The Rev. Randolph and Donna Geminder
For some reason which always escaped us, our son Damian had a fascination with maps and geography. He particularly found dead ends captivating, and we would take Sunday drives with him strapped in his car seat, reading the local map of our village. He would shout navigational commands, advising us to turn left here and right there, leading us to the ends of various streets. Friends in the highway department actually presented him with his own regulation, diamond-shaped yellow “DEAD END” sign, which we hung in his room.
His cartological prowess, we believe, reached its acme in kindergarten when the teacher assigned the children to draw a picture of God’s creativity.” Produced were crayoned portrayals of deformed birds, stick-figured people, stumpy trees, etc. Imagine the teacher’s surprise when he checked out Damian’s accurate map of the world. As he praised Damian for such an unbelieveable achievement for a 5-year-old, our boy apologized, offering, “I’m sorry I couldn’t fit in Madagascar… It’s on the back!”
Read Damian’s sister’s memories of him here.
Find our tribute to our late Director of Public Education and Editor here.
