My father-in-law, Charles Weinman, was one of the finest gentleman I’ve ever had the good fortune to know. He was also one of the most intelligent men anyone could hope to meet in a day’s march.
As a teenager, I fell hopelessly in love with his daughter, Denise. Then, when after a fairly lengthy courtship, I wrote to Charles asking for the hand of his only daughter in marriage, his reply was brief and sententious. Giving his consent, he replied, "I don’t intend this to be a homily. Both of you are well in command of your senses to make the right decisions…” I was twenty seven and Denise was three years younger than me.
Unfortunately Charles didn’t live long enough to see his grandson, Wayne, who arrived a couple of years after the Old Man passed away.
Another grandfather whose life span was too short to afford him the opportunity to rejoice in the birth of what was to be his only granddaughter, Denise, was Dr. Weinman. I do not remember his given name/names but I do remember Charles telling me that his father was “of Jewish extract”. Certainly, the name (pronounced ‘whyman’) suggests that this would have been so..
One of my greatest regrets in this regard is that I didn’t have the curiosity and perhaps the downright impudence, as a young man, to pick the brains of my elders, long and hard, so that I may be privy to some very interesting and useful information about family history that I would have been able to pass on to the generation that has succeeded mine. However, whether in this day and age, that generation would consider any such information valuable is a moot point!
| This is a photograph of the late Dr. Weinman, the oldest I have of any family member, living or dead – a man I never got to know. |
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