1937 – 2003

     My Dad sat on these horses when he was nineteen.  He didn’t need a permit!   At his funeral that picture was available for those in attendance.  He was a carefree spirit that had a wonderful work ethic while he wrote his own rules. He started a successful business by repairing old equipment thrown in the trash by his employer.  He used duct tape for the repairs and got a lot of jokes the rest of his life!!  In fact, at the funeral duct tape was one of the things talked about.  My Dad was brilliant, good, and taught us that God was a friend. He was one of those people who was truly interested in what a person had to say.  He gave recovering heroin addicts a job, and talked with them at his kitchen table as if  they were a prince and princess.  Even though he was good-hearted, he didn’t put up with abuse. We heard the tales and felt for the victims that had to buy a new tire or two.  When he was younger he and his brother Gene jumped the trains for a free rail ride. He told his elementary teacher that she wasn’t telling the truth about just eating bread and drinking water to lose weight because it was obvious to him that she had not been successful.  She chased him around the room and he jumped out of a window and ran home.  His mother said not to worry about it because they were moving anyway!!   He had fun in life, and lived with his first true and only love until leukemia took him home. Yes, he laughed and talked with the patients around him while the IV was hooked up to his strong forearms. It seemed impossible that it was true.  But he lived well, loved well, and laughed very well while we shined a little brighter for having been under the shade of that wonderful oak tree…my Dad!            Thinking about a good memory with a smile, Terri