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| Prompt this week was Unfulfilled |
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| A & M Stillwater as Dad may have known it. |
I knew what I wanted. What was my dad’s like as a boy? I was unfulfilled as he passed away before I
could question him completely. What I
knew of him was as a father. I knew that he was accomplished, he went to
college at Stillwater, Oklahoma, joined the Marines after college, during WWII.
He went to law school on the GI Bill, after he married my mom and raised my
little brother and me.
Dad didn’t talk much and when he did he spoke slowly, thinking, on each word, that was a boring to a young kid, so what I have learned about him, his family, my mom, even my husband, who often comes up with information he gleaned from being around him. Now that we have moved to Missouri, I want to hook up more often with my cousins who I have reached out to this Christmas and go to the family reunions, which seem to be less often.
What I know is he must have been a bit of a rascal. He didn’t like peas as an adult, because as a kid he ate raw peas until he made himself sick. He was a good looking boy, from the pictures I have seen and he had a girlfriend named Lydia. He often harassed mom with the song Lydia, the Tattooed Lady. He went to college because he didn’t want to be a farmer. To hear him tell it, to us kids, his youth was not misspent and he was a perfect child. As I grew older I did discover that he would run liquor from Arkansas, back to Stillwater with a frat buddy who had a car. I also learned by asking about a scar on his head, he was kicked out of Marine OCS because of a fight (the guy hit him over the head with a bottle). Mom always counted it as a blessing as most young men just out of OCs were killed in the Pacific, almost upon arrival. He spent the war in New Found land ferrying Germans to POW camps in Texas.
So I guess I was not so unfulfilled, but I wish there were more stories told before he died. Mom is gone since 2002, and she shared what she knew, when I asked.....If only I had asked more.
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| Dad grew up in Homestead,OK,, stayed in CA after WWII |
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| I had to go to Internet for pictures. Project for 2012 get my family pictures scanned |
wow, interesting history. Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteIt's surprising how little our parents tell us without the need to question. I only know one thing about my Dad in his younger years. It was his sister who told me which school they attended etc.
ReplyDeleteIt's always good to be reminded how our lives on earth aren't permanent. It's easy to get caught up on the day to day and forget that.
ReplyDeleteLearning about my parents or grandparents history always makes me wonder about what legacy am I leaving for my children. What will the know about my life before them? What will the think about the person I am to them and the person I was before them?
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this story about your father it sounds like he was a wonderful man, even if you don't know all the details.
ReplyDeleteDealing with a loss like that, where you don't have memories or stories to hold onto must be so hard. I'm glad you've gotten in touch with your cousins, and I hope they have things they can share with you!
ReplyDeleteI love hearing the stories from "back in the day". I think as kids we don't apprecaite them, but as adults we want to hear them, over and over again.
ReplyDeleteI recently recorded interviews with my parents - I realize more and more every day how blessed I am to still have them here.
ReplyDeleteYour dad sounds like he led a very full life. I think that our parents are such a mystery to us, larger than life when we are kids. It's only when we are grown that we begin to understand them. I really enjoyed this!
ReplyDeleteLove you approach to this prompt
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you didn't have more time with your Dad. I enjoyed reading what you do know.
ReplyDeleteI understand the unfulfilled wish of understanding parents' backgrounds. Mine are both gone, and I don't know nearly enough. Having said that, I've probably left too much for my kids to know -- or want to know. How to find the balance?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your story :)
Thank you for sharing. I can imagine the feeling, and I know I wish I knew more about my grandparents. You've motivated me to ask my own parents more. Thank you for that. Your dad sounds like an incredible guy, and one who was a lot of fun (love the rum-running, so to speak!) ;)
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