1980—Rejoicing and Genevieve

Rick and I were helping Mitt and Ann Romney, our Cambridge Ward neighbors, to move from a small house “on the flats” in Belmont to a bigger place on Belmont Hill. In their garage, Rick came across an Appalachian dulcimer, and he asked Mitt what it was. “Oh, it’s just something somebody gave my dad when he was running for President. You can throw it away.” “Gee, could I keep it?” “Sure, why not?” Rick may correct me on this, but I’m not aware that he had ever before touched a stringed instrument. He promptly learned what it was and how to play it, named it Genevieve, and within weeks was performing in public. Took lessons from Lorraine Lee, a Cambridge-area resident and principal exponent of the dulcimer. He subsequently mastered banjo, guitar, and string bass and played in a ska band (“Swim, Herschel, Swim”) in his college days. The music room in his Centerville home (in 2011) displays several lovely instruments.

Rick’s 15th was a suitably major occasion in late September. So was Debbie’s 6th, earlier that month, but I can’t seem to lay my hands on a photo, just now. Brent, of course, is an old hand on the guitar, and so Timbaloo resonated to some fine music. A bit folky for Pappy’s taste, to be sure—he used to worry about Brent’s politics, when he got into guitar and such in the Sixties—but I’ve never noticed any socialist tendencies in my cherished little brother.

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