Treasure Chest Thursday -- Beginning an inventory, Part 4

What's in a Wallet? What's in a name?

Debra Ann Newton
(myself)

I once heard that a wallet tells a story about the person who carries it. Mine is a small, black, zippered wallet which came with my purse, containing only a few coins, some "plastic", a library card, a Barnes and Nobel Membership card, and various other  member services cards, some business cards and the phone numbers of my employees, several scripture cards, and my State ID (I don't drive). It serves as an illustration of a Christian manager with an affinity for books and discounts.

Within the file box of my Dad's belongings from his dresser drawers was his wallet. When I showed it to my husband, he said, "Yeah. It's a wallet." He had little interest in what was inside the wallet. Perhaps he felt it was too personal to look through it . . . or perhaps it was just too mundane. But with my underlying belief that by the contents of a person's wallet a story can be told, I began to examine it thoughtfully.

Doris (Silverman) & Richard Newton
(my parents)

Measuring 4 1/4" x 7 1/4" folded, the brown leather Prince Gardner bi-fold opens to a place on the left side where a driver's license would be placed. No driver's license . . . just a folded, yellow card: 

NEED REGISTRY INFORMATION?
Visit our website on the Internet at at (sic)
https://www.magnet.state.ma.us/rmv.

On the right side of the wallet are empty pockets for "MEMOS" and bills.

Inside there are larger pockets on each side, containing thick piles of cards on the left side, and a tattered and yellowed envelope with my mother's handwriting:

Dick's Cards
84
86

David Francis Newton
(my paternal uncle)

The first item in the pile on the left side was my Dad's Social Security card. What interested me was not only how the cards have changed over the years, but that this card had my Dad's name as: Richard Allyn Newton. There is an interesting controversy over the spelling of his middle name in our family. It seems that the middle name derived from Deacon Allen Newton, the son of Nahum Jr. and Damaris (Brigham) Newton, born in Paxton, Worcester, MA on April 3, 1791. My Aunt Helen (Newton) Beers' typewritten notes state:

. . . . The mother of Damaris Brigham was Miriam Allen and this could have been the origin of the name Allen in connection with the Newton family. (Have been told Grandmother Newton used the spelling ALLYN because she liked it but that was not the spelling used by the namesake who was known and (sic) Deacon Allen Newton and Grandmother hoped he might become as good a man as the namesake." [in reference to my grandfather, Francis Allyn Newton; p. 4]

Harriet (Jones) Newton
(my paternal grandmother)

Farther down the page, my aunt writes:

Clippings from Dr. Gore's grandmother's Bible:
one reads:
"In Greene, N. Y., Feb. 27--Deacon Allen Newton, aged 79 years.
Feb. 28--His wife, Marcia Newton--77 yrs."
It speaks of their being very devout and faithful members of the Baptist church in Greene, and adds they were "buried in one grave."

I remember as a child, my mother telling me that my Grandma Newton [Harriet (Jones) Newton] had changed the spelling back to Allen when my Dad was born; but there seemed to be some confusion in my Dad's mind as to whether she had maintained the spelling of my grandfather's name [Francis Allyn Newton], or had changed it back. Every other document, including my Dad's military service records, list his middle name as Allen.

Doris & Abby (King) Silverman
(my Mom & maternal grandmother)

Just as every wallet contains the story of a man's life, so does his Social Security card.

1. Underneath lie a duplicate of his Selective Service System Registration Certificate with his Johnson City, NY address where he grew up;
2. his VA (Veteran's Administration) identification card, recording his address in Washington, D.C.;
3. library cards to three Western MA city libraries; 
4. a photo of our daughter, Vanessa, at age 2 years 7 months; 
5. some medical insurance cards; 
6. a  business card holder containing his professional cards, one with his handwritten note across the back: "Handy Man" with phone number; 
7. a Lenten Prayer card;
8. and his Commonwealth of Massachusetts Transportation Access Pass, tucked inside a burgundy, vinyl holder. . . and his appointment card for FRANKLIN - HAMPSHIRE EYE CARE. "Next scheduled appointment: 8-98." Note: my Dad died of metastatic optic melanoma on August 30, 2004.

David Allen Silverman
(my maternal uncle)

Inside the envelope on the right side of the wallet was:

1.  his library card for UMASS/Amherst;
2. Amherst Council on Aging Official Identification Card;
3. his card for NYSUT 1885-1997 (New York State United Teachers);
4. and, an assortment of photos, some shown throughout.

So, what does this say about my Dad's life?

To me it illustrates a man with close family ties, whose in-laws were as close to him as his own . . . a man who served his country and his God . . . who passed on his love of books and libraries to his daughter . . . and who strove to develop his craft as well as his profession . . . a man who aged, became ill and died . . . a man who lived a good life.

