Re: St. Clairs

[CGellis@aol.com]

Dear Jean, I hope the holidays find you and Bill well and happy.  I feel that 
I have been out of touch for such a long time but we have finally completed 
our move back to Virginia.  We are in Blacksburg where we started our life 
together all those years ago and it is absolute heaven.  I know that you 
can't truly go home again as everything changes by the moment but this is as 
good as it gets for me.  Do you have Lillian's address or phone number handy 
as I can't find it among the boxes and mess we live in for the time being.  
We moved into our house on the Friday before Thanksgiving and had 11 people 
for the BIG dinner including 3 for the weekend and we have just today put 
Carl's 92 year old father on the plane for home after two weeks and the 
family celebration here.  I am absolutely not complaining because tis why we 
came back, but my timing could have been better!  Do you know ilf anyone has 
turned up either where our great Uncle Jim went or where our Alexander came 
from?  With all these descendents one would think some of us would have the 
luck to find the answer to the question.  Our daughter is with us for the 
holidays from Los Angeles and brought the tapes of the HBO special Band of 
Brothers, if you haven't seen it try to get a copy or watch for the reruns. 
We had a cousin in the 101 paratroopers who was in a POW camp for quite a 
while and my father drove an LST at Omaha Beach so it is always an emotional 
journey for me as it must be for many of us of this generation.  I tried to 
tell everyone why I am so grateful for the opportunity to return home and all 
I could think of to say was the bit of a quote I remember of Charles Kuralt 
that a Virginian never gets the dirt from under their nails no matter how far 
they move, and it seems to be especially true for our family.  I have been 
able to read the letters concering the recent unpleasentness in out beloved 
country and although I know we have our faults I believe we are among the 
most generous of people and those who resent our help and prosperity are free 
to say "no thank you". I try to stay off the family with my political views 
and have no desilre to restart the latest deluge although I must say I do 
love it when the StClair starts coming out in everyone.  With that said I bid 
all a best of holidays whatever they celebrate and may we all find some peace 
and brotherhood in the coming year.  Charlotte Gellis, Charles P. StClair's 
granddaughter 
[ This is the Sinclair family discussion list, sinclair@quarterman.org
[ To get off or on the list, see http://sinclair.quarterman.org/list.html