Name/Title
AU Lambert, Todd Fleming - 2009-12-12 letter to Paul J. Harris Jr.Entry/Object ID
2013.2.4Context
[From Todd Lambert]
December 12, 2009
Dear Paul and Jean,
How are your injuries now? Have you healed or are you healing‘? It’s been a long time, regretfully, since you wrote and told me about the terrible accident. And it’s been a long time, regretfully, since I should have responded. Are you both back to work and life fully? It has been another year of pre-occupation for me and my correspondence obligation has been very irregular. That’s just to say I thought about you but didn’t put it in writing. Anyway, I was very sorry to hear of the accident and the serious injuries and I hope you have mostly mended since.
We appreciated Linda’s letter and are happy that the rest of your life and family lives are going well. When we are absent for so long, it’s hard to imaging Abbey having grown into a charming woman and business person and for PJ to be a successful man now. Our family - or maybe that’s families - are doing well here and on the west coast. The family here is our youngest son John, his wife Cindy and their children (our grandchildren) Rebecca (7) and Ryan (3) have a very comfortable and raucous (add two dogs and a cat) family life. John is a police officer (voted Officer of the Year) in Batavia. Cindy is an undertaker and funeral director for three funeral homes. They are hoping to own and operate their own funeral home in time. Older son Todd move back to the Midwest (Michigan) from Boulder a year ago to support his girl’s completion of her fine arts degree and career in fashion design. They will be moving back to Chicago next year. Todd has ups and downs in the show-business career and we expect will do better when he moves back to the big city. Leslie actually retired early from her technical sales job in the silicon valley along with the market collapse there this past year. Her husband Bill’s parents both died in the past two years, leaving Bill and his sister with an old house in San Francisco with a view of the bay and a basement full of “sailing ship” artifacts from the very early days. So, they are looking at many months of sorting and refurbishing to sell the house they decided not to keep. Leslie’s son Stephen (my older grandson) decided on the career plumber business. He and his new bride Colleen have a daughter (my first great granddaughter) Fiora (2).
Both Mary and I have been quite busy since moving back to Illinois. We are so happy to be back here. New Mexico was not our “cup of tea” or should I say “chili’s”. There are so many reasons, but one to be certain is moisture. We discovered we really preferred snow and rain to heat and dust, and it is so good to have lakes that are blue instead of brown. Plus, we discovered we need the energy and excitement of the big city. Mary has now established a new clinical practice. She will go it alone this time with private practice but has her new office located in a suite with other clinicians so she can share professional information and some clients. I have become a professional hole digger, tree planter, garden maker, landscaper and basement remodeler. It’s a far cry from college teaching but I decided it was time to quit that career altogether. We were lucky to sell our NM house just before the market dropped and therefore at a good gain and then also buy our Illinois house soon after the market began to drop and therefore at a much lowered
[End of Page 1]
price. All of which made up for our considerable expense of remodeling homes to sell and twice moving 1300 miles each way. Our house here overlooks a small fishing lake (more a large pond I guess) at the back of our yard. I really needed a house with a yard since I do love to work in the soil and grow grass and flowers and veggies and other things. So, my warm weather time since we got here has been mostly consumed by landscaping, tree planting and garden building. I love it.
Paul, years ago when you were deep into Harris and Lambert families history, you photographed that trashed house that you thought might be the old Lambert homestead. It turned out it was not and you asked me to keep a lookout for any photo that might show the actual house. Well, here are three photos, of which two, are certainly the Lambert homestead. Just recently, while going through my own “archives”, I was re-examining two old photo scrapbooks. Two small photos appear to have been taken at the same time and of the same subject. In both photos, the porch posts are distinctly different from a few other photos showing a similar front porch. One of the photos has Glenn, my dad, standing next to the house and porch. I think this is enough evidence to claim that this house is the Lambert house. I made enlarged copies of the photos for you. Glenn is holding a straw “skimmer” in his hand and I think the hat, his shoes and suit all appear to go with fashion in the late twenties or early thirties. However, the skinny tie is more some time in the l940‘s. Do you remember when the narrow ties were in? I would guess the photo was taken during one of Glenn and Mabel’s necessary travels back to Ohio for funerals and property settlements during which time they would visit their former homes. I am puzzled though by another photo of Glenn holding a painting that is titled the old Lambert home in which the house past barn and sheds looks different. I have enclosed an enlargement of that one also.
Part of my own “busyness” this past year is because I have begun to write some about family history which means more research and sorting through this large collection of memorabilia. I have also taken on the job of writing, editing and publishing the Fleming Family Newsletter, my mothers side of the family. The Fleming Family Association is approaching 190 years since the founding immigrants arrived in Marietta, Ohio. The person who started the newsletter just 10 years ago took off for the Peace Corps and I volunteered to take up the job but to completely revise the direction and format of the newsletter. It has been well received and now it is time to start on letter number 2. I have wondered if, with all your research of the Lambert family, you ever came across a copy of the old Lambert Family Circle Newsletter. I know one existed as I have a letter to Glenn imploring him to contribute another item for the next issue - whenever that was. I think the newsletter was active through the thirties but have nothing firm.
Well, that’s enough from here for now. I hope your copy/printing business is doing well, that Linda and her nurse administrator career are doing similarly, that the kids and grandkids are all great and you are basking in the hills and scenery of the Carolinas. Have a wonderfully fun and memorable family Christmas.
