Via Optima

When we are young, occasional lapses of memory do not upset us unduly. But as we grow older and faces and names don't come together as they used to, we begin to wonder if perhaps some forms of cerebral degeneration are setting in. Bereft of the sanguine attitudes of youth, a faulty and unreliable memory can make us elderlies become quite anxious and even depressed.

Most problems with memory are usually problems with retrieval. The name we try vainly to recall has not actually been forgotten, but for a variety of reasons, access to it may sometimes be blocked. An analogy can be drawn between how the brain and a computer function. The "hard disk" spinning in our cerebrum, just like the hard disk in a computer, retains every impression made upon it since the day we were born. But just as the data on a disk in a computer eventually becomes fragmented, all of the data inscribed in our brain becomes similarly fragmented and increasingly difficult to retrieve. However, unlike the computer disk, which can easily be defragmented and refreshed, the only option we elderly folk have is simply to remain as cerebrally active as we can be. We must endeavor to keep our retrieval circuits from going dormant. Working at a computer can be a good way to do that.

Like me at 92, my wife Lenore, whose 89th birthday will fall on March 27th, is finding her recently acquired laptop to be a fascinating and stimulating instrument. She uses it now to play solitaire and do crossword puzzles and she is even working on Sudokus. But more importantly, she has already begun to instant message and e-mail her family and friends. At this rate, who knows where in this rapidly expanding cyberworld she will find herself.

Personally, I do believe we will soon discover clinical ways to "optimize" that "C" drive in our brains. Let us join in beseeching God to illuminate our way on the Via Optima.

Comments: domgab85@aol.com

(E-mail me your comments and they will appear here)

Tom Gabriele, Lorna Starkey, Linda Kenney, Loretta Melfi, Julia Gabriele, Christine Stelmack, Allen Gabriele, Paul Cipes

Mom, What a great picture. You look like you've been using computers for as long as any of us. I have to warn you however, the computer can be addictive. Just look at Dad and me. But it can also be the source of great pride and accomplishment. When the computer is working properly, things happen for a reason and the longer you work with it the more predictable and understandable it becomes. It's not magic, it's just one step after another, like B following A or 2 coming after 1. You will find it very relaxing and satisfying, while at the same time it will fill you with joy and excitement. I remember when I first proposed to Dad that he get a computer and start enjoying it's potential, his first reaction was, "I don't want to write any programs." Just look at the joy it provides him now and I'm sure he hasn't written any programs. That same world is now opening up for you. Embrace it and and have a ball. Oh by the way, for those rare times when A follows B and 2 comes before 1, I have some generic swear words you can use. Love you Mom ~ Tom

Go Mom!! You look like a computer pro in the photo. I'm sure you will enjoy using your laptop. Just have fun with it. Love & Kisses ~ Lorna

Mom, You look awesome!!! Little by little you will find your way around the computer. Have fun with it and don't worry about your typing ~ Linda

Mom, You're a natural, not to mention, a beauty too. You and Dad should just keep "Instant Messaging" each other, that way you won't have to worry about him not hearing what you're saying. Love you Momma! ~ Loretta

Great photo--there's promise for us all. I just pray she's not downloading porn or trying any internet dating ~ Julia

I'm so happy to see that Nan is on the computer too. She's 89 and looking just fine!!! Go girl! Watch out Dom, let's just hope she won't find herself in some questionable chat rooms. Keep up the good work. Love, ~ Chrissy

Aunt Lenore, I relate to this conversation about memory lapses with some personal dismay. I think I remember those who I have cared about but sometimes I can’t remember their names or even what they looked like ~ and I find that pretty upsetting. I don’t think I’m in an accelerated state of mental degeneration (Ha!) but finding that there have been people who I have loved and I now can barely remember puts me into a deeply gloomy state. I like the idea that people who I love, remember me (and even as I used to look, which is a whole lot better than I look now - you betcha’). So I don’t have to overly concern myself with memory as a way of holding on to them. And the thought that they, when they think of me, think lovingly of me (possibly a stretch in some cases) that gives me some solace. So Aunt Lenore, you are us. We can’t be who we are without you as part of us. It’s more than just memory, it’s actually who we are. So to hell with remembering this or that. I love you dearly ~ Allen

