I, like my father, am a quiet man. When I was a teen, my sisters and mother would often ask anyone
I introduced to them..."Does he talk?"... followed by laughter. (My family thought I was a
mute...LOL)...I was always quiet at home...My dad never asked that "Does he talk?" question.
Well, I did speak to my friends. Like my father said..."When I have something to say, only then shall
I speak"...or something like that...
My dad was a listener, as I am. I think E.F. Hutton got their famous slogan from my father's M.O.
For you young people who may be reading this, that famous "70's slogan went something like this...
"When E.F. Hutton speaks, everyone listens..." In the commercial, the actors would stop and stick
their ear out. My father and I perfected that method of communication to our advantage.
Unlike my father, I laugh loud and often. All of his children did. You always knew when one or more
of his offspring were in the vicinity... amazing boisterous, continuous laughter.
It seems all of our friends mirror our laughter. If you can't laugh like that naturally, you probably
were not a real close friend of ours. "Birds of a feather thingy."
Look, don't get me wrong, my daddy laughed loud, but I never witnessed him laughing that often.
He always looked so serious. Always with intent. I can mirror that exact perception at times.
Dad loved Guns. Baseball, Boxing (Not Cassius Clay), Pro Wrestling (Yea, mom loved pro wrestling
also). Neither of them saw me or my younger brother play organized sports in person. They knew
we were pretty good. (Trophies), and the family ravings. They just never took our football activities
seriously as my other family members.
The lack of participation by our parents never bothered me or my younger brother while playing
organized sports. They did not discourage us, even though we both sustained serious injuries.
When any of my siblings excelled in Academics or sports, (All the time) it was expected, no need to
celebrate. When I graduated from High School, no one attended my ceremony.I felt a little empty for a while. Seeing all my friends' happy, proud family members there.I didn't know if my siblings experienced the same. I never asked. I really didn't want to know. God
forbid, I would be the only lone graduate. I would remember that situation for college.Sister number #6 drove to my college to see me play my rst year. I was proud, with my chest stuck
out, even though I did not play that game..