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There was a man born in 1915


Dickons

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There was a man born in 1915, the first and only son, the second child of four. His father was a logger up and down the west coast, both in Canada and the United States, a time when you could easily move back and forth between the two countries. As more children came along the father turned to farming in Washington to raise his family.

 

As a boy. the man grew up on the farm and when he as around 7 or 8, his first job to get up at the crack of dawn and hitch the old horse to the wagon. He would fill the wagon with bottles of fresh milk, jump in and the horse would head off into town. The old horse knew which houses along the way to stop at, and the boy would jump down and leave milk on the doorstep. Once back at the farm he would get ready and go to school.

 

Fast forward past high school to college, if he wanted to go he would have to get there and pay for it. The college was in California and I believe he had to hitch hike from Washington. His older sister was also going to this college to be a teacher. To pay for his tution he spilt a cord of wood each morning to stoke the boiler at the college. Up every morning where, with cross-cut saws, they would cut the trees into fireword lengths, and then chop into firewood; all before putting in a full day at school.

 

Like his sister he went into teaching at a private church school, it only lasted one year as he did not deal very well with busy bodies who meddled into everything.

 

Looking at other options for the future he chose Medical School. I believe this is when the man bought an old Model T frame, motor and running gear. He could not afford to fix it up so he strapped a wooden box to the frame to sit on, and headed off from Washington to California where the Medical School was at.

 

In 1948 he graduated and became a Doctor, married, served in the Korean War, and then had a home built for he and his wife in Washington. While their home was being built they lived next door with his Mother. Their home had been built to also serve as his Doctors office on the first floor and the home on the second floor.

 

Those first few years they worked hard to get the home finished and the grounds landscaped. After long days starting his practice the man worked hard outside in the yard, putting in fruit trees, a large vegetable garden, and all types of berry bushes. The wife learned to grind the wheat into flour and make bread, cook vegetarian meals and put up vegetables and fruit for the winter months.

 

During these years, he and his wife waited for children to come along and when they didn't, they adopted a baby boy and then a baby girl to raise as there own. Life was good, the mans practice was growing, they had home grown food to eat, their children were well cared for and there faith was strong.

 

Fast forward several years to 1961. The social worker that had dealt with the adoptions of their children knocked on the door. The wife and two children answered the door and talked to the social worker. She wanted to know if they would adopt just one more baby, a baby girl less than two months old. They were having trouble placing the baby due to the criteria the birth mother had requested and this couple met all the criteria. The wife said no, she had enough to do with taking care of two toddlers, the housework, plus canning and freezing the food the man grew for them to eat.

 

Some time later the social worker again showed up at their door, this time with the baby girl. The couples son ran down the stairs to the office, interupted the man seeing a patient and brought the man up to the door. The man listened to the social worker, looked at the baby girl, and said "we'll take her".

 

At that moment I had a Dad! Last October, Dad passed away at the age of 91. The best Dad in the World.

 

 

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