My dad would have been 73 today. He was the youngest of three brothers. They were 7 years apart. My uncle Bill is the only survivor. He’s the middle one and was born on my grandma’s birthday – February 24. He’d be 80 this year.
In the early 80s my grandma had a stroke and spent the rest of her life in a nursing home. Half her face was partially paralyzed and she had trouble enunciating. She hated the home. She whispered in my ear that the staff treated her like an infant.
Before the stroke I started visiting on a regular basis. She’d open a couple of cans of beer and we’d talk. Until this, I didn’t know she drank at all.
She confessed to me that before my dad she was pregnant but lost the baby. She never told anyone. She had been carrying the pain of this for years. She told me she wasn’t really sure my dad would make it.
In case it's too small to read, my dad's the mustache on the right.
i still miss your dad to this day.i didnt realize he was younger than my mom(she'd be 78). i remember going to your grandma's apartment( near chippewa & jamison?), Pat once told me she worked at the armory during WWII putting the pins in grenades. i have often told people i knew someone who did that.i cant find any Bix or Django stuff anywhere these days, those were 2 more collections of music that changed my life- Geo
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