The fatal flaw in the flood.

There’s the humor, wit, and warmth of some people who’ve died, and the act of missing them anew. That’s bittersweet.

Yeah, on a far less personal level, I found reading older copies of American Heritage, a history magazine, of interest, and there is an echo of that in what you’re discussing, I think —

Looking at things like that is a time capsule of how you (and others) thought about certain things in a context which may have radically changed… A comment from one person who you did not know (then) would die soon, for example, adds an interesting aspect to whatever was discussed. Or a parent talking about a child, and knowing years later how the child’s life went, and possibly seeing how the comment revealed something of how that life would go in some regard, but which you never would have seen at the time…

This is the appeal of “Time Capsules” as a concept, but it does a much better job of exposing it than anything in a single capsule has. You begin to view the meta — the element of historical studies about history itself — as something you personally can comprehend, and how — and why — “history” varies somewhat with time (Note that I’m not talking about politically motivated re-writing of history — I’m talking about changes in historical perspective tied to developing information on the longer term affect of some event — commentary about the Cold War in 1983, when no one would have imagined the collapse of the USSR was only 6-7 years away).

American Heritage is “history at this moment” that generally isn’t all that dry, as reading a 70yo history book likely would be…

American Heritage back issues are available/accessible online:
https://www.americanheritage.com/magazine/archive

As an example, reading articles about the moon landings when they were still happening. Or about the Cold War, in from the variable perspective of the 50s, 60s, 70s, or 80s. Or post-Soviet Russia in the 1990s. Or about The Gulf War in a 1993 article. Or the presidencies of Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan… etc., when they were still “in effect”.

It’s not just a matter of the information they contain, it’s also all about the outlook of the times they occurred in, or the “retrospective” view of something in the recent past vs. the “ancient history” (e.g., a “done deal” with most of the relevance/repercussions wrung out of it) which it has now essentially become.

Commentaries about presidential scandals ca. 1974, compared with something related written about Clinton, or Obama, or Trump.

P.S., there is also a related magazine about the history of invention and techology.

https://www.inventionandtech.com/magazine/archive

By Steam to the Moon:
https://www.inventionandtech.com/content/steam-moon-1

The “Invention” of Caisson Disease (aka “The Bends”):
https://www.inventionandtech.com/content/under-pressure-1

The Race to Invent Video:
https://www.inventionandtech.com/content/race-invent-video
Related: “The Color War”:
https://www.inventionandtech.com/content/color-war-1
Also related: “The Color War Goes To The Moon”:
https://www.inventionandtech.com/content/color-war-goes-moon-1

Now — most of these are, unlike American Heritage, all that “interesting” in perspective.

But I found this one quite interesting:
https://www.inventionandtech.com/content/pumps-new-orleans-1
Fall 1992
Money-quote:
The linchpin of the entire system—pumps, spillways, the works—is the levee. Most levees are made of earth and carefully calculated to withstand the force of the river. Engineers must take into account everything from the stability of different soil types to the centrifugal force of water at river bends to build a safe levee. Taken with the control structures upstream, the levee system around New Orleans could protect the city from virtually any river flood possible. The levees are also built to take a direct hit from a Category 3 hurricane, the other major natural disaster that the city might have to face. A Category 3 generates twelve-foot tides and 130-miles-perhour winds. In 1969 Hurricane Camille, with twenty-six-foot tides and 190-mph winds, missed New Orleans by sixty miles. It smacked Gulfport, Mississippi, instead, leaving bodies hanging from trees and floating in the gulf. Hundreds of people were killed, and 200,000 had to evacuate. If Camille had hit the more densely populated New Orleans area, the toll would have been much worse. At this point a Camille-type hurricane is about the only thing that could overwhelm New Orleans.

https://www.irishcentral.com/homepage/the-moving-letters-of-a-family-to-their-son-in-america-after-the-famine

Hear the song here:

https://youtu.be/ovlB4O1jY54

and Ruth – that sounds just priceless.

I remember when I was a kid and being the nerd that loved collecting stamps this elderly couple that my father worked for gave me all their old postcards from a pre-WWII trip to Europe so that I could have the stamps. While the stamps were great what was more fascinating to me was what they wrote on the postcards explaining the situation in Europe at the time! Unfortunately, once my father found out that I was reading them instead of soaking the stamps off – he demanded that I “stop invading their privacy” and soak the stamps off right away and throw out the postcards! I guess that I am a hoarder as I still have the stamps.

My brother was recently cleaning out our parent’s house and found an old metal box filled with all my letters that I had written home from when I was in college, and especially all the letters/postcards I sent from when I lived in East Asia. Boy, what a trip it was for me to start reading those.

It also makes me think of what is lost when the current generation is sending everything by email/text – what will their children find? The same is true with old photos – a lot is being lost to future generations by everything being digital and therefore, easy to delete.

What a treasure trove!

My ex and I were always very close. But the divorce was very traumatic and there was a lot of stress and bitterness for maybe five years or so. Then we became close again. We also both love our child and grandchildren very very much and have always been on the same page about that, which helps. Our child was college age at the time of the split, which also helped.

Incredible! What a legacy, and responsibility. Seems like you’re up to the task!

We later found a bound set of his letters home from the war. He was an Infantry platoon leader and occasional company commander until they could find another captain.
He had his mom and mine convinced he was driving the chaplains around division rear.
This lasted until his Silver Star and third Purple Heart hit the local paper. The tone of the letters changed and I couldn’t get into them.