Sunday, January 13, 2008

Q - Who do you look like, your mom or dad? Describe
A
- My aunts and uncles have told me that I look like my father. Mom agrees and says that some of her Vietnamese friends also agree. (Maybe that is just a case of all Caucasians looking the same.) Mom says that my mouth looks like grandma’s when I am not smiling. I am about an inch or so taller than grandpa and have about the same build and shoe size. He was slimmer than me when he was young and a little bigger around the waist when he was older. Uncle Willard says we all have the Hahn “barrel chest” and short stature. Hahn is great grandma Freda’s family name. Grandpa and I both have blue eyes and gray hair after age 50-55. While younger, grandpa’s hair was darker than mine, dark brown, but we were both blond as children. Fortunately, neither of us lost our hair. Unlike me, he had a small mustache (cookie duster) most of his adult life. We were both snorers, as was grandma. Although I look more like grandpa, my temperament is more like grandma’s. Grandpa was more excitable and quicker to get upset, although not as much as mom.
Grandpa liked to make and fix things of all kinds. He also liked cars. Both of these characteristics he got from his dad and I got them from him. The interest in cars actually came from great great grandpa Kurber who owned and operated a taxi company in Germany around 1900. He had horse-drawn carriages and was one of the first in town to buy an automobile(s), which he also used as a taxi. He taught his stepson, great grandpa Latteier, to drive cars (and repair them), which is how great grandpa got a job as a chauffeur for President Joseph F. Smith around 1910 or 1912. Although grandpa didn’t like to mechanically work on cars, he did like to buy, drive, and take care of cars. He often washed his cars on weekends and at lease twice a year would clean and wax them. (Cars didn’t have clear coats then so waxing was more important to protect the finish.) So, Peter, you have a long heritage of car fanciers.

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