Opinion : The Joy of Email

I've always been the one that wanted to sit at the feet of older people and just listen to their stories. Actually, I can remember doing that very thing at a couple's house, when I was a little child. I don't remember their last name or his name, I just remember that her name was Jewel, and I loved that name.

Fast forward 45 or so years and I am still willing to sit and listen to the wisdom of the older and wiser folks in my life.

Every once in a while writing a column about "the old days" in Vinton will trigger responses from those that know someone I wrote about.

Today was no exception.

I am constantly amazed at the people I have a roundabout connection to, if nothing else it's through our old Vinton stories.

Today I had notes from a couple of the older gentlemen in our readership and it was warming to hear their kind words of condolence and take to take a brief walk down memory lane.

One of the notes is from a gentleman in Arizona that used to live here back in the 50's, Arkansas Willy.

He has a friend that talks to my daughter who works in the very pharmacy where her great grandmother used to work.

So there is always a little loop of conversation going here that I just love to be a part of.

Ironically another of my readers uses her as a drop off for "mail" to deliver to me when he sees something he thinks I should read, I really hope she never quits that job!

Another of our readers, "Ol' Tom" has been telling me about where my grandparent's lived and my great grandparents. I have the advantage here of throwing out memories and seeing what comes back.

Those are the chats that I cherish the most, the tidbits for family history.

Now none of this has anything to do with anything, other than to say if you need a pen pal, and you are older than I am, you'll find someone at the end of the computer who loves to hear the stories of days gone by, and usually, those stories will include, Vinton. And hey, you might just become the story.