In 1862, at twenty-one, my great-great-grandfather John Hodges Wadhams left Goshen, Connecticut, to seek his fortune in the West. In 1992, almost exactly 130 years later, I began keeping seriously the journal of my own early adulthood. John was the son of an old Connecticut farming family. Church, town, party, father and Civil War suppliedContinue reading “The Court of Final Appeal”
Tag Archives: Barker
The DiGiovanni Lineage
When my Uncle Tony first met Heidi, then my fiancée, he quipped with his particular brand of sardonic judgment, “She will improve the Barker gene pool.” Tony was a University of Chicago-trained lawyer, and brevity was part of the joke. There was no accompanying argument. None was necessary. He knew the Barkers. Viewed objectively, theContinue reading “The DiGiovanni Lineage”
It’s A Wonderful Life
It’s a Wonderful Life was my father’s favorite film, and now, years after his death, I see why: it honors the difficult grace of choosing a small life on purpose. George Bailey thinks he has forfeited greatness but the film quietly insists he has achieved it. Part of the movie’s power comes from James StewartContinue reading “It’s A Wonderful Life”
Protective Arts 