My Thoughts on PBS

Yikes! I can't believe another month or so has passed since I've posted. Life has been taking a weird path lately. I admit I've been out of touch for the most part, and rather mechanical in my day-to-day life. A trend I don't like actually. I have been doing a lot of carvings, yet they haven't found their way to paper or fabric yet. I have been so craving screen printing, but lately, have felt I can't even draw anything. I need to snap out of this "thing" I'm going through right now.

As we've recently had our first presidential debate in the US, I wanted to share my thoughts on PBS (Public Broadcasting System), so here goes.

I've seen so much posted lately about PBS and Big Bird since the debate. I personally love PBS and have donated in the past. Like many of you, I grew up with PBS and our parents didn't have to pay for our opportunity to watch those shows. Hell, that was well before the days of "cable" television and networks that you not only have to pay for, but you are also forced to watch commercials!

I never watched Sesame Street, however, I know that show is valuable to many and has served a purpose. I was more into the Electric Company myself (cooler music), not to mention Dark Shadows, The Flintstones and The Monkees. Also when I was a kid our local and free networks actually aired fun Saturday morning shows for kids, as well as fun cartoons and shows during the afternoon, which doesn't seem to be true today. I guess the big / free networks have abandoned those shows assuming that the "world" has cable, and kids can now watch the Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon.

I'm an adult and find Saturday morning television to be a drag! The limited cartoons suck, in my opinion, and what little kid really wants to watch sports (unless it's the Wacky Races)? So, if PBS were to "go away", I assume educational television could now consist of Honey Boo (assuming the world has cable) or the lame "reality" shows on free and local networks.

I also love the historical shows PBS airs as they are a great source of entertainment for my 89 mother. She can relate to these shows as her short term memory isn't good. Not sure how many of you can understand that. When she gets to watch shows with Big Band musicians or about WWII, Doo Wop, or Andy Williams, memories coming streaming back. On the other hand, if she watches something like, oh, Big Bang Theory (or whatever), she has zero interest. It just doesn't reach her.

So now that I've vented, maybe someone can actually help me understand why I "pay" for cable channels and am still forced to see commercials (especially those hideous Carls Jr commercials). It's clear to me that money is being paid to these channels (the same as they are to the free channels) to air their ads. What's up with that? I once asked a cable support person that question and she couldn't give me a reason.

Remembering Elvis and a Song of Week

I remember where I was 35 years ago today! I was babysitting two little kids, Cammie and Greg. Their dad had worked for my dad prior to joining the PD. My mom and sister called me to tell me that Elvis died and it was on the news! I was shocked, like probably tons of other people.

Sharing one of all time favorite Elvis songs! I can't hear this song without crying and thinking of my dad. When he was alive, he used to sing it quite a bit. When my dad had a stroke and was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery, my sister, my dear friend Kevin, and I were sitting in gridlock traffic trying to get the high desert to see him before he went under the knife. This song came on the radio, and naturally, I cried. We did make it in time, btw.

Where Have I Been?

I cannot believe it has been over three months since my post! I have been around, but not really anything major going on, except that I did find a living connection to my dad's uncle Paul Martin Robinson and she shared some very interesting stuff with me. More to come on that later.

Since my last post, one of my dad's favorite divas passed away. I was a rocker teen, so you can probably imagine my "horror" when one morning I got up and walked into the kitchen only to bust my dad singing along to "I Feel Love" by Donna Summer, on the radio! Whoa! He loved that song and he loved her! I was so shocked to learn that she passed suddenly from cancer.

I have been attempting new art projects such as tie dying shirts, making printing plates from craft foam, and I got my hands on the newly released Tulip Screen It. I have only burned two screens and they didn't work too well, so back to the lab, so to speak. I'll share those adventures, or misadventures, later.

My mom was diagnosed with vertigo. That was not fun. She was do unsteady and dizzy for weeks! It was hard to leave the house without worrying about her. It was a challenge to get things done while she was going through this. She now is taking meds for it and it is getting much better.