I just read Allen's comment on Nan's going on the internet. It was very touching. It's amazing how our minds play these tricks on us. I still think of all my cousins as when we were kids - in my mind, none of us age at all. We'll always be kids in our hearts ~ Chrissy

Dom, Interesting! This validates your investment in the extra laptop. But try not to keep bugging Lenore about using it. She will find her own level of involvement. (And I, too, use the computer in a very limited way, much to your dismay.) I continue to do crossword puzzles with a pen and I am not intrigued by Sudoku. So sue me ~ Paul Cipes

Echo of WW II

This is a verbatim copy of an E-mail I received today

Dear Dr. Gabriele:

As a means of introduction, I am the son of a man who served in the 816 Engineer Aviation Battalion. He was Lt. Edward L. Spamer, Platoon Commander in C Company. I am in the very long process of family genealogy and until now I had not personally located anyone who also served in that battalion. My father passed away in 1955, long before I could be interested in history, much less family history.

I found you by accident, through an article about you by Andrew Gross, in the Golf News Section of "The Journal News" April 24, 2005, which is posted online. Your blog site address was given there and I found your e-mail address on your site. (So very glad to see a well-crafted and informatively current blog site.)

I have wondered if I would encounter someone who served in the 816th during the war. Fortunately, I do have my father’s copy of the unit history (816th Engineer Aviation Battalion Passes in Review) which was written by you and printed in Munich while your outfit was stationed there. It has been a great big help to me with the "where" and "when" questions. But I still have unanswered questions about life in the 816th, your time in England, your landing on Omaha Beach and the push through France, Belgium and Germany.

May I ask if you are willing to correspond with me on some of these points? I could not expect you knew every man in the 816th, but curiosity drives me to ask if you knew my father?

Kind regards, Earle Spamer (just Earle will do)

Earle E. Spamer
Assistant Reference Librarian, The American Philosophical Society
Library Hall, 105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106-3386
www.amphilsoc.org

Comments: domgab85@aol.com
(E-mail me your comments and they will appear here)

Comments by: Earle Spamer, Andrew Gross, Bruce Kenney, Paul Cipes, Elaine Connery and me

Earle, It greatly pleased me to receive your e-letter and kudos for taking such a circuitous route to reach me. While my fellow officers saw it as a mission impossible, I persevered with writing our Battalion's history and got it published and printed in the still smouldering ruins of a printing establishment in war ravaged Munich. I was curiously mindful that one day you, Earle Spamer, and others like you, would search for something in it about your parents, friends and relatives. I now raise my freshly opened bottle of Lager to those intrepid and dedicated German printers who so graciously indulged and accommodated me and all of you.

When you say in your letter that I couldn't possibly have known everyone in the battalion, I must tell you that while I may not have remembered their faces, I was clinically familiar with their genitalia. In those days, it was required that we do a monthly "short arm" inspection to check for venereal disease. But Earle, please don't let the Philadelphia Inquirer get wind of this cartoon. If they print it, who knows, perhaps the Mormons in Salt Lake City might find it offensive enough to go on a destructive rampage. Egad, was I violating each man's constitutional right to privacy when I was doing these surveys? ~ Dom Gabriele

To Andrew Gross, Sports Writer for The Journal News

Dear Andrew, I just received an E-mail from Earle Spamer, Reference Librarian of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. His father and I served together in WW II. Earle located me by having read your article about me, last spring. He mentions you by name. While much water has flown over the dam and under the bridge, since last we spoke, I find it a comfort when I see your name on my buddy list. I trust everything goes well with you and your family ~ Dom Gabriele

Dear Dom, Wonderful to hear from you. Blame for the lapse in our communication lies squarely on my shoulders. I greatly enjoyed the blog entries. How Earle Spamer ever came across the Suburban Golf article I wrote about you is probably a story in itself. We journalists should take our role as historians more seriously and I find that, unfortunately, it's something a large percentage of us give little or no thought to as we try to get by day to day. Which gets me back to my first point. I become so involved with what I'm doing during the NHL season I tend to forget there's a world outside of the hockey. So please accept my apologies. Let's get together for lunch at some point? Anyway, keep up the great work. This encounter surely must show you, what you do with your blog is greatly appreciated ~ Andrew

E-mail from Earle (abridged by DG)

