M y Dad

My dad is such an interesting person. He has done so many things and lived a life that is hard for me to imagine. He has lived thru hard times and a childhood that don't even seem like they could be so. Sometimes when he tells us stories I wonder if he is using a little creative licensing, but later own I'll run into someone who was there or had first hand knowledge of it and they will verify everything he has said.

We were talking last night about how many times he has been across America. He hitchhiked across twice in the 60's and rode a train across (also in the 60's) and then a few years ago he was able to take a couple of weeks off from work and he, my mother, and another couple that they are friends with went. The times that he hitchhiked are of interest to me.

I grew up in a time where hitchhiking was not safe and for the most part you don't really see that many hitchhikers out there. But I guess things were different back then. The first time he hitchhiked it took him nearly two weeks. He said that he felt like he must have walked a good portion of the trip. He went with two guys that he grew up with. They were looking for work in the saw mills and lumber yards.

While they were going thru Kansas they got 13 different rides in 18 miles. Dad said it was like a revolving door. They'd get in and then it was time to get out. Some of the places he went thru had strict laws about hitchhiking and he said they would throw you in jail if they caught you thumbing a ride. He walked from one city limit to the other of Salt Lake City, because of that.

On the other side of Salt Lake City a man that was going back to a military base after being on leave picked them up in a volkswagon. It had been days since they had slept. And the guy offered to take them almost to Longview, Washington (which was where they were headed.) It was out of his way, but he was a day early so he had some time to spare. My dad said that he rode in the back seat with one of his buddies and a dufflebag. He was packed like a sardine, but at the time he was so tired that he didn't care. He just leaned his head back and slept for hours. When he woke up he felt like his neck was broke.

I asked him about the time he rode the train. I was interested in the route he took, but all he could remember was that his brother dropped him off at a train depot in Hendersonville, NC and that about halfway thru the trip they were pushing thru about 4 feet of snow.

I thought it was interesting that he only went in the winter, but he told me that the saw mills and woodyards wouldn't hire any outsiders until all locals had jobs. So in the summer there wasn't any work, because the high school kids would go to work to make some money.

My dad is one of the best people you will ever meet. When I meet people and I tell them who my dad is they always have good things to say. He is unlike anyone else I know. He believes that the moon landing was faked by the government and that a Bigfoot almost got his dad one night while he was using the bathroom in the woods. But on the opposite end of the craziness is a person who always has the answer for any problem. Someone who doesn't hold onto the sorrows of the past and always tries to find a way to put a funny spin on the worst situations. I have seen him meet a stranger and get into a conversation with them and learn that they had no money and give them his last 20 dollars. And he isn't gullable either. He reads people better than anyone I know.

I remember a time that we were eating at a local burger joint and my dad started talking to this young guy at the next table. He found out the guy had just moved to our area and things weren't working out for him. He was living in his car and didn't have and job and was down to his last couple of dollars. My dad took out all the money he had in his wallet (which was about $50) and gave it to the guy and then told him some places to look for work. About 2 yrs later we ran into that same guy in a grocery store and he remembered my dad and came up to him and reintroduced himself and tried to repay my dad, but, of course, he would not take it.

I think being the oldest sibling and growing up incredibly poor and with an alcoholic father taught him how to be resourceful and compassionate. He empathizes with the struggles that people go thru.

Okay okay... enough bragging. He will never read this since he is definately not computer literate (one time he was in a government building and he thought that an electric pencil sharpener was a spy camara ), but I tell him how proud I am of him as often as I can. I try to get him to tell me and my kids stories from his life and I try to remember as much of them as I can. I really think that his story would make an excellent book. But who knows if that will ever happen.