True Grit

Not to be out done, I thought it would be appropriate to show a picture of Dad. This picture is dated "School Days 1938-1939". Dad would have been a few years short of his 16th birthday, but this is the closest picture I could find to the age of 16 years. Rough and ready I would call it...hair slightly disheveled, collar raised on the right, suspenders showing. Don't mess with me and let's get this picture taking over.

Dad often told some of his childhood stories like jumping off the top of a boxcar while flipping onto a pile of sawdust, swimming across the Kentucky River to Boonesborough Beach because he did not want to pay, and hitch hiking to Lexington to enjoy Joy Land Park. You can sort of see this determination and independence in his face...left eye focusing, because he was left handed. True grit at 12-13 years of age. He often told that he was "passed around" a lot as a child. Pap paw had lost his right eye in an explosion, Mam maw was working full time, and Dad was pretty much left to his own design. One aunt taught him potty training by peeing on chickens. Too bad today that we do not have enough chickens to go around.