It was one hundred years ago today, Dear Reader, that the young man in this photo joined the human race. June 11, 1920. This man raced for eighty-six years before he trotted to the finish line in 2006. He would have said he "bit the dust" or "went to meet his maker" or used some such colorful mode of describing his ending.
Daniel (I did not know him yet at the time of this photo) was smart and funny and known for his hijinks and wisecracks. When I met him, he was still in his twenties and his family was about to double. A few minutes after I said
hello (Don't make me spell it all out, Reader Dear. I cried when we met. Six minutes later my twin brother was born.)
My father and mother had married in November of 1941. As my father told it, "
We got married one week, and all hell broke loose the next!"* (*American history--Pearl Harbor). My older brother and sister, subsequently, had gotten my father an exemption from fighting in World War II. Now, his
four children (and six years later, a fifth) got him an exemption from taking life easy. Though, truth be told, Reader Dear, if you knew this man at all, you know he possessed
no inclination for sitting back and twiddling his thumbs. He loved to be busy, no matter his life situation.
 |
My father standing between his two brothers. I don't know the year,
but likely it was taken when all of his children were as yet
"just a gleam in his eye"** |
And he had a lot to do! With all his natural talents and abilities, Dear Reader, had you dropped in somewhere during his eighty-six years, you'd have likely found him:
playing pranks, plucking chickens, telling stories, delivering bottles of milk [dairy bottles made of glass], being ornery, installing a toilet, solving riddles, piloting a speedboat, starting a business, taking his family of multiple small kids on long car trips-- (think
Blue Ridge Parkway), building a pier, making puzzles, working on an engine, living on a sailboat, shucking oysters, listening to radio shows--(think
DeKoven Presents)
, helping a friend in trouble, running multiple businesses, installing a water heater, reading his Bible, preparing barbecued chicken for a crowd, helping a stranger in distress, water-skiing, threatening to give me or my siblings "
what Paddy gave the drum", building things, telling a joke, fixing things, building houses, making up math problems, whistling and singing, traveling near, traveling far, traveling often, solving puzzles, reading books of all kinds, solving math problems, shelling pecans, entertaining grandchildren, caning chairs...
It would be a task far too great for me to make an exhaustive list. Or a fair and balanced list (you know, Dear One, equal assets and flaws). But there it is, my list.
One hundred years thence.
**********
Two mealtime prayers, impressed in the memory of a son-in-law:
"
One mackerel for four of us; thank God there aren't more of us!"
"Good bread, good meat; good God, let's eat!"
**His expression
