9/17/2023 0 Comments Whats so funny tad friend![]() On the question of how to pronounce "tomato," for instance, the family was split. My grandparents were distant constellations, and as they wheeled across the sky I felt unshadowed by their marriages, their affairs, their remarriages, or their quarrels. Though my parents gave me love and learning and all the comforts, I believed I could go it alone. ![]() I believed my character had been formed by charged moments and impressions - the drift of snow, the peal of church bells, the torrent of light cascading through the elms out front into our sunporch. I believed, then, that my family was not my fate. ![]() As my grandparents happened to constitute a Wasp compass, the way ahead was marked in all directions: I could proceed as a Robinson like Grandma Tim's family (loquacious, madcap, sometimes unhinged) a Pierson like Grandpa John's family (bristling with brains) a Holton like Grandma Jess's family (restless, haughty show ponies) or a Friend like Grandpa Ted's family (moneyed, clubbable, and timid). When I graduated from Shipley, a small prep school in Bryn Mawr, my father's mother, Grandma Jess, wrote to congratulate me on my academic record: "A truly tremendous achievement - but then I could expect nothing less due to your marvelous background - Robinson, Pierson, Holton, Friend!" I remember scowling at her airy blue script, noting the point - after the first dash - where the compliment turned into a eugenic claim. ![]() Cheerful Money: Me, My Family, and the Last Days of Wasp Splendor ![]()
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