Been thinking about this old man

 

He is my father’s father. He was George senior, the son of Corporal Thomas of the Richmond Howitzers, Co A 1^st Va. State Reserves 2^nd Class militia. George senior was third of four children born in 1862.

He was raised on a farm in Powhatan, VA. He was educated at Richmond College. Joined the Baptist church at age 13. Moved to Wilmington, NC in 1890. Married in 1893. Had two sons born 1897 and 1905. Owned the Leftwich Wholesale Grocery Company. He was a deacon at the First Baptist Church. His wife, Mary E. Dixon (born 1873) died at age 74. First son died in 1957. His second son brought him to Richmond, VA nine years after his wife’s death where he died in 1956 at the age of 93.

That is about all I know of him.

He lived in a large house at 515 Chestnut Street, very similar to this.

 

I only went to that house once or twice. It was dark with the shades drawn. There was a long dark stairway that went upstairs but I never attempted to wander. There was a living or sitting room then through an archway to a large dark table and then a kitchen. There were no books or any photos or trinkets on side tables. The chairs smelt like musky smoke. Don’t remember any artwork on the walls. Don’t remember the freezer box or type of stove but they were ancient. The rooms were sparse. I don’t remember a telephone. I don’t remember a radio or television. I don’t remember an automobile. The overhead lighting looked like gaslights converted to electricity. There were no outlets in the walls. The light switch was an on button and an off button. Have no idea if there was indoor plumbing but never saw a bathroom.

My father and his father would go out on the back steps and talk. I was not invited to listen.

This old man was in his 80’s when I was introduced. Maybe a pat on the head or some mumbled incoherent phrases and then he would shuffle off. Never an invitation to a treat or drink unless we went next door to the corner bodega. Maybe that was just the way his household was run?

Why do I think about this stranger? He was family. He was an unknown, family never spoken of, for whatever reason but he was part of my ancestry.

Did he walk to church, which was a block away? Did he prepare his own meals? Where did he wash his clothes? Did he have people over? Did he drink? Did he have any hobbies? Where did he get his haircut? What did he read beside the Bible? Did he ever dance? Did he ever clean?

He liked to rock on the front porch, which was passed down to me. Don’t know if he liked the music his son played or if he tolerated the drunken philandering other son? Never seemed to give any attention to his two grandsons and neither of us ever sent him a Christmas present.

All the photos I have George senior is in his 80’s or 90’s. I’m not there yet but can empathize with his daily challenges. How was his mental shape toward the end? Did he have the doctor visit? Was he ever in the hospital? Seemed he was getting frail so my father brought his father up to Richmond to a hospice. This was a cost my father hadn’t planned on but he was the only one left. Was not invited to the funeral.

Today is a snow day. I don’t leave the house on snow days. I cook my New Year’s meal, and then wash my dishes that have been sitting in the sink for a week.

I went back to search for photos and email my brother. The NPR plays in the kitchen and in the music room. Look out the window to watch the snowfall then go back to search for places long gone. What is that noise? Is that snow melting?

No, it was the repeat of the major floor. Mopping up for a couple of hours and kicking myself in the butt, I wonder what George senior would have done. Is it a sign of not paying attention or the start of dementia? The Golden Years do create some previews of what the future holds.

It is too late to get advice from George senior or George junior.

Still I wonder why he called his first son William and his second son George Jr.?