One
of the folk's neighbors, Don, was visiting with Dad,
(in the
wheelchair) and my husband, Dorsey across the table
when I quickly
grabbed my camera and shot their picture..
I wasn't aware
until later that our little dog, Koki was listening
under the
table too. If she could talk, she may have repeated
their bear
stories, fish tales, and who shot the largest buck.
Dad
had many memories of the Great Lakes and also had stories of
his earlier years
before he became a Wheelsman. A Great Lakes
story Dad liked
to tell is of the time he saved a Grain Scooper's life
from drowning...It
was in the summer of 1942, and Dad was on Watch
Duty that evening..It
was a pitch black night, without a star in the sky,
when at
10:00, he heard a huge splash below.
He noted that
a grain scooper, whose nickname was 'Pig Iron Smith,'
had accidentally
fallen off the dock into about 30 feet of water..
Pig Iron, had
earlier been out on the town and was quite intoxicated.
Dad jumped
in at the risk of his own life..There were floating planks
in the water,
which could have easily killed him, if he had hit them
with his head
during the dive. But the good Lord guided him safely
and Dad was also
able to save Pig Iron's life too by grabbing his
leg and steering
him over to the dock. The water was pumped out
which covered
a 12 foot area. Dad, recalled, that Pig Iron, in spite
of his inebriated
condition, politely remembered to say, " thank you."
Footnote:
January 27, 2004
After
reviewing the poem I wrote on top of this page,
I
noticed the word
life in the word file..How true it is
that
many of our memories in life are stored in a file
and
sometimes never forgotten. My father passed
from
this life on December 21, 2003, but his stories
are
now stored in my files to remember.
©
Copyright exclusively for Andrea's
Looking Glass
(My
background graphics are created one of a kind
from
my photography to be used only for my site.
Please
do not take..Thank you for understanding.)
©
Copyright of page January 19, 2003-2004
