Dad's Stories: Memories

Hello children. Just before going to bed...I thought I'd put something together for you to look at and enjoy. As you know, I spent a majority of my military assignment as Fort Sheridan, Ill., 5th Army. Your mother and me lived off base in a small community just outside the main gate.

This is obviously an old shot of the fort, but I worked in the small addition just to the right of the entrance that ran under the tower...on the ground floor. More than once I had to climb the stairs to the top of the tower to check our transmission equipment.

During World War II, I discovered that they had a radio station control room and one adjoining larger studio, in the tower. It's sound proofing material was still on the walls. I would often go up there and ruminate about how they would put radio shows on the air and wish I'd been there at the time. That would have been handled by the AFRN...Armed Forces Radio Network.

It was a beautiful army base and sat right on the Lake Michigan shoreline. The fort had a private beach for army personnel that your mother and myself would frequent. In the winter it got cold as Alaska and large mounds of ice would form on the rocks along the shoreline, as the big waves crashed against it. Lake Michigan, is a huge lake and all you could see was water as you looked out.



The first car that we owned was a little Nash Rambler convertible. We had it financed at the bank where your mother worked in Evanston, Ill. It looked very similar to this car (shown below) of the same make and close to the same year...except ours was black and didn't have whitewall tires.
It's the car that the muffler fell off while we were driving it back from the used car lot to Highland Park, where we lived at the time. After much arguing and debating...the used car place put another muffler on the car for half price. I didn't have the money to properly maintain the little car or repair a bad leak that developed in the radiator. So, I wrote home and borrowed $400.00 from Granddaddy and bought an old Packard. As you can imagine, he never asked for the money to be repaid. Money was in short supply for us, but we didn't want to constantly bother our families for help. Right before payday, things got really desperate, but we always made it through.

Our next car was a Packard...similar to this one.


Ours was a four door and once again the color was black. This is the car that we drove back to Texas in...after I got out of the army. We were pulling a U-Haul trailer and it's a wonder that it made it back to Meridian.

I'm sure these difficult times...made Kathy and me very close and very dependant on each other. Your mom never fussed at me because I didn't make enough money or the times when we didn't have much to eat.

I vividly remember an incident right before my army payday, where we had three dollars and needed food. Our plans were to pick out some cheap wieners, buns and a can of beans. However, when it came time to check out, the wieners were priced wrong, and were top of the line. So, your mom had to give the buns back and just get the wieners and beans for supper. Your mother, who had gone into the store to shop, while I stayed in the car with Johnny, came out of the store, got in the car and started crying. I asked, "What's wrong babe?" She said, "I messed up and bought the most expensive wieners, so I didn't have enough money for hot dog buns." I patted her hand and told her that was all right, it could have happened to anyone, especially us! She quickly got over it and we finally decided that the whole thing was not only ludicrous, but very funny -- to be that broke and eating the most expensive wieners you could buy. For years afterward, when we were shopping at the grocery store, I would tell your mom, "Now babe, don't get the most expensive wieners they have, we still can't afford them.

Those were the days. Through out our marriage things were usually tight for us financially, but we always had enough to get by on and along with lots of love in the family...we made it just fine. Your mother was a magician at coming up with good meals...when money was short. She was the best wife a man could have. I want you guys to always remember the good times and the abundance of love in our family. Remember too, all those wonderful Christmas mornings and dinners. Love in our family, was something that was never in short supply.

It's blesses me tremendously when I get with you children and just sit back and look at you and see what a wonderful job your mother did in raising you. Each of you children turned out to be wonderful, husbands, wives and great parents. I'm so very proud of you and always will be. In a sense, as long as I have you...I still have your mother...because you are the product of our love and a very unique and wonderful marriage. I love you all very much, Daddy.