Touching the Past

The little boy on the right in this photo (larger here), WGW, is my maternal grandfather, who fought in World War I but escaped injury. His younger brother by 2-1/2 years, HMW, was not as lucky -- he was left with nerve damage from shell shock or gas.

The United States entered World War I in April 1917. I expect that this undated photo of HMW and his nephew -- my uncle -- was taken just before he enlisted.

HMW made this brass bowl while he was in a rehabilitation hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, after the war. He died in an auto accident in 1929.

I remember my mother always having fresh fruit in this bowl while we were growing up. With my sister E's death in May, my other sister and I inherited the bowl, and we, with the approval of our children, are passing it on to one of our cousin's sons, FMW, who is deeply interested in genealogy. I am packaging the bowl up to mail to him, and thought that this blip would be a good farewell for it. FMW shares our great-uncle's middle name, and we know we are placing this family heirloom into good hands.