Wisdom Wednesday -- the wisdom of my grandfather

Doris Shirley Silverman (my Mom)
Mark Silverman (1905 - 1966)

My grandfather, Mark Silverman, whom I affectionately called Pop Pop, was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants who came to this country during the Pogroms of Czar Nicholas. He was a dedicated son and hard worker who left school following the death of his father to get a job and help support his family.


He died of cancer when I was just four years old, but I have fond memories of him playing Tiddlywinks, taking me to the park, pushing me on the swings, going for walks and getting ice cream.


My mother always told me throughout my childhood of the advice he gave her while growing up...


Ecclesiastes 9:10a
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.

And with it, the advice of Polonius to his son, Laertes...

This above all: to thine own self be true,

And it must follow, as the night the day,

Thou canst not then be false to any man.

William Shakespeare, Hamlet, I, iii, 78-80

Mom reminded me of a third thing just the other day . . .

Be honest unto pain of death.

Happy 56th Wedding Anniversary Mom & Dad

Set up on a blind date...

               ...it was love at first sight.

My parents' story is one of obstacles overcome...a testimony that true love does exist and that it can last until death do us part.

Richard Allen Newton was born on April 10, 1933 in Binghamton, NY to Francis & Harriet (JONES) NEWTON, their first-born. His father was the son of an English farmer of Binghamton, NY, and his mother the daughter of a Welsh coal miner of Scranton, PA.  Dad always said that it was his mother who had encouraged his talents by providing art instruction and drum lessons. About a year or so after his graduation from Johnson City High School, Dad enlisted as a Certified Regimental Drummer in the Air Force Drum and Bugle Corps. http://usafdrumcorps.us/pages/historymain.html

Doris Shirley Silverman was born on June 15, 1930 in Easton, PA to Mark & Abbie Simmons (KING) SILVERMAN, their first-born. Her father was the son of Orthodox Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire (now Lithuania), and her mother was the daughter of English parents from Rhode Island. Her paternal great grandfathers, David Silverman (the first Cantor and acting Rabbi) and Wolf Weisfield were among the founders of Bnai Abraham Synagogue in Easton, PA. http://www.bnaiabraham.org/history.html Following graduation from Easton High School, Mom pursued her goal of becoming a career woman as a proofreader of technical journals at Mack Printing. 

Two of Mom's school chums had married, relocated, and were stationed at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, DC, where my Dad was stationed. Dad and Donald became friends, and at their urging, Dad agreed to come home with them to Easton on their next furlough to meet a girl they thought would be just right for him. 

It was love at first sight.

When Dad went to her house to pick her up for their double date to the Boy Scout Jamboree, Mom said she thought he was so cute that she forgot her name! And Dad got so flustered that when my grandfather came in with the dry cleaning in his hand, he offered to take the garments from him, thinking he was the delivery man from the cleaners! In spite of their initial reactions...or perhaps because of them...they were soon to discover that their destiny was sealed.

When my grandfather found out that her beau was only 19-years-old, she being 2 years and 10 months older, he told them that they could no longer see each other until that young man was 21. He was afraid that the white slavery laws of the time might interfere with his daughter's well-being, and he wasn't taking any chances. Mom said, 

Dick was such a little guy, and Daddy was a big, strapping laborer who had worked hard all his life; but your Dad told him, "Mr. Silverman, I'm going to keep seeing your daughter until she tells me otherwise." So Daddy said that if we agreed that we could see each other in our living room

until your Dad turned 21.

So Dad would hitch-hike from D.C. to Easton every furlough he got just to spend time with Mom, and every date thereafter took place in her living room...with the exception of one anniversary dinner...and was chaperoned by her father.

There was just one more obstacle to overcome before they could be married. Although Dad was raised in a Baptist home and accepted Christ in the Primitive Methodist Church, in the service he had become a practicing Catholic [that's another story]. Mom agreed to convert to Catholicism, but when the priests told her that she would have to declare that the Catholic Church was the one true church and denounce her parents, she could not find it in her heart to do that. Dad asked her if she wanted him to become Jewish, and she said no. Ever since she was a child and had heard the song, Jesus Loves Me, she had wanted to know more about Him but never wanted to break her Daddy's heart. They decided to visit Wesley Methodist Church in Phillipsburg, NJ. Even her father liked the Reverand Mabry.

When Mom's friends and co-workers heard that she would be leaving her well-paid job at Mack Printing to move to Washington, DC, they thought she was crazy. But love will do things to you like that. 

And they lived happily ever after.

I'm not saying that there weren't difficult times ahead. They faced many obstacles together, but they were always content so long as they were together. 

Dad died two months before their 50th Wedding Anniversary of metastatic optic melanoma, yet the family history project continues. He is missed, but never forgotten. We love you, Dad! 

Happy 56th Wedding Anniversary!!!