Wednesday, January 28, 2004
MY DAD (PART TEN)
When we arrived back in Omaha the folks advertised our home and it sold quickly. It was then we realized we were on our way to Missouri. Dad sold his car and bought a ton-and-a-half truck to haul our household items. The first week in May we were on our way. Louis and uncle Sophus rode in the back part of the truck sitting on kitchen chairs and covered over the top with a tarp. They had quite a trip seeing everything backwards and watching traffic from the rear. Somehow or other it was all an adventure and we were game for whatever it took.
By the time we got to Liberty, Missouri we lost a rear wheel on one side. Louis and Sophus were privy to the whole thing as it happened. For a time it rolled behind the truck and then passed us on the driver’s side when dad noticed it. He got the truck stopped and we were stranded for a time until dad could get someone to fix the wheel. John has access to this event in one of his blogs where it is described in detail. You can read that account here.
All in all we finally made it to the farm and began taking inventory of needs to be met. The chicken house we were going to live in had been built but hadn’t had chickens in it yet. It was a matter of fixing a few cracks and making some rough cupboards in the kitchen etc; In no time it was livable and our basic needs were taken care of.
Dad bought a team of horses, three cows, some pigs and ordered baby chicks. It was unbelievable to think in 1945 you would be living anywhere in America with no electricity, running water or a bathroom…….but that was reality. We cooked with a wood stove and heated the house with wood. That meant cutting trees and sawing and chopping. We learned that a pile of wood by the front door was a good thing.
Mom and dad really enjoyed it all as I think about it. They loved their newfound freedom and the scenery was unequaled by Nebraska standards. Dad plowed and planted corn in the pasture but no one told him that the area always had a dry June and July. The corn that was so promising when it came up wilted and died for lack of water. Dad was devastated. In three and one half years he had spent all of his savings and could not make a living on the farm. In 1948 he sold the farm and moved into Willow Springs where he went to work for the Missouri Department of Transportation. He was a field mechanic for 15-years and then retired. Mom and dad enjoyed years of travel, fishing, hunting, gardening and yes, running water, electricity and indoor plumbing.
Dad aged well. He finally learned to give his body some rest and he always had a ready story or a yarn to tell. He was better than textbooks when it came to explaining how to do something. He fit in with the area where he lived and appreciated the difference in culture and terraine. He was a humble man who lived his life the way he wanted…..and he was never afraid of hard work.
One day in November he came in to rest from cutting a stump down next to their trailer. He asked mom to call and tell me to come for coffee. I was busy but for some reason I felt I should go. When I arrived dad told me all about their new dishes they bought that morning as he poured me a cup of fresh coffee. We visited until about 4:00pm when I said I should go home and get my clothes off the line.
Dad stood up and said, “Well, I guess I’ll go back out and finish that stump. I should be done about 5:00pm. That’s quittin’ time and it’s Friday night. That’s a good way to finish up the week.” I followed him out and told him to be careful…I started down the walk and turned to tell dad goodbye. He gave me a big grin and with a wave of his hand said, “So long”………….he rounded the corner of the trailer and disappeared. I was out of sight and down the road when he fell to the ground with a fatal heart attack…………
I am so glad I was given the opportunity to visit one last time with dad. We had such a good visit ………..good enough to carry into eternity………..
Dad died November 15, 1974 He had just had his 71st birthday in October. Tomorrow I write about the last brother.
Until then,
Essentially Esther
By the time we got to Liberty, Missouri we lost a rear wheel on one side. Louis and Sophus were privy to the whole thing as it happened. For a time it rolled behind the truck and then passed us on the driver’s side when dad noticed it. He got the truck stopped and we were stranded for a time until dad could get someone to fix the wheel. John has access to this event in one of his blogs where it is described in detail. You can read that account here.
All in all we finally made it to the farm and began taking inventory of needs to be met. The chicken house we were going to live in had been built but hadn’t had chickens in it yet. It was a matter of fixing a few cracks and making some rough cupboards in the kitchen etc; In no time it was livable and our basic needs were taken care of.
Dad bought a team of horses, three cows, some pigs and ordered baby chicks. It was unbelievable to think in 1945 you would be living anywhere in America with no electricity, running water or a bathroom…….but that was reality. We cooked with a wood stove and heated the house with wood. That meant cutting trees and sawing and chopping. We learned that a pile of wood by the front door was a good thing.
Mom and dad really enjoyed it all as I think about it. They loved their newfound freedom and the scenery was unequaled by Nebraska standards. Dad plowed and planted corn in the pasture but no one told him that the area always had a dry June and July. The corn that was so promising when it came up wilted and died for lack of water. Dad was devastated. In three and one half years he had spent all of his savings and could not make a living on the farm. In 1948 he sold the farm and moved into Willow Springs where he went to work for the Missouri Department of Transportation. He was a field mechanic for 15-years and then retired. Mom and dad enjoyed years of travel, fishing, hunting, gardening and yes, running water, electricity and indoor plumbing.
Dad aged well. He finally learned to give his body some rest and he always had a ready story or a yarn to tell. He was better than textbooks when it came to explaining how to do something. He fit in with the area where he lived and appreciated the difference in culture and terraine. He was a humble man who lived his life the way he wanted…..and he was never afraid of hard work.
One day in November he came in to rest from cutting a stump down next to their trailer. He asked mom to call and tell me to come for coffee. I was busy but for some reason I felt I should go. When I arrived dad told me all about their new dishes they bought that morning as he poured me a cup of fresh coffee. We visited until about 4:00pm when I said I should go home and get my clothes off the line.
Dad stood up and said, “Well, I guess I’ll go back out and finish that stump. I should be done about 5:00pm. That’s quittin’ time and it’s Friday night. That’s a good way to finish up the week.” I followed him out and told him to be careful…I started down the walk and turned to tell dad goodbye. He gave me a big grin and with a wave of his hand said, “So long”………….he rounded the corner of the trailer and disappeared. I was out of sight and down the road when he fell to the ground with a fatal heart attack…………
I am so glad I was given the opportunity to visit one last time with dad. We had such a good visit ………..good enough to carry into eternity………..
Dad died November 15, 1974 He had just had his 71st birthday in October. Tomorrow I write about the last brother.
Until then,
Essentially Esther
