Possible article #1

A good example

Lewis D. Adams, Gramps to Dave and I, was as good of a man as you would ever want as an example to follow.  He was from a family of 12 brothers and sisters, he, and Grandma Eunice had 14 of their own, one of whom died in childbirth, and one who was killed in World War II, to leave an even dozen.  All names started with an L.  Gramps name was Louis D. Adams, but when he was in the Army winning World War 1 in France, they misspelled it Lewis and he let it slide so he had many documents that said Lewis D. Adams.  One of his sons was Louis Adams Junior, so I am pretty sure Louis was the correct spelling.

You never could tell with Gramps though.  When I was a kid, he told me we were McAdams’ in the old country (Ireland) and shortened it to Adams to Americanize it when they came over in the 1800’s.  But then he also told me how things were rationed during the war and they only got one sheet of toilet paper a day in France in the Army.  He gave me detailed instructions on how they had to fold it and tear off a piece to use later to clean their fingernail.  Turns out that may not have been 100% true but I was about seven at the time, and for years, I told anyone who would listen that they only got one sheet of toilet paper a day when Gramps was overseas.  I forgot the detailed instructions, but later on when I was a teenager, someone told me the story again and I realized it was supposed to be a joke.

But then, Gramps did many things that some folks would not believe, that were totally true and real and many folks would not attempt, or, would not succeed in doing if they did try.  He grew up on a farm, married a farmer’s daughter, and farmed some himself after WWI.  He also was a lumberjack who cut wood all winter and then floated logs down the Flambeau River to the mills.  Lumberjacks ate well, getting stacks of pancakes, a half-pound of bacon, half a dozen eggs, real butter and real maple syrup for breakfast every day.  Then they would get a meal at 10 am, another one in the afternoon and a large supper – and the pictures will prove there wasn’t a fat man among them.  And, you never heard about heart attacks or cholesterol problems.

He also worked CCC during the Great Depression and had to leave Grandma at home alone with the kids while he camped out and worked the projects with other guys who couldn’t find work during that time.  You think we got it rough now?  It was a struggle to feed and clothe your kids in the Thirties, and there was no such thing as back to school shopping.  It was back to school knitting, sewing, darning, and making do.  A girl with a new feed sack dress that had the wording bleached out was in fashion.  A boy didn’t know what a new pair of blue jeans looked like or felt like.  If there weren’t hand me downs, you most likely didn’t have jeans at all.  You had some worn out dress pants.

When WWII hit, Gramps watched sons Lloyd, Lyle and Lawrence go off to war.  Cousin Leon who was living with them at the time (Gramps and Grandma always took in folks who had nowhere to live at the time) went off to war also, so Grandma had a FOUR STAR FLAG displayed in the window. 

Lloyd would not return; he was killed on Iwo Jima, where he saved another Marine from Machine Gun fire and was awarded a Bronze Star for Valor.  Lyle also was recalled for Korea so he did double duty.

Around about when he was in his later 40’s Gramps got a job as a road worker with Barron County and loved getting the overtime when we had a blizzard.  He and Hank Myra would work from dusk to dawn, take a nap and then go back and work all day again, take a nap and work all night, for as long as it took to get all the roads clear. 
When that check came, Grandma would get a nice present, one of the girls might get a musical instrument or one of the boys a new pair of jeans or a harmonica or guitar. 

Gramps worked hard his whole life, cut and sold firewood after he retired, did clear cutting so folks could build roads and stuff, and dug graves until he was about 80.  He loved to play harmonica and swing on the swing he built and hung from the huge old Oak tree in the back yard.  Or he would sit under the grape arbor and enjoy the cool evening air.  When Gramps lost his drivers license at 82, due to macular degeneration, he was totally lost and spent his time at the Senior Center and keeping up with all of the Soaps on TV, but he was bored.  His favorite pass time had been driving his old friends around for grocery shopping or to the doctor’s office.  Johnny out in the Blue Hills always did a month of grocery shopping at a time.  Or, Gramps and Hank would just drive in the country and reminisce.  Hank died soon after retiring, so Gramps missed his company for many years.  His friend Babe Cook had to take his ladders away when he was 84, to keep him from going on the roof to chop ice off it.  He died at 85, in 1975 yet lives on in our memories.