His Words - His Blog
GRANDDAD’S LIFE PART 10 Posted on January 15, 2013 by Martin Jones
Daddy was a
generous man. He was a deeply religious man. He was a deacon in the church and
was very active in the Masonic Lodge. In those days the church and the Lodge
were influential in helping people, and there were plenty of people to help. I
remember one family in Thalia that had about ten kids. I know that Daddy bought
many of their groceries. I know of one time he brought two older men to live
with us through the winter. They stayed in the cellar. All they had to do was
keep wood for the stoves. Us kids thought they were OK. One of them played the
Jew’s Harp, and the other would sing folk songs to us. Another time he brought
home a young couple who stayed in the cellar. The woman was pregnant. They
stayed with us until she delivered, and he bought them a ticket on the bus to
get to where they needed to go. I relate this stuff to illustrate the kind of
man my daddy was. My mother would sometimes complain that if he did not give
everything away, we could have more. But I remember that we did not want for anything.
Daddy bought
groceries by the case... and flour and sugar by the 50-pound bag. He always had a
hog to slaughter, and a cow for milk. Mother made sure that every old hen that
wanted to set was able to do so and raise a bunch of little chickens. We had
plenty of meat and milk and eggs. Looking back, it is easy for me to see why we
did better than most of the people at that time. My daddy was a hustler and a
provider.
The depression began to let up, and
Daddy bought a refrigerator that ran on kerosene. It was a huge thing that had
3 burners under it that had to be lit every night. When they were lit, we had to
leave home because of the heat. I cannot tell you how that silly thing got
cold and made ice, and even ice cream from heat of the burners. But it did. It
must have exploded while we were gone one evening. We had gone down to our
grandparent’s house. You could see the fire from their house, and we loaded up
and started home. When we got there the whole house was afire. Daddy was able
to reach through the front room door and drag out the sewing machine, which was
sitting beside the door. That is all that we saved. All we had was the clothes
on our backs. I had come in from plowing and took off my shoes and shirt. I did
not even have a shirt or shoes.