Can You Find Me?
Letter to my Dead Siblings: April 6, 2026. Precompose Payment #40 of Seventy.
And can you find my grade-school crush, whom I invited to my Eighth Birthday Party and who was captured in my father's home movies?
Dear Irish Twins from Hopkins, Minnesota, and our Breathing Readers,
This is Page Two of the letter I posted in March, which closed with the 1960 Yearbook Picture of Lynn Dahlberg, who attended my Eighth Birthday Party, pictured above in stills from the 1950 Home Movie clip, I included in Page One.
The admin for the Hopkins High School 65th Reunion page on Facebook responded to my inquiry about contacting Lynn Dahlberg with an email address. I sent her a link to the Birthday clip and asked if she might be the person in the eye-catching cowgirl shirt sitting next to me at my Birthday Party. Lynn responded, and we gamely entered into an email conversation reproduced below.
Lynn: “That picture sure looks like me. In 1950, I was living in Hopkins, Minnesota. Dahlberg is my maiden name. I hope this helps.”
Me: “Thank you for your timely reply. Be well.”
Lynn: “I guess that means you didn’t grow up in Hopkins, Minnesota😂 If you find my ‘twin’, let me know. Thanks ….”
Me: “Oh yes, I did, and I took your response as a yes! You were the girl sitting next to me and would love to know, if possible, how it came about that I invited you to my Birthday Party? I have no memory of inviting you, as I’m sure you have no memory of attending my party.”
Lynn: “I went to Alice Smith Elementary for kindergarten, and I think 1st grade. Then, Katherine Curran (no idea if that’s spelled right), my dad had the Ford dealership in Hopkins, and we went to Gethsemane Lutheran Church. Do any of those make a connection?”
Me: No connections except for the Ford Dealership! Found this image on the Hopkins Walking Tour website.
This adventure of contacting you comes from my lifelong fascination with auto dealership families in small towns. I remember feeling proud that the ‘Dahlberg daughter’ was at my party! Wild, huh?
I am certain this is where I went to elementary grades, because the brick retaining wall is where Yo-Yo buskers would show up in the spring. My father saved all my report cards, and they show why I was sent to the nuns across the street at St. Joseph’s.
Lynn: “The picture of the school is the old Jr. High. That’s where I went to fourth grade, and then they built the second elementary where I went to fifth and sixth. Then back to the “Jr High” where I took Latin from the same teacher my mother had. The beauty of a small town.
My grandfather started Dahlberg Ford. His dad had an auto repair shop in Glen Lake. I’ve always been a Ford fan, as is my son. I guess it must be genetic.
My cousins went to St. Joseph’s too, but I doubt that’s the connection. Both my folks have passed away, so there’s no one to ask. Maybe our mothers were friends. My mom’s maiden name was Vickerman. When I was a baby, there was a picture of me with another baby, and the two of us ended up going to high school together.
You have triggered my curiosity about the connection. How long did you live in Hopkins? I left in 1968, although I still go back because I have cousins and a sister-in-law who still live there. Let me know if you come up with any other clues.
PS The cowboy shirt was probably my “uniform”. I was obsessed with horses, Roy Rogers, and the Lone Ranger. My mom was pretty sure I got switched at the hospital because that was the only reason she could think of that I wanted to be a cowboy.”
Me: I have a vague memory of a classroom setting where I was attracted to you and must have been bold enough to invite you to my birthday party in March 1950. This is my only clue based on my report card. But if you won’t be attending the school until the 4th grade, it doesn’t connect.
Anyway, I read about your family’s loss of the dealership around the time you graduated from high school. Did you leave for college? I left in 1960 to join the Army, then attended U of M in 1963, then Carnegie Mellon, and taught at Boston U for the magic seven years.
Lynn: “I was at Katherine Curren, I just [don’t] remember how many years.
I had a picture of one of the classes ( with the names on the back). I sent it off to a classmate who has taken on the history of the class of 1960. I reached out to her, so maybe that will lead somewhere. I think it’s safe to say we went to third grade together.*
Where did you graduate from high school?
I went to Jr College to kill time until I was old enough to become a stewardess and flew for Northwest for three years until I got married. We actually lived outside of Boston for a year.
Two years in California, and then took to the road in a VW camper and ended up in Dillon, Colorado, and have been here ever since. My last name is now Bauer. Dillon is in the mountains near Keystone, Breckenridge, and Copper Mountain, so skiing is a big deal here.
I’ll let you know if I come up with any new info. Thanks for the birthday party. It looks like we were having fun! Maybe you started my lifelong love of birthdays😂.”
Me: March 9th. And the school name, Katherine Curren, is on my report card! Connection reconnected: 3rd Grade, Hopkins Public School, 1950/51, and look at what I found in the family album!
I am in the center of the front row, the only kid with glasses, what a burden it was, but I will need your help to pick you out.
Lynn: “I have solved part of our problem. We were in different classes. My third-grade teacher was Miss Lynch. I didn’t like her!"
I contacted a classmate, and she sent pictures of 1st through 4th via text. I have to figure out how to email them to you. With luck, you should get them shortly🤪”
(Note: This is when I went back to check my family albums again, and found the class picture posted at the top of the page!)
Me: Solved: We were in Miss McGrew’s class together! I’m the fourth one in from the left, first row, and you are the fourth in from the right in the second row. Bingo~w.
Lynn: “Nice job. If you notice, you had on cowboy boots. Another bongo!
Lynn sent me a Birthday Card, postmarked 9 MAR 2026: “Who would have thought we would be celebrating your birthday 74 years later! I am glad for your family movies.”
A story to honor the memory of our father, as the resolute home movie maker he was, my Sweet Irish twins in death? We miss you every day, and to our living readers, remember to focus on the breath at least once a day!
If you are new to this Letter, please follow this link to learn what’s going on here ~w.
Nice detective work, Warner. I did pick you out as one of two possibilities in the first pic. Missed on Lynn, however. I, too, had cowboy boots sometime in the early grades, as well as a cowboy shirt. My mom wouldn't let me wear my six gun and holster to school. She was a teacher herself. So I had to be content shooting all the kids in the neighborhood.