Today is my father's 93rd birthday. We had a small get-together of family and friends at our place.
Dad is Polish. He's the only one of thirteen kids born in the U.S. The remainder were born in the Old Country.
It's always amazing to hear his stories. About half of his siblings died in the Influenza Epidemic of 1918.
Dad is Polish. He's the only one of thirteen kids born in the U.S. The remainder were born in the Old Country.
It's always amazing to hear his stories. About half of his siblings died in the Influenza Epidemic of 1918.
Dad's father was a coal miner in western PA. His mother was a homemaker. They couldn't afford to support all their kids, so Dad was apprenticed out to a doctor's family when he was 12. He took care of the doctor's horse and drove him in a horse-and-buggy when the doctor went on his house calls (!). He left the doctor when he was 16 and lied about his age to join the old CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps).
In the late 1930s he joined the Army. After landing at Normandy and then rolling across Europe with Patton's Third Army, he was wounded at the Battle of the Bulge. He recovered and went on to transfer into the old Army Air Corps, which later became the U.S. Air Force. He retired as a Chief Master Sergeant.
In honor of our heritage, today's meal consisted of two types of Polish sausage from Redlinski's Meat Market in Buffalo, NY. Side dishes were pierogis from Polana Foods in Chicago, homemade sauerkraut, German potato salad (with bacon, of course), and good ol' HEB organic applesauce. Dessert was a Mexican Chocolate Cake (family recipe).
Oh yeah, we also had some beer, wine, and champagne.
Dad's doctor would have a fit if he knew what he ate today, but I figured that if the Great Depression, WW II, Korea, and Viet Nam, plus a couple of strokes, didn't kill him, a few sausages, some drinks, and a hunk of cake wouldn't do any harm.
Happy Birthday, Dad. Thanks for being the man you are, and for passing so much on to me.
2 comments:
God bless him.
I lost my mother last year. She was just shy of 91 and the stories she could tell about the "great depression" would make you tear up. Her father was a postman for the U.S. postal service. Although he never lost his job there were weeks he simple didn't get paid.
My mother tells of eating beans and bread for 5 out of 7 days a week and men begging for food at the front door. Her brother (dead as well at 80-years) joined the navy on dec 7th 1941 and rode a small mine sweeper through 5-invasions from North Africa, Sicily, Anzio, Selerno and Normandy.
They were truely the Greatest generation!
Bunny -
My mother passed away May 2010. I suspect she and your mother would have a lot to talk about.
The Great Depression left its mark on Mom. She put the green movement to shame. She saved, reused, and recycled just about everything you can think of. When she passed we helped Dad clean out their home. We have piles of rubber bands that were used to roll newspapers, boxes full of twists ties used to hold bread bags closed, stacks or washed and rewashed tin foil - well, you get the idea.
As you said, that generation had experiences and virtues that shame subsequent generations.
God bless them all indeed.
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