Pelican Parts Forums - My Father Died Today...and so it goes

My Son sent this to me. He wrote this for a school project 7 years ago. I guess he interviewed my Dad. I forgot all about it. Reading will make you all remember your Dads and Grandfathers:

Quote:

A Walk through the Past
By Max Holloway

Walking to school in the rain, snow and sleet and not having a Dad made life for my Grandfather Holloway very tough. This is a walk through his past.

Leon Holloway was born on January 28, 1924 in New London Connecticut. He had a younger brother and younger sister. The population of his town was 25,000. His house was not big. It had one bathroom and he shared a room with his brother. His chores were getting groceries and cleaning. He did not get an allowance. When he was a teenager he had an ice chest, a record player and a big radio. When he had free time he played baseball and kick-the-can but he didn’t have as much free time as other kids because he had to work. He had no discipline. His Dad died when he was young and he was left to take care of his brother and sister while his Mother worked many jobs. He also made money for his family by working in a bowling ally and a grocery store. His traditions while growing up were to eat dinner as a family as well as Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving dinners. His Mom made many different home-made medicines such as lime water and honey vinegar tea. His family did not have a car. They rode the trolley and the train if they had to go someplace that was too far to walk.

My Grandfather went to public school and made straight A’s. His favorite class was math. He took five subjects. He was supposed to go to Brown University but enlisted in the Army instead to make money for his Mom and brother and sister. The punishment at school was to wear a dunce cap or a paddle to the rear-end. He wore jeans and t-shirts to school. He did not participate in any extra activities in school because he had to work to earn money for his family. He walked to and from school every day even when it rained or snowed.

The price of gasoline when my Grandfather was a boy was less than $0.25 a gallon. The first home he bought when he got out of the Army was $2,000. His first car was a Packard. The cost to get into the movies as a nickel and popcorn was a few pennies. A hamburger was between five and twenty-five cents. A soda was a nickel. He spent a couple dollars a week on groceries.

One thing that is no longer around is an ice chest. It was a large cooler than kept large blocks of ice. He would keep food in the ice chest so it would not spoil. The historical event that had the greatest impact on my Grandfather was World War II. He served in the Army and fought in many battles including the Battle of the Bulge. He earned a Bronze Star medal for bravery. He volunteered to cross enemy lines in order to find and rescue one of his friends. He was able to find him but he was dead yet he still brought him back so he could be properly buried. My Grandfather told me that if his friend was brought back alive he would have gotten the Silver Star. My Grandfather was also injured during the war. During the Battle of the Bulge, the enemy fired a motor into his Foxhole killing two of the men he was with a badly wounding him. He was in the Foxhole for over a day before the medics could reach him. He had wounds in his chest and legs from the motor shell. He still has pieces of metal in his chest to this day.

When my Grandfather was a young he would hang out at the railroad tracks. He listened to Benny Goodman who was called the King of Swing and was considered one the best Big Band musicians. The dances that were popular were the Fox trot. It was a dance performed between other songs. The popular saying of his day was “Brother can you spare a dime.” The type of clothes that teenagers wore were bottom-up shirts, sweaters and Keds sneakers. Teenage boys wore their hair short and slicked back with Brilcreme. Teenage girls wore their hair long and in ponytails with ribbons. He did not have a curfew. His heroes were Charles Lindbergh, Audi Murphy and Ted Williams. The popular movie stars were John Wayne, Tom Hicks, Gene Astere and Gary Cooper.

My Grandfather thinks that was less crime back then but more opportunity and social life today. Some words of wisdom that he has given me is to treat others the way you want to be treated, don’t do have any regrets. If he could go back in time he would try to do more for people and let those that he cared about know how he felt about them. The greatest hardship in his life was not having a Dad.

This has been about my Grandfather Holloway and how he lived. He is still alive and is 85 years old still living in Connecticut.