> My father, however, told the story that a relation in the family made violins from tea chests. > A bit of a come down. Hi, Peter,     Unfortunately, my stepdad never told a story that he couldn't embellish.  He'd even read things in the paper, then repeat them with all the details scrambled or exaggerated to suit his purpose.  Then, as a lad in school, I met another boy who did the same thing.  Others used to laugh at him.  That made me wonder if people were laughing at my dad and I found that terribly embarrassing.     In my dad's case, I soon discovered that part of the problem was his poor reading skills.  He'd been pulled out of school at age 12 to work the family farm and I suspect that he'd missed school in the past during harvests.  He was the oldest and was expected to help on the farm as soon as he was "old enough".  From what I've read about schooling in England, that appears to have been a common problem in England, too.  So when my dad would read something, he often had to "interpret" terms he didn't understand.  He may also have had a learning disfunction.  In those days, they didn't asses one's learning skills or abilities.         Lou