Goldbugs

A few weeks ago I went to my Work Father-in-law’s funeral. Or, alternatively, the man at work who is my “Work Husband” suffered the loss of his father, and I went to the funeral. It came up that both the father and the mother attended my Mom’s high school, McKinley High. I got Mom’s yearbooks from my closet so I could take them to work.

The yearbook was the “Nugget.” Because President McKinley ran on the gold standard, McKinley students were the “Goldbugs” and the yearbook was the “Nugget.” I mean, that’s just freaking weird. Like, “Hi, we’re the Nixon ‘Burglars’, and this is our yearbook the ‘Scandal.’”

I didn’t look too closely, but of the yearbooks (’50 to ’54), two were covered with signatures. “Did she graduate twice?” I wondered.

When I got them to work and Work Husband and I were searching for his Mom, we realized that the first signature-covered yearbook didn’t belong to Mom, but her older sister Delores. That’s Delores who died in the car accident heading to visit Mom at Mizzou.

So, it was my dead aunt’s yearbook! And, even better, Work Husband’s mom had signed it.

“Delores – Loads of Luck! I wish you the best in your future endeavors. Love, Dot.”

Sadly, Dot is dead herself, so Work Husband can’t go home and present his Mom with her faux pas. “Look! You signed this woman’s yearbook ‘Loads of Luck’ and then she DIED the next year.”