I am super excited because one of my dad's cousins, Beverly, is currently in California. Her son lives here and is having surgery. We are going to meet this weekend!  Besides my dad and my sisters, Beverly will be the first blood relative on the Robinson side of the family I've met! And now to work on meeting more as well as meeting those on the Beck and Cloos side! Beverly and my dad never met so this will be truly exciting! I'm getting batteries and gathering up my camera, portable scanner and pictures! Can't wait. More to come on that certainly.

May 2, 2005

Seven years ago today, a Monday, I was up and getting ready for work. It was early and the phone rang. It was my mom calling to say she couldn't wake my dad up. She had called the hospice nurse who was on her way to check his vitals. I told my mom that I was going to work and to please call me once the nurse got there and got him up.

I then called my younger sister to tell her mom had called. She was on her way to work, or so I thought, but instead she was at the gas station filling up her car. She said mom had called her too. I said I was going to work and asked mom to call me once the nurse arrived, and my sister said, "what the hell's wrong with you? He's gone. I'm putting gas in the car and I'll pick you up and we'll go to their house." I then called my older sister, as by then my denial was replaced by reality.

Talk about denial. That is one of the stages of death that we go through and I was in it at the moment big time. The day before, my sisters and I went to visit my dad and to meet with the hospice worker. He was ready for hospice at that point. We had a fun visit and he had a nice final day. He got to spend it with his wife and his kids and he got to see pictures from his grandson's wedding that happened on the Saturday before our visit. He wanted to go to the wedding, but wasn't up to it health wise.

This past Sunday, my mom and I were running errands and as we sat at a red light, I had this thought pop into my head, "I wonder what dad is doing right now." It was out of the blue and strange. The thought was kind of like he was still here but just somewhere else. I guess he was just stopping by to let me know he's around.

A Not so Wordless Wednesday on Thursday

When I was a little girl, I loved puzzles, paint by numbers, anything arts and crafts, our family pets, my family, my friends and a few outfits and shoes I had.

I also loved music. I grew up in house full of music of many genres. The music my parents listened to, the music my big sister listened to and the popular music on local radio and TV shows. One of those shows was American Bandstand.

I think there was a time that everyone in the US had American Bandstand on their television at some point. Yesterday was not only my birthday, but the day that Dick Clark died. The ultimate teenager and man behind the show that introduced so many "top 40" artists to the US, died from a massive heart attack while having some procedure done at a hospital in Santa Monica, CA.

Then today I learned that not only did Levon Helm from The Band die, but Jonathan Frid (the original Barnabas Collins) passed away as well. Levon Helm passed away from cancer today, and Jonathan Frid passed from natural causes on Saturday.

I was a major Dark Shadows fan as a child. I mean seriously obsessed. I would run home from school every day so that I could watch the show. This was way before the days of VCRs and DVRs. The show was, in retrospect and watching from an adult perspective, very campy and full of  "bloopers" such as boom mikes in the scenes or stage hands, but, as a kid I never noticed that. I was just thoroughly caught up in it.

Once I woke my parents up screaming because I had a Dark Shadows type nightmare. My mom threatened to cut me off. She told me I couldn't watch it anymore. I really thought I would die! I could NOT comprehend life without it (and I was so young to be so dramatic). I cried, begged, whined, carried on and basically tortured her until she agreed to let me watch it and the agreement was that if I had another nightmare, no more Dark Shadows. Luckily, I never had another one, or at least not one that made me scream in the middle of the night!

So, I dedicate this post to Dick Clark, Levon Helm and Jonathan Frid. They were such a part of my childhood and my life. They brought joy and entertainment and music that I will forever be thankful for.

Benjamin H. Trump - 20 - 22 April 1940

My great aunt Bessie Cloos Trump was married to a man named Ben H. Trump. I still have no idea how or when they met, or when and where they married, but know of them through my genealogy research. Bessie was living in Decatur, IL until 1911 from what I can find. Ben was living in Greenville, IL until 1910 from what I can find. Sometimes research is tough when you can't just walk into a local library and pull old city directories. And as far as finding the marriage certificate, I have no idea where to begin since I have no idea when or where they married. This is tough.

