MORE MEMORIES - SOME GOOD, SOME BAD...

1939 - World War I was starting in Europe. This photo, however, contradicts that anyone present was preoccupied with it, although the Telefuken radio way in the back of the room had quite an audience every night, as we listened to BBCs reports as told by Fernando Pessa. Three of the Mello/Melo siblings who did not die in America, my grandmother (Front) her bother, Manuel (bald) and another brother, Jacinto (sitting, fifth from left) died in the Azores. The remaining seven Mello brothers died in Massachusetts. Most of the people in the photo also died in Massachusetts. My mother (fourth on the right) was the exception. She died in Missouri.

FROM SÃO ROQUE, SÃO MIGUEL - GREAT PEOPLE ALONG THE WAY.......

Although I did not graduate from Washington University in St. Louis, my family and I have been associated with it for sometime. The photo at the left was taken when Katherine Jennings of the Gulbenkian Foundation visited St. Louis to present a gift to the W.U. Library for the development of a Portuguese-language collection. The other four men in the photo are associated with the school .

P E O P L E

Our granddaughter, Dena, a student at John Burroughs School, St. Louis, caught her other grandfather, Donald G. Soffer, about to have breakfast with me in the school's lunchroom on Grandparents Day. She saw to it that the moment would be recorded, something for which I'm quite grateful. Dena, by the way, is a brilliant student.

Grandmother Katherine lined up our two granddaughters at John Burroughs, Dena (on Don's right) and Sarah (on Don's left) for this photo which I feel the girls will someday treasure. Dena is one year ahead of Sarah at school, I am certain that, in spite of her sister's brilliance,  Sarah will leave behind at JBS an outstanding mark of her own.

LEFT- Both classmates, Harvard Class of '54 Charles Egan, and Jerry MCDonald, lived up to their Harvard potential after our graduation. I wish I could have had also. On the other hand, I wonder if they ever think of me - or of what I could have done with my life... On the other hand, I wonder how many children they ever found for childless couples and the difference they made in their lives...

LEFT - Another child I found in Brazil for another childless couple. A few years later I tried to find a sister for him, but failed. Nevertheless, seeing the future that this child is bound to have in the loving home of his adoptive parents, I can only look at the effort with a certain sense of pride and humility.

LEFT - I never considered Hans-Josef (Joe) Furhmann (Second on the right, top photo)  a great soccer player. In fact, I considered him rather weak for his position with the old St. Louis Stars of the NASL. Nevertheless, from the first day I met him in 1967 I always felt that he was a truly fine human being. We have been great friends since then, often using soccer as a common mode of connection. Joe, who after soccer had a long career with Michelin in his native Germany, has found a hobby in retirement - quietly participating in helping children find a better life for themselves in Central America through a German group, Atitlan. All of which goes to prove the height that all human beings can reach even if, in the process, they never become champions.

RIGHT - Prof. Dr. Manuel Plata Orozco, School of Dentistry, Universidad Nacional Aut. de México, a great promoter of dental health and a forward thinker in what Mexico needs to do to reach top international standards. A man of great humor also.

ONE could entitle the photo on the right DENA AND HER TWO GRANDMOTHERS. On the othe hand, we would be somewhat remiss if we did not say anything about Pearl Soffer, other than the fact that she did see her first of several grandchildren who were to follow. Pearl is no longer with us, and at the time this phto was shot, she already knew that her days had become few. Nevertheless, Pearl never afflicted anyone else with her condition. She always possessed a ready smile for all and, no matter what she ever heard about her granchild,she always had room for more. Too bad she did not get to meet the ones who eventually came after Dena.

Like many other Australians I have met, John Rowe loved Rugby Football and the outdoors. He even took me to a game one pleasant Saturday afternoon and tried as hard as he could to explain to me the fine points of the action. I still don't know them. John, like most other Australians I have met, has a fine sense of humor. Somehow, however, he does not seem to tolerate fools. We were together on this visit of mine to Australia, for example, shortly after OPERATION DESERT STORM and John was most happy over the fact that the military authorites had kept the media away from the action. I did not agree with him - nor did any of his colleagues. John, however, felt that the media would only reveal military secrets, thereby helping the enemy. He gave Viet Nam as an example, not realizing like many other people with a military mind, that the media was not responsible for the American defeat...

Grandchildren, Jonathan, Katherine, and Matthew Norman, Matthew, I'm pleased to say was the 2002 Missouri State Fence Painting Champion, a celebration of Mark Twain Days held in his hometown of Hannibal, Missouri.

Granddaughters, Addison and Whitney Corcoran. Like her mother as a child, Addison loves to act. Whitney, on the other hand, although being extremely gentle, loves to mix physical activity with kindness. When she has a cold and has to stay home from school, an occasional hug from PaPa is usually the best curative medicine. Her ability to interpret and draw what she imagines astounds me. I can't even trace a straight line with a ruler.

Missouri State Flag

There was a time when my mother would refer to her great-granddaughter as "Catarina Pequenina", the Portuguese equivalent to "Little Katherine". Were my mother alive today, she would have by now dropped that title. "Catarina Pequenina" has definitely outgrown her grandmother - the other Katherine.

RIGHT - Although Matthew is the fifth-born grandchild, he is the first to have ever won a prize. His victory as the Missouri State Mark Twain Days Fence Painting Contest in 2002 not only got him a local radio interview, but also several prizes which he shared with his family. Matthew has a good sense of humor as the photo shows.

1966- At Manila, Philippines, With ALEMAR'S Managers and Amando and Flor Trevilla CLICK FOR NEXT PAGE