Zoe and I went down Sunday evening and brought dinner for Gerry. She is doing better although Zoe thought she has lost weight and was worried for her mom. Gerry ate well and that is the best we hope for at this point. We have increased our visits since she usually does eat well with us and the hope is that her eating will continue through the week until we return.

Saturday we went down to my brother Terry's for Thanksmas. There had been a revolt of a couple of daughter-in-laws that wanted to spend time with their families after years of Coale Thanksgivings and Christmases. It was decided that this year the Coales would get together on the 15th to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas. A turkey dinner and a Christmas tree. A good time was had by all. Unfortunately, Adam had to work and Roger had to leave early for work. Madelane and Hannah couldn't make it because they had colds and didn't want to expose mom, who is 87. But Madelane did send down this picture.

bigger

The picture is taken at Westtown, a Quaker boarding school my dad went to. The year is 1928. The individual on the far left is N.C. Wyeth. Sixth from the left is my grandfather Griffith Baily Coale. Madelane has been corresponding with Westtown looking for family information. Madelane called today to point out a page on the Westtown website: The Giant - A Westtown Treasure. I wish there was a larger verision of The Giant on the web. The largest I could find is this one. It's a wonderful painting. I didn't realize it belonged to Westtown.

A crop of my grandfather.

Althought they are not identified, Madelane thinks the boy on the right front is our dad. It sure looks like him. There is a definite family resemblance. He would turn 11 in August, 1928. Madelane also thinks the woman above him is our grandmother Madge.

Here is a story my dad told about his stay at Westtown. One spring a group of Westtown boys, including my dad, decided to make root beer. They used raisins, they were available, and poured the root beer mixture into bottles and capped them. Root beer needs to ferment so they pried up the floor boards of their room, above a classroom, and hid them their to ferment over the summer. The next fall they returned to classes and noticed that the classroom had a new ceiling. It turns out the one of the bottles exploded taking all the other bottles with it. A good Quaker education.