Many thanks for posting my inquiry on your blog. How you managed to get the Unit History published in war-torn Munich hit home. How did you pay them? Having been in publishing, printer's ink flows thru my veins. What was it like, crossing the channel and landing on the beach? How plentiful was the wine and beer as you crossed over those countries? In the photos, my father seems to be heavy. It bothers me that war-time movies focus on army engineers building bridges, but never on guys like you who hacked out air strips. Many in my family served in WW II with great distinction, but sadly most of them are no longer alive. Now, thanks to you guys, I can ask these questions ~ Earle

Earle, As you have probably already noted, we had very talented people to draw from when we composed our battalion history. We paid the printers with food and a liberal amount of our monetary scrip. A copy of the book was issued to everyone in the battalion. Your father became a Platoon Commander when long-time C Company Commander, Charles Le May (nephew of General Curtis Le May) had his arm blown off by a booby trap. Everything that I can recall about your father and his platoon is that they served with elan and pride. In retrospect, it was a singular honor for me to have spent more than three wartime years with that remarkable group of resourceful and courageous engineers. I still grieve for those we left there ~ Dom Gabriele

Dom, I found the letter from "Earle" interesting. I'm still not clear on how he tracked you down. Did the golf article mention that you served in that unit? Did you write and print the history of the 816th Battalion that he refers to? I would really like to read about your war days in Europe. The blog is a great connector ~ Bruce Kenney (my son-in-law)

Bruce, In another life (WW II) I actually did write a book. It was a detailed history of the 816th Engineers, but the wonder of it was the circumstances under which it was conceived, written and published. A moldering copy of it is in my library. But just ask and I'll turn on my reminiscer for you, at any time. Yes, Andrew Gross, Sports writer for the Journal News, did cover some of that when he interviewed me. But what I want from you Bruce, is a legal opinion about those "short arm" surveys. I have visions now, of being inquisitioned by Senator Kennedy. The blog is indeed a great connector ~ Dom

Hello again, Dom, Every so often I take a peek at your blog. It's good that you've perplexed Andrew Gross, where he wonders how in the world I tracked down his Suburban Golf article about you. I wish it was a secret of the profession; but alas it was only the miracle of a web search for the 816th Engineers. Gross's article was posted online; simple as that. I dug out some of my father's unit photos, and there is one group picture of the 816th's officers in England. There he is, and there you are -- pretty much at opposite ends of the picture. I hope it wasn't a personal statement! Not to worry about your (ahem) professional exams of the men each month violating their rights to privacy. (What a great cartoon from the unit history!) After all, like the man said, "War is hell." My one question is, did the C.O. have a private showing? As for the history of the book, and anything else, please do turn on your reminiscer, Dom ~ Earle

Earle, Not long ago, I revisited the ancient tenement where I spent the earliest years of my childhood. What an otherworldly experience it was! As I walked the halls and touched the walls, memories poured out like effervescent wine from a freshly opened bottle of champagne. Your letters are having the same effect. How regrettably sad it is that you barely knew your father before he passed on. But how wonderfully good it is, to see the reverence for him that you nourish and keep alive. I feel honored to have made your acquaintance and I am profoundly grateful to you for helping to make this particular blog post so warm and so connected.

A reminiscence: The single, most vivid personal memory I have of the war, is preparing to ride or wade onto the blood stained sands of Normandy. From horizon to horizon, ships and landing craft of every description were crisscrossing swiftly in every direction. Battleships, cruisers and destroyers were firing salvos at the beaches and artillery shells of every caliber were being fired back at us by the Germans. The sun was totally eclipsed by myriads of warplanes bombarding their targets while countless corpses and sinking craft were floating and drifting everywhere. And what was the thought that obsessed me? Eye witnessing this awesome, transcendental historical moment, left me with no cerebral room for fear ~ Dom

Dom, Fascinating connection with son of your army buddy. I laughed about the part about your ability to connect with private parts not faces. You are having a ball with blogging ~ Paul Cipes

Hi Papa, I just read your 816 Battalion post and found it very interesting. I'm not sure why I haven't asked you more about your WW II experiences. I would love to talk more about it with you. I've thought about this before, but haven't pursued it. I would love to have a family documentary with your experiences. I know it would be something we all would cherish. Maybe I could encourage my cousins to join me in creating something together! ~ Elaine Connery

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