A CHILD of the 1920’s, my father saw rough financial times. During the Great Depression, family homelessness loomed close to the door. After the loss of his father’s guidance in the 30’s, my Dad left school only after his elementary grades were completed. He went to work cleaning floors in a machine shop. He later worked his way through a tool and die machinist apprenticeship, all the while helping to support his mother and two sisters.

 Dad married in September of 1941. World War II was already underway. My father enlisted alongside the other men in the family. He served in the Navy. During this time, my parents had their first child. I was born in 1942. A sister followed me in 1943. However, within a few months she died from the onset of pneumonia.

 Consequently my mother was horribly wounded by death at home while my father was wounded in the Pacific struggle. Due to his injury, he spent an extended time in the hospital before being discharged.

Driving Lessons!

 No, life was not kind to my father. Maybe that’s why he was so quiet, but determined to be gentle.

 It was not until 1955 that things finally got better. They’d previously lived in a third floor apartment and had just bought a house, but soon my dad was laid off from his job. During that late ‘50s financial recession he moved us to the Philadelphia area. There he was employed as a tool and die supervisor working the night shift. During the day, with the help of an uncle… they built our three bedroom house. I remember fondly my Friday night meetings in that kitchen with him. Because there was no school the next day, I could stay up late to talk with him, drink a little beer, and eat some Cracker Barrel cheese.

 Thankfully for our family, as the economy recovered his outlook improved. So much did his burdens ease that he finally gave up fixing our old faded green, ’47 Studebaker Champion. On a warm summer day in 1956, he surprised us as he drove a brand-new Oldsmobile “88” home. It was beautiful. Its big V-8 and automatic transmission

Old Cars Can Remind of Days and Persons Gone