My father had many of the accolades one would certainly expect and want a good
father/parent to have; security-minded; dependable; honesty; wisdom; discipline,
yadda, yadda, yadda...I believe those good traits were easily taken for granted back
then and still today. Pop's walked softly, carried a big stick, a shotgun and was not
afraid to use either in any scenario.
My dad was an ultimate Do-It-Yourselfer. He was hands-on all the time. I simply can’t
remember ever having a repair person or craftsman visit our home. Of course, we
could not afford to have any paid repair person, but my dad would not have called one,
even if he had the funds to do so. He was a proven McGiver.
My father dropped out of middle school. Work was the priority during his adolescence
era. He taught himself to read by reading western novels, his passion. He nor my mom
drank libations, and even though he made homebrew (beer & wine), I never saw him
sampling his wares. I, Mr. I'll drink anything, never tastes his wares.
Father smoked Salem Menthols until he was diagnosed with Type II diabetes at 40
something. Upon diagnosis, he stopped smoking immediately, cold turkey...no gum, no
therapy. He did everything he was supposed to do back then for his diabetic care. He
was relentless in his effort to regain better health.
One of my daddy's passion was picking his guitar. I'm sure daddy never had a guitar
lesson either. He was pretty good. I never heard my dad try to sing a single note. I don't
think it was his forte. My siblings, some better, seemed to pick up the strings.
There was a family story my mother and my elder siblings shared with me regarding
my eldest brother's, number #1 debut in music as a Blues Musician. It appears he was
offered a music contract. As I understood it, a family member had objections to him
being on the road, to satisfy, my brother simply opted out of the potential contract. Of
course, we all know the legend of B.B. King. He was offered a similar contract by the
same company. He said 'sho 'nuff. The rest is history. I know our father thought his son
was the better guitar player. I have no idea. Based on his former band members I met
during my big bro's funeral services, there was credence to that story.
I never heard my brother nor his band play. I'm sure our dad was his guitar mentor.
Makes sense. But if my Big Bro' could sing, It was on him, not our dad. I understand my
brother's son also pick up the guitar, as did my son. Funny how that works.