Great Uncle Roger

For as long as I can remember, Dad sarcastically referred to Mom's Uncle Roger as "the uncle with the sparkling wit and effervescent personality." My great-uncle Roger apparently was pretty dull.

I was quite young the last time I saw my late uncle and don't remember much about him. One thing I know (besides his personality) is that he was hired by William Allen White at the Emporia Gazette and worked there as a journalist for his entire career.

Now, as my parents are days away from moving out of the house I grew up in and into an assisted living center, I brought home a few treasures from my childhood home that have special meaning and should always be in our family. Yesterday I returned from Kansas with Uncle Roger's 1930s Royal Portable typewriter. It's beautiful and works like new. It's particularly special to me because I graduated from the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas, named for Uncle Roger's employer.

I can't help thinking about the things Uncle Roger might have typed on this old Royal. This little typewriter just might have helped document a lot of history.