Who Am I?

I know who I am - good and bad. To learn that all I have to do is take a look at my grandparents, my parents, and my children. 

My father's parents were interesting to say the least. 

My grandfather worked as a brakeman for the railroad. I did not know him because he died several years before I was born. I have never seen a picture of him. He was a drunk who was able to work. I know Daddy loved him and was also angry with him a lot of the time.

When I would show a picture to my children of my grandmother they always asked who was that mean-looking woman. Grandma was a mean-spirited woman. I am not sure she liked children and probably should not have been a mother. But Daddy loved her a lot so there was good in her. I loved her too but I did not like her very much.

My mother's parents were loving hard-working people. When I was a child they had their farm. They also had young children. My youngest uncle is three years older than me. (One of my cousins was older than our uncle.)

Grandpa had been a real-live cowboy in his younger days. I do not know how he learned but he played guitar, banjo, and fiddle. He loved his horses and taught us all to take care of them as well as to ride. He always had his pipe in his mouth... so much that he wore his teeth to where the pipe stem fit right there. He worked hard on the farm and raised 9 children. 

Grandma was the best cook. She had been cooking since her mother died when she was young. She made fresh bread every day on a wood stove. She wore her black hair rolled up all day but night it came down to her knees when she brushed it. She played the piano. They used to provide the music for barn dances. The thing she did that fascinated me the most was that she could wring the neck of a chicken. It took the head off quickly.

My father was the eldest of two late in life brothers.in a family of 9 children. He quit high school to enlist in the Navy during WW II. He was the one to take us to ballgames and dances because Mom was busy with babies. He loved doing it. Daddy could do anything. When we built our house he did most of the work. We all helped but he did it all. Plumbing and electrical included. He was outgoing and never met a person he did not like. People liked him too.

Mom was the smartest person I ever knew.  She was third born in a family of 9 children. We went to college together. If we were writing a paper we called each often to try to get the perfect word. Mom was a good cook too. She made a dessert that we are still trying to get right. It was the only time she was selfish and would not share. She had seven of us. There were also six babies that were not carried to term. She was always busy with babies and we loved it. She was also a loving mother to us.

My children are so much alike and yet so different. Because of them I have become a better person. They inherited both good and not so good from their father and me.

My oldest son has always been interested in computers. We gave him one of the first home computers made. He programmed it to roll the various dice for Dungeons and Dragons. He got none of that from me.

My second son is a go-getter. He wants what he wishes NOW. That he got from me.

Son number three was in a hurry to grow up. He is a good husband, father, and grandfather.

My daughter has been an experience. Did you know that little girls actually cost more than little boys?

I have learned from each of these relatives. I hope I make them all proud. Often I fail to be the person they wished I would be, I am still a work in progress I suppose.