My Dad, the Big Brother

“Like branches on a tree we grow in different directions, yet our roots remain as one. Each of our lives will always be a special part of the other.”     -Anonymous

My Dad. The eldest of five siblings.

Oh, the fun this group must have had growing up together!

As I continue to share Dad’s story, I wanted to share a few memories from his sisters as they remember him from their youth, so you can continue to get to know my Dad.

This is my Dad… the brother.

Here are a few thoughts from my Aunt Linda about her memories growing up with my Dad:

 

 

Why does it not surprise me at all to hear that my Dad had to have the best of the best?  And learning that work ethic early on, something he made sure to pass on to me and my brother and sister.  But Mr. Competitive?  Nooooooo…. {insert eye roll}

My Dad loved my Aunt Linda.

And speaking of Aunt Linda’s power partner, Uncle Steve, check these two out…

That hair… my goodness.

I’m sure my Uncle Steve would have had lots of memories to share of my Dad as well, but sadly he lost his battle to cancer in 2014.  That was something my Dad took really hard.  I can remember at Uncle Steve’s celebration of life service, us all being worried about my Dad getting up to share a scripture, but God’s hands were on him, and he got through it alright.  One memory my Dad would always share of my Uncle, was from a time they were going on the Sheriff Sid Show, which was actually taped at the station I work for now, and they had all practiced and practiced saying their names and where they were from.  When it was Uncle Steve’s turn at the mic, instead of saying my name is Steven Roberts from Gifford, Illinois, he instead said he was Stevie Illinois.  He would never live that down.

And then there’s my Aunt Susan…

I don’t think anyone would be surprised to hear that he had an extra soft spot for my Aunt Susan.

And look at her… how could you NOT have a sweet spot for this lady?

The life of the party, always a smile on her face, would do anything for anyone if asked, and can organize a mean garage sale!

That is only a small sampling of the reasons why she is so loved by everyone that meets her.

But my goodness, how she loved my Dad.

I can remember a time when my aunt was going through a difficult time in her life and my dad dropped everything to drive to Florida to be with her.

He had her back.

Besides my Mom, Aunt Susan was my rock during my Dad’s final months.

I could call her in tears over what was going on, and in typical “glass half full” Aunt Susan fashion, she could always make me feel better.

She’s the queen of finding joy in all circumstances and turning lemons into lemonade.

And so, just like years prior when my dad dropped everything to be with her in her time of need, she was there for him….and me.

She had our backs.

Here are some of her favorite memories of my Dad.  She could probably write a book of fun times they shared, but these are a few of her more memorable moments spent growing up with Dad.

“When you asked me to send you a few short stories about growing up with your sweet dad, the very first memory that popped into my head was on a hot summer day when I was very young.  I can’t tell you how old I was, but the memory has stayed with me like it happened yesterday.  Mom took us swimming at the Rantoul City Pool.  I jumped into the deep end of the pool and quickly went under.  I kept bobbing to the top of the water only to go back under again.  I truly felt like I was going to drown.  Just when I thought I was done for, an arm went around me and swam with me to the side of the pool.  It wasn’t the life guard that saved me, it was my big brother, my hero!

Every summer dad helped the boys plant a big vegetable garden for their 4-H project.  A row of sunflowers were planted at the end of the garden. The sunflowers grew tall and their stems looked more like a small tree than a fragile flower stem.  Geren decided the sunflower stem was strong enough to hold his weight so like “Jack and the Bean Stalk” he began to climb the sunflower.  He barely got his feet off the ground and his legs wrapped around the stem when it snapped and broke sending him to the ground!  We all had a good laugh at his expense.  

We moved from Ludlow when I was five years old so Geren couldn’t have been over seven; we loved to “play church” on the stairs leading up to our bedrooms.  Geren would stand at the bottom of the stairs and lead singing, sometimes preach, and pass around the saltines for communion.  That love for God followed him all the years of his life.  When it was time to leave for worship, mom and dad would tell us to “Load Up”.  It was nothing to see Geren run to the car with a wet head and one time even wet jeans.  Yes, wet jeans!  I remember one winter day he grabbed a pair of jeans out of the dryer, put them on and ran to the car; there was steam coming off his jeans!  He didn’t want to miss worship!

In the winter we loved playing out in the snow.  Geren never did anything small.  I can remember him making snow tunnels across the front yard.  He would dig and dig and we would all crawl through them!  He knew how to make a cold winter day fun!

When we were little we loved “helping” dad with the harvest.  When he combined the beans we would all climb into the wagon and stand under the shoot like it was a shower head and let the beans fall on us.  As the beans filled the wagon, sometimes we would walk around on the top of the beans and other times we would let them practically bury us.  As the beans got closer to our chest we would push them to the side so they wouldn’t completely cover us up and suffocate us.  Sometimes, the beans would get so close to our face and tight around us that we couldn’t pull ourselves out.  That’s when we would cry out for help and Geren would grab our hands and arms and pull us from our bean prison. Sometimes, the beans would be so tight around us that when Geren pulled us to freedom our shoes would be left behind.  When dad took the load of beans to the elevator he would have to ask the man dumping the load to watch for our shoes.  All that work made us thirsty! From the Elevator, Dad would take us to the Ludlow Corner Café and buy us all a bottle of pop. 

I have so many memories, but here’s a high school memory.  I was barley 14 when I started high school and I couldn’t date until I was 15.  After much begging, mom said if I went on a double date, she would allow me to date before I turned 15.  Your dad was a Jr. in high school when I was a freshman.  Guess who I double dated with! Your dad would not only let me tag along on his dates, but he would also let Aunt Linda and her date join us.  How many big brothers would do that?!”

I could read stories like these from my dad’s youth all day. It was such a different time back then.  Can you even imagine showering in a wagon of beans today? My Dad, the cannonball king, coming to her rescue at the pool.  That was Dad, always looking out for others.  And I can totally see him trying to climb a sunflower… bless his heart.  Mr. Adventurous as well as Mr. Competitive.

There he is up there holding the larger piece of the wishbone.  I wonder what he wished for… I think by looking at the grin on his face, his wish had already come true.

And now, how do my Aunt Susan and Aunt Linda continue to go on with a smile on their faces after having to say goodbye to a little brother who lost his battle to cancer and to a dad and older brother who lost their fight against Alzheimer’s?

You can’t… without faith and trust in the One who made us.

Just like those branches on the tree growing in different directions, our roots remain as one when we are firmly planted in Christ.

Thank you God for putting me in a family that loves and fears You and trusts that You are always in control.

Thank you God for the hope that we will all be together again someday in heaven where we will play a mean game of Mexican Train, share lots of belly laughs, always get the big part of the wish bone, and no longer have to fear disease of any kind.