Daddy's 100th Birthday

June 7, 1914 was my Daddy's birthday.  Had he lived, he would have been 100 years old Saturday.  He didn't.  He died in 1971 at a very young age.  My daughter, Patricia, was only a few weeks old when he died.  My sister Jean's daughter, Elizabeth, was born about 10 years later.

Me, Jean and Elizabeth

Jean's husband, Edd, had an idea of how to mark this family milestone.  He suggested to her that we get our families together for a weekend and tell Daddy stories.  So we got together on his birthday anniversary at my house.  Her family came from Sevierville, TN and Patricia came from across town.

We had each written down things we wanted to share about Daddy and about the household we grew up in.  Because of our girls being so young and their grandfather not being around, we had each not consciously shared many stories about our young family life.  It was funny to us that we each had many of the same incidents written down on our respective lists.

So we all gathered in the living room and took time about telling our version of the Daddy stories.  I am sure the girls had not heard of many of these things.  Even Jean and I were also hearing some new things.  It was great to hear each other's stories.

Mothers and Daughters - Patricia, Me, Jean & Elizabeth

We remembered when Daddy jumped into the pond to escape the bees.  He also loved to play the harmonica.  He loved his family and used to say, "I must be doing something right when two little girls faces are pressed to the window when I get home!"

His profession was plumbing and electrical work.  We both told about diagrams he would work on into the night in prep for the following days' work.  Many times we went with him on work trips.  We lived in the country and if a dairy cooler went out, he had to go without regard to the time of day or night.  The farmer's livelihood could not be compromised due to a milk cooler failure.  He was recognized around the community as quite bright and attracted many educated people to him, although he never finished eleventh grade himself.  He told me his last science book ended with a statement that someday scientists would split the atom!

We laughed over many stories and even sang two songs that were favorites of his - The Old Gospel Ship and In The Garden.  I played the piano and everyone sang. Though not too musical in the quality, the heart was truly there.  Yes, a few tears were shed as we sang together, remembering our own thoughts and as our young girls heard about some family memories for the first time.

Patricia, Walter, Jean, Elizabeth and Edd Share a Moment Together

Jean had several pages written down contrasted with a short page of bullet points that I had.  I teased her that I could go toe to toe with her on stories since I had two more years of knowing Daddy than her.  She is two years and nine months younger than me!  The husbands seemed to enjoy the sharing.  Though they were not in the family when Daddy died, they enjoyed seeing Jean and I so happy with our memories.

Even our food choices were selected with Daddy in mind.  I made homemade bread and coconut cake.  Both of these were some of his favorites that I had made for him as a teenager before I left for college.  We had homemade chicken pot pie.  Our family had chickens on the farm.  We grew green beans in the garden and ate corn from our fields.  Elizabeth made apple crisp from Mother's recipe. And of course we had gallons of sweet tea to go around for everyone.

It was an excellent idea that was executed simply and beautifully!  We are a little stronger as a family due to this time together.  God is good!