The Red Velvet Lawyer

Praise from my  Risk-Taking  Role-Model I shared Dottie's farewell email  earlier.  Dad's farewell email follows.  Some of the references require some explanation. Many relate to his pioneering work in dentistry.  As background, I am the eldest child and only daughter in a family of four kids. My Dad and Mom married when my Mom was 18 years old and my Dad was 20 years old.   As newlyweds, they moved from a small farming town in central Illinois to St. Louis while my dad completed dental school at Washington University.  They lived in a new public housing project, Pruitt-Igo , that gained the reputation as a failure in urban planning. In 1972, the Department of Housing demolished it in a fabulous implosion . When we lived there, in the late-1950s, we were one of three or four white families.  During the 1960s, St. Louis experienced a period of "white flight" from the ring of suburbs,  including University City, located...

I've talked about letting go of family in an earlier post.  After the visit in July from my Dad, Jerry, and my Stepmom, Dottie, I got a couple of emails that I'd like to share.  If you want to know how I have the "courage" to make this move as a 61-year old woman, these emails provide some insight.  I am reproducing them with permission.   My Dad married Dottie several years after my Mom, Jo Ann, died of colon cancer at the age of 61.  Dottie, with a Ph.D. in education, brought along a large extended family that placed its large and loving reach securely around Dad.  She has been a generous, supportive, and loving spirit in my life.   Hi Paula, tutoring [for at-risk grade school readers] ended yesterday.  Just saw your posting of old cabinet and assume you sold it.  How is the rest of moving moving along?   So happy we had a chance to visit.  And love the posting you made on/lauding your friendship with Kenn An...