supplied people going west also had a long range effect. Many of the kids we grew up with were the descendants of people who had made fortunes in the late 1800’s. These kids were in the final stage of pissing away the family fortune. The effect of massive amounts of money on people was evident. Many of them had pointless lives that often ended tragically.

The picture above is the old Stifel Mansion on the National Road, not too far from where we grew up. This guy made his fortune by printing calico cloth and selling it to the people going West.