Sunday, June 21, 2015

Honoring My Father - Father's Day 2015

James George Gilbert


Daddy joined the U.S. Army long before WWI (See post dated November 11, 2013). He was in Troop C of the 17th Cavalry, a horse soldier.



He was a sportsman who enjoyed camping, fishing and hunting. Daddy was a painter by trade, but was a very talented "jack of all trades." He could build/make anything with wood, leather or metal and never owned a power tool ... all done by hand. If he needed a part for something he would find the metal, sit down and file, hammer and shape until it fit what he needed. I watched him while he pulled the engine from a 1947 Plymouth Coupe with fluid drive. He hoisted it up with block and tackle to a limb of an oak tree in our yard. He totally rebuilt the engine, hand grinding the valves to perfection.

Although he told many stories about his years in the Army, I didn't realize until my sister, Elaine, did our genealogy that he was assigned to the Medical Corps while he was in Hawaii during WWI. He is the one who did my physical therapy after my having polio at age five. I didn't know the massages and exercises were physical therapy. I just knew my Daddy was taking care of me and easing the pain in my arms and legs.

I was a "daddy's girl" and would rush to meet him at the front door when he came home from work. I stood on his feet and we walked and danced to the kitchen to see what Mama had for supper. He usually asked, "What's for dessert?" No matter how meager the meal,  he always thanked Mama and told her it was very good and he enjoyed it. I remember his rocking me and singing "You Are My Sunshine."

While growing up, he spent a lot of time with his grandfather, James Lamar Gilbert (Civil War Veteran). James Lamar was a land owner as well as a boot-maker. It never occurred to me when he resoled our shoes, hand sewed broken stitches in our leather shoes that he learned this skill from his grandfather. I just knew that my daddy could do everything. Long before "dyed to match" shoes came into vogue or were affordable, he tinted a pair of white leather pumps to match a dress Mama had made for me to wear to a high school party. He used white shoe polish and added colors until he got the exact shade of blue to match the lace bodice of my dress. In his time, a painter was s true craftsman and mixed colors using an oil based paint and adding pigments to get just the right color and shade.

James G. Gilbert in late 1959
Daddy holding my daughter, Marcia in 1965
I am so blessed to have had him for my father. I would sit in his lap and rest my head on his shoulder as I did when a child, until his legs became so frail that he could not hold be but a minute or so. Daddy fell and broke his hip four months prior to his 80th birthday. I sat with him in the hospital and held his hand. He was so weak and said over and over,  "I'm so tired. I'm ready to go home." It was on a Saturday and surgery was planned for Monday. The doctor would not allow Mama and me to stay with him during the night. He died shortly after we left the hospital. We laid him to rest on a dreary Wednesday in 1971. But, God in His perfect timing allowed me to bring home my son, the late Michael Dennis Lucas, the next day. I was so busy taking care of an eight week old, that the pain of Daddy's death was eased for a while. I do wish my son could have known my father and learned the many things he could have taught him. It gives me comfort to know that they have met in Heaven.

I still miss you, Daddy, and love recalling the many wonderful memories, the little songs you sang to us while you "fiddled" on your grandfather's violin and listening to the stories you entertained us with.