Senior Moments

Dad at Floyd and Marty's house. July, 1963.

The picture above is a scan of a slide made in the summer of 1963.  The man is my father, and he is taking movies of a family gathering.  We were at the home of my aunt and uncle (Dad’s younger brother).  Dad’s sister was there as well, as were my brothers and sister and various cousins.

I’m very fortunate in that my Dad is still with us — he’ll be 97 in August.  The event at which the picture was taken was a farewell party given for my parents.  His company was moving from Gary, Indiana, to Nashville, Tennessee, and although he was only a foreman he was one of six employees who was being moved.

Dad was born in Texas but moved with his parents to Arkansas when he was about six (he’s not sure).  He does remember having his first ice cream cone during the move.  While living in Arkansas he remembers making monthly trips to the store in a horse-drawn wagon.  He also remembers going to camp meetings with his family and falling asleep in the back of the wagon when the services ran long (as they usually did).

I’ve mentioned before that Dad built our house out in the county.  He did almost all the work himself — carpentry, plumbing and electrical.  He worked for a steel-fabricating company in Gary but he also worked our small farm. As my brother and I got older we were given the responsibility of doing the milking and feeding of the livestock.

Dad worked as a general foreman until he reached age 65, when he had to retire.  But he was prepared.  He had taught himself how to repair small appliances and started his own appliance repair business.  One of the high points of his repair business was a Thanksgiving Day call from June Carter Cash!  He went and got their oven working and saved the day for June and Johnny although my Mom’s Thanksgiving Day meal was somewhat delayed.  Mom finally made Dad retire again at age 80.

Dad can’t do all the things he once could do, but he still tries and is still very sharp.  I’m proud to call this man Dad.

Mom, Dad, Janet, Ken and me. Gallatin, Tennessee. June 16, 2009.

Last night (Tuesday) we had something of a family reunion.  We went back to the Nashville area (third time in two weeks) to meet Mom and Dad, my little brother Ken, and my baby sister Janet for dinner at Cracker Barrel.  Both Ken and Janet will object to my description, but that is how I think of them.

Janet is ten years younger than I am and lives here in Tennessee.  We take turns (alternate weeks) checking up on Mom and Dad, so we don’t see each other as often as we would like.

Ken is two years younger than I am.  He lives in northern Indiana, so he only gets down here once a year or so.  Since Ken and his wife are down here visiting, Mom and Dad got us all together for a couple of hours, at least.  It doesn’t happen often enough, but it is nice when it happens.

Betsy took the picture above.  Janet’s husband and Ken’s wife were making sure everyone was smiling.