Einstein's Brain!

I love Albert Einstein... he always reminded me of a Koala bear, small, fuzzy, cute and unexpectedly grumpy but mostly good natured.   Add to that the awesome brain power, the intense curiosity and love of thinking, invention, compassion, regret.  Good humor, great hair and tweed suits... he is an icon, a modern god of playful intelligence that is at once blinding in its brilliance and shabby in the side chair.  If I get to choose what God-the-Father would look like, I'll take Albert any day.

And guess what?  On our roadtrip, in Philadelphia at the Mutter Museum, Einstein's brain is on display!  I am absurdly happy to know that, and to know that I will be able to see it- and with a bit of luck, photograph it.  Nothing of the mystery and pleasure of the image of Einstein is reduced for me by the gross anatomy- instead it is like visiting the relic of a saint...I understand pilgrimages and the desire to inspect some martyr's thumb.  It's wanting to see a part of them, try to know *why* they are different.... 

Yesterday Mother told me she lived in Philadelphia during the war, worked there maybe, loved the city.  I didn't quite know that- I knew Jack went to Temple University, and I think Gladys studied nursing there for a bit, but that is a whole chapter of family history that I don't know about.  There are so many stories I don't know and I would like to- I'm great at remembering what I experienced first hand, and much of what was told at dinner tables and in living rooms...but there are giant chunks that I don't know and would like to.  I'm not bored by it, I am fascinated...and would love to sit and listen and draw it all down, or read what is written (handwriting doesn't matter) or hear a recording- I wonder what happened to all the recordings that Jack and Dad made.  They used to send letters back and forth via tape recorder.....  at the time I wasn't interested, and I don't know what became of them, if anyone bothered to save them- or the recordings of the old ladies at Eiffler house, other things.  I have all the photos, all the letters written to me, family trees and even the collection of hair- but not those.  I wonder what was on them.... I know Dad loved to write, to tell stories and was very good at it- I know Jack loved to think, to talk, to collect information.  I do both in my own way- this blog is like diaries and letters, an open book, and information?  I have tons. And heaps. And gobs of it~ I want to know everything.

I wonder what it would be like if my family had the internet as a communication tool back then- I can see Dad loving to write, keeping a blog, sending emails.  I can see Mother avidly a fan of pintrest and polyvore- using her skills of design and taste to collect and create for herself and others.  I can see Jack still able to work and research and discuss without the limits of the bed and body- but part of the collective conscious, shaping the way we think. I really think that in another world and time, they would enjoy these tools immensely, find that the ease of creation and communication is accessible to everyone.  It is one of my things, this wanting to know- this wanting to time travel back and see and know what everyone thought about, listen more closely to the stories, explore the scary rooms and closets of Auntie Lou's house, discuss the psychology, thought and science with Jack.  Make art with Mother, let Granny Wrye make me over just once, go antiquing with Aunt Gladys, explore the desert with Uncle Don.  Listen to Popop talk about the old country and soccer and the mills, be quiet and still and listen to the stories adults tell when they forget you are in the room.  There was so much I don't remember and didn't understand- and want to know.  History is my family treasure, stories are my heirlooms.