Ben registered for the WWI draft in 1917 and listed a wife. I assume that was Bessie. He was living in Greenville, IL. The 1920 census lists them as married and living in Greenville. Then came the 1930 and 1940 census. Bessie was no longer living with Ben, but rather living as an "inmate" in Alton State Hospital in Illinois. I have no idea when she went in but am going to do my best to get her records. So, not only was she an "inmate" in 1930, she was also one in 1940.

I did find Ben's WWII draft registration that listed him living in a place called Donnellson, East Fork, Montgomery County, IL. Last week with the release of the 1940 census, I decided to try to find him. Lucky for me, Donnellson was only four pages and I found Ben on page 3. He was listed as a home owner and a blacksmith (which was his typical occupation). Funny thing is that it listed his marital status as "M" but then seemed to be crossed out with either a question mark or a number 7 written next to it. I tried to find out what either one of those notations might have indicated on the census, but failed. The 1940 census also showed me that Ben lived in Donnellson in 1935.

I still have not been able to find a death record for him, which baffles me. A few weeks ago, my sister suggested that maybe, like Lola, Ben died under a different name, or that maybe Ben was a nickname and not his birth name. I then began searching last weekend for any possible Trumps with the first name beginning with H as that was always listed as his middle initial. I did find a Harrison Trump that was born around the same time (not the exact birth date though that Ben listed on his draft registrations). Harrison died in Washington County, IL in 1979, but I cannot determine that date as the SSDI only lists month and year. That makes trying to order a death certificate a challenge.  I also tried to see what I could find on a Harrison Trump on Ancestry and FamilySearch, and found nothing except the SSDI listing. I wonder if that was him. The search continues.

My dad Robert - 18 April 1940

As I mentioned before, last Monday (2 April 2012) the 1940 US Federal Census was released. As the different (lack of a better word) organizations began to make the scans available, my sister and I were trying to find our dad. We knew he lived in Huntington Park, California with the family of a friend, and the friend I was sure he lived with, I couldn't find anywhere in the on-line genealogy world. The last known address we had for my dad prior to Lola being "sent away" was the 1930 US Census and we knew that wasn't going to be a good resource.

My dad was born in Mason City, IA on 11 October 1917. Sometime in 1927, when he was 9 or 10, my grandparents and dad moved to California after a trip here to visit Lola's brother Bill Meents. In January of 1930, Lola had some sort of "incident" and was hospitalized for a few weeks for depression. She was released.  On 2 April 1930, the family was on the US Census in Huntington Park. My dad was 12 years old.  By January of 1936, my grandmother was committed. My grandfather and my dad were not in her life at this point. My dad would have been about 18 years of age.

So as we were trying to figure out how to find my dad on the 1940 Census (and knowing our only means of finding him was by an address) I remembered that I have a copy of the marriage certificate of my dad and his first wife, Fern. They married 17 August 1940. I pulled that out of my files and wrote the address he had listed on the certificate down. I then tried to determine where the heck that enumeration district was. My sister was already getting the hang of figuring the districts out so I gave her the address and the mission to find dad was hers.  Within about 10 minutes she found him! He was living at the same address that was listed on his marriage certificate and it was in fact the home of his friend's family that I could never seem to find on line anywhere - The McGowans. He was listed as a 22 year old lodger at their home on 18 April 1940, and was actually living there on 1 April 1935. My dad is at the bottom of below image.

National Archives

That bit of info was interesting as I am still not certain when my grandfather, Red, split, so I now know it was sometime before 1 April 1935. Once I can find Red on the 1940, maybe that will help a little bit. I know in January of 1936, Red was living in South Gate, California. Oh heck, maybe knowing his whereabouts in 1935 won't help piece things together. Or at least, not just yet.