Serious Looking, Game Playing Dad

Dad and I would play games from time to time when I was growing up. The picture that comes to mind is of us sitting on the sofa with a board between us while the flashlight of the NBC Mystery Movie (McCloud, McMillan and Wife, Columbo) swept across the screen on Sunday night. I got to where I could beat him in chess and Mastermind. I never saw anybody (including myself) beat him in checkers.

I never could tell how much Dad enjoyed playing games. At family get-togethers, when I would ask him if he wanted to play cards, he would often say, "Oh, I'd play if you need a fourth" as if he would play to facilitate the game but not so much because he enjoyed it.

This somber picture looks like it may be a head shot for a bio, resume, or story somewhere. It has not held up so well. There are odd streaks and discolorations on it (many of which I have cropped).

Is this from the early 1960's? Or a little more recent?

Ryan and Andrew

Mom and Dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary was a wonderful occasion culminating at Hallcrest Inn in Waynesville. Friends and family gathered for the big occasion. The 50th anniversary would have been in 1995, but I seem to recall that the celebration was in 1996.

Hallcrest Inn served delicious meals family style and was a favorite of our family. The event was so wonderful that Hallcrest Inn's proprietors apparently believed the Inn had peaked, realized it was all downhill, and subsequently closed the place.

Here are two of Mom and Dad's grandchildren at the dinner, cousins Ryan and Andrew. 

Get-togethers are a little batty but always a hit

We had a wonderful time at the 1988 family reunion in Philadelphia. The family seems to love any excuse to get together. Mom, her brothers, and their progeny gathered in full force and have done so regularly since this first reunion.

Back row: Uncle John, Dad, Uncle Jim, cousin Jennifer's husband Jon, Cathy's son Ryan and husband Tom, cousin John Jr., cousin Jim Jr., Barbara's husband Steve, Aunt Jan, Danny.

Middle row: Jim Jr.'s wife Jean with their Nathan in her lap, Aunt Win, David, cousin Ricky, Mark, cousin Barbara, cousin Susan.

Front row: Barbara and Steve's Jonathan, Jennifer and Jon's Maury, Ricky and Nancy's Malcolm, Mark and Judy's Matthew.

"All you need is glove..."

 

Birthday Party - Shirts optional

Mark (3rd from right) is having a summer birthday party in Marianna (according to the back of the picture), probably around 1956 or 1957. David is on the right end. Cathy might have caught a break, unlike before. 

Cathy at Grandpa's Farm

Mom wrote on the back of this picture, "Cathy at Grandpa's Farm." This picture is over 50 years old. Pull toys must always be in vogue with early toddlers.

How many times did Mom crawl up and down those steps herself as a youngster?

There are certainly the same steps as seen in this earlier picture of our grandmother.

 

Perhaps International Geophysical Year was a letdown

This is an unusually glum-looking picture of the family (Mark, Dad, Mom, David, and Cathy) from 1957.

I know that subjects of older pictures intentionally posed without smiling (as in this picture of our grandfather).

• Were they meaning to choose this somber pose?


• Upset about Hurricane Audrey?


• Pondering the significance of the announcement that the Brooklyn Dodgers were moving to Los Angeles?


• Or considering that the arrival of the most beloved member of the family was over four years away?

This is the only family picture I have found from this era that was in color except this one other from Christmas.

happy picture stop

Mom and Dad married in 1945. The war was on, times were tight, and they were a happy couple. Dad would later tell of falling for Mary Louise the moment he met her.

Very soon after they married, they began the long journey north to Boston where Dad would study for his doctorate. Their fully loaded, old car had trouble in North Carolina, and they didn't know what else to do but wire home for help. They got a motel room, and wired home to Apa, Dad's dad. Telegrams were charged by the word, so brevity was a virtue. Dad's telegram to his dad read, "Carburetor gone. Send $50."

The next day, Dad was perplexed when his father wired $100 in reply. The family was careful with money, and it was not like Apa to send $50 more than requested. With the $100, they were able to get the car fixed and be on their way to Boston. Some time passed before Dad had opportunity to ask his father about why he had sent $100 instead of the $50 requested.

As it turned out, the Western Union man in the little south Alabama town who received Dad's wire to his father knew Apa personally. Perhaps because the message seemed a bit urgent, the Western Union man decided to call Apa and read him the message over the phone ("Carburetor gone. Send $50."), before he delivered the message in person. Apa misunderstood the message over the phone and thought his newlywed son had wired, "Mary Louise gone. Send $50."

So Apa did what he could to help his son in a tight spot. Mom laughed later that Dad's friends who heard the story would jokingly say that Apa had sent the extra money for Dad to celebrate.

I thought about this story (and this other one about Uncle John and Aunt Nina) when I heard that Western Union quit delivering telegrams last week for the first time since 1856.

Pictured above

Happy picture of sweet couple at 1988 Philadelphia reunion stop