---Here he is as a young man. I'm digging that old car! Got a bit of a Brando look going I'd say.
----This is a pic of my Grandma Rosemary and he shortly after they got married, I guess. I never met her. She died in 1975, three years before I was born. I know she was very well loved in the family and several in the family were heart broken when she passed away of a heart attack in her sleep. I know my dad still gets teary-eyed when he talks about her.
---This is my grandpa with my uncle Bill. My father is the oldest boy in the family of six kids. Bill was the second oldest. He died in a rig accident in the early 70s. He was quite a crazy, rowdy person from what I gather. I understand he was even at Woodstock. I am not sure if that is 100% true, but I like to think that it is. I guess I should ask a bit more about it. But he was in the army just like my dad was. I wish I coulda met him. I'll bet he woulda been a great uncle to me. I'd love to have heard stories about Woodstock.
---This is closer to the way I remember my grandpa. He and one of his youngest boys, Steve, started an auto salvage business in Carmi, Ill. It still exists today and is quite a successful business. It is called "S&E AUTO SALVAGE" after Steve and Earl, the two owners. My parents and I moved to Carmi for one year in 1992 and I spent my summers working at the salvage every Saturday morning for a while. Dad worked there too. Eventually one year later, we moved back to Michigan.
---This is more like the way I remember him. He and his new wife Marion lived in a small house that was always dark as hell. There were tons of knick-knacks around and all sorts of radio shack toys and gadgets. He honestly never had much interaction with me. I remember us cousins would play in the yard and Earl would walk by and he'd jingle the change in his pocket. That meant he was going to give the kids some change. I got some from him. but I really don't remember him having a conversation with me at all. I think I had this perception of him that he was like "The Godfather" or something. Someone to be respected and not bothered. Someone who it just wasn't my place to talk to. Its a shame I never related to him as a "grandpa." I was just too young.
I remember in 1986, we drove down in the middle of the night to celebrate his Bday party. It was a surprise party. It was held at the auto salvage. It was a suprise for us all to be there. And someone rented him a belly dancer. I remember him being very embarrassed. Hell, I was! I was only 7 or 8 at the time and here I was watching this girl gyrate and rhythe. I was much too young for that. (cut to many years later I'd work at a strip club part time! Odd eh?) But I do recall it being tastefully done.
A year or so later, he was dead. Prostate cancer. I remember driving down cause we got the notice that he wasn't doing good. But we got there and it was too late. He was already dead and it was total shock. I stood by the car while my parents cried and dealt with the family. I still don't really know what I did. I just heard, he's dead and thats it. We went to the viewing. I still really didn't process what death was. It was just taken for granted that he was there in a coffin on display. I guess in hindsight it didn't hit me as hard. I barely knew the man. I wish I did.
Years later now, I can remember these tiny bits about him and get the stories from my dad and his brothers and sisters. I need to fill in the gaps for myself. I guess that is my fault. I've always had a real disconnect when it came to my family. I think that it was due to the idea that I was so much younger than them. And It was a generation before "my time." Even now when I see them, they ask me about the things I did as a kid. Like they cannot relate to me as a 34 year old man with kids and a life, etc. There's no hate there or anything silly like that. Just disconnect with some of them. Perhaps I can talk with them about Earl, Bill and Rosemary and get some sort of connection. Fill in the gaps together. I have a strong respect for history. And when it comes to my family, the gap is endless. Perhaps it is time to fix that.
Anyway, thats on me. 90 years ago a man was born whom without, you would not have me. He was considered a great man and the family has been in pieces since he left. I wish time had allowed me to get to know him better. I say to you all: Get close with your grandparents, folks. Mine were all gone before I was ten. Cherish those things and get close. Cause once the opportunity is gone, its gone forever.
Cheers, T
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