Through all the difficulties dad has faced since mom became ill, he has opened up more about his life and I feel like I have seen more of who he is than I ever did before.
Dad was raised Amish. His dad had a crippled arm that made it difficult for him to work fast. He was a very hard worker but slow because of his arm. He got up early in the morning, around 4:30, to go do his chores and go work in the field. He shucked corn by hand. Plowed with horses, and milked by hand as do all Amish. The only difference was that he did it mostly onehanded. My Grandma was also a very hard worker and quite thrifty. With their hard work and determination they had what it takes to be successful. But unfortunately that was a hard time for many people due to the depression. My dad's parents lost what they had and fell under the heavy load of mental illness and depression. That would have been about 1936. They both ended up in the mental hospital at the same time. The children were separated and sent to live with other families. Dad remembers some about that time although he would have only been about 3 years old at the time. He remembers things. He remembers being fascinated by the ticking of a watch and of playing with string. Grandma used to tell me about dad liking order as a child and being fussy if things were out of place.
There is a great deal of trauma from his early memories of the struggles his family had. After several months in the mental hospital, grandma and grandpa were once more home and had their little family with them. They had nothing. Her parents provided them with a place to stay. Dad broke down and cried when he remembers his dad working all day cutting weeds from ditches for a dollar a day. He began sharecrop farming. They literally pulled themselves up by their own boot straps with strong will, hard work and determination. They saved up to make a down payment on their own farm and worked hard to pay it off. When Grandpa died around 1954, the family sold the farm and had enough money to move and buy several pieces of land in Arkansas.
When dad was about 6 years old he got kicked by a horse. As a result of this he had a pus pocket build up in his lungs. He was very sickly for awhile and extremely thin. He ended up in the hospital for awhile. He remembers having to blow up balloons to help strengthen his lungs.
I am aware that this is second hand information and dad's siblings may find something wrong with my account. I am just repeating it to the best of my memory as I heard it from dad. So if I'm wrong in my facts. Please forgive me and feel free to message me on facebook to correct me. I will try to continue at a latter time with more information of his teen years and early adult life.
