I remember
my daddy said,
"the Army will make a man outa you"
to my brothers
when they were teens
and fighting each other
on the lawn.
I remember
my daddy said,
"don't you ever
criticize the Military--
they are
what makes this country great".
I remember
my daddy said,
"I went to Bakersfield
on the way to Europe
to fight
the Germans
but the war ended."
I remember,
my daddy said,
"when I die,
I want the U S flag
on my coffin"
& a Military funeral."
I remember,
my daddy said
when I asked
if he knew The Lord?
That "he took care
of that so long ago.
I remember,
my daddy said,
"you kids needed
a mama
so I couldn't divorce her.
I remember,
my daddy said,
"When I saw you walk
that Georgia graduation
it was one
of the happiest
days of my life".
I remember,
my daddy said,
when I knelt beside his bed
& pleaded with him,
"get up, daddy
you are too young
to die
that he "would do it
just for me.
I remember,
my daddy said,
" I always loved your mama",
"but she never loved me.
And I cried.
I remember,
my daddy said
one night about 2am
that if he didn't go
& give blood
the woman down the street
. would die.
From some disease
she'd had
for many years.
I remember,
my daddy said,
to the neighbor
who drove about 90 mph;
one of my kids
I'll kill you.
I remember,
my daddy said,
"I've got to go
crank up the big tractor
and pull that idiot
who missed the curve
out of the ditch.
I remember,
my daddy said,
he was "hard-line Baptist"
and his granddaddy was a
Minister back home.
I remember,
my daddy said,
as he held my first-born
. child
a daughter named Jennifer
that she pleased him so much.
I remember,
my daddy said,
as he held my second
. child
a daughter,named Leigh
that "she looks sorta yellow"
but she'll be fine.
And she pleased him too.
I remember,
my daddy said,
when I was about 4
and neighbors were visting
and I was chattering
"if you will be quiet
for just 5 minutes
I'll give you a quarter."
I remember,
my daddy said
one nite
during spend-the-nite
giggle -fest
"I'm gonna whip the both
of you.
There are so memories of my daddy. He was the rock of Gibraltar for me--a steady, unwavering influence that endured for all his life. He knew right from wrong, didn't waffle, and his no meant no, and don't ask again. He drove us to Pensacola to the NAS there and the aviation museum. And to NAS Jacksonville to see the Navy fleet come in, once when my brother had just come back with the fleet. { I have 3 brothers and 2 sisters, fyi.} He loved this country and the Military. He loved babies! And he held everyone of us on his knee in a peculiar way sort of suspended there but with his huge hand supporting our backs and heads, as he would "bump" the chair to sort of rock to soothe us. He never came into my bedroom; not even when he was mad and planned to punish us. He'd said 'it's not right", so he would knock on door, say "you girls come here! with a bellow that we knew meant business!" My daddy liked my first husband [now obviously the first exhusband I had] and my then-husband liked him too.
My daddy died in Dec 2004 and I cried myself sick. I was living in Denver at the time,and in a second horrible marriage [that ended in divorce 3 yrs later]; and my daddy called me and wanted me to come home. But he said he was doing ok, and he talked to my then-husband who said we both go visit later. But my daddy died suddenly and it broke my heart.
My daddy was a WWII veteran and he considered it his highest achievement. He went to the Military parades and kept in touch with his Army-AF buddies. He visited them in nursing homes to sit and talk for hours, to cheer them up. He was born in Georgia and lived there his whole life. I miss him so much still.
Oh, before I forget, my daughter Leigh was jaundiced some because she was a few days premature, and she was under bilirubin lights for a few days. I worried much, but my mama and daddy had faith she would be all right.And she was/is.
Gloria Poole; @ my apt in Missouri; 25-May-2013 ; 1:53pm.
