Great Grandfather's Recordings

Family Archives | 3/3/2005 | Jaysun

[Jaysun]

I had a wonderful time visiting with Sherman at the barbershop yesterday. He’s quite the comedian. His stories can be so outlandish that I sometimes wonder if they’re true, though I don’t suppose it matters. The subject of his most recent yarn was his carefree nephew Charles. He described him as reckless – but the kind of reckless that you can’t help but love. Charles had decided to try his luck as a bootlegger, but he got off to a rough start for lack of regular customers. The lad’s brew was good enough, Sherman assured us, but he had to find a way to tell the thirsty masses of his business.

Now Charles still lived at home with Sherman’s brother - who is no less than the chief of police. His brother was well aware of his son’s activities, but Sherman told us that their situation wasn’t at all peculiar. As he explained it, they’re in Alabama and “things are different there”. Nevertheless, the father soon had his fill and saw Charles to jail. One would consider that a reasonable ending to such a bizarre story, but there’s one more twist.

The local press wasted no time in telling of how the chief of police had to arrest his own son for bootlegging. Their stories ran full of quotes from Charlie - quotes that detailed his location, prices, and hours of operation. You see, Sherman’s brother didn’t arrest his son to teach him a lesson; he arrested him because Charles begged him to. Charles planned the whole ordeal to bring about some much needed advertisement. Things are different there. Indeed.

I’m reminded of my own brother and an incident that took place last Mother’s Day. We went to purchase a box of chocolates for Mother. We waited our turn to be assisted by the clerk, made our request, and she took the box off the shelf for us. She spent an unusual amount of time looking at the chocolates and finally admitted that they were the same brand that her son had given to her many times before. She told us that he was fighting in Europe and she hadn’t heard from him in weeks. After she’d completed our order and we made our way outside, my brother tapped me on the shoulder and asked me if I’d like to split the cost of another box of chocolates. I knew what he had in mind and I agreed. We paid for the second box, discretely handed them to her, and said that we wish her a happy Mother’s Day and hope the best for her son. She hugged us both and cried as if we were the only ones there. After leaving the store we both agreed that it was the best purchase we’d ever made. So it is when we act in accordance with the Faith.

I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' " (Acts 20:35)

But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. (Matthew 6:3-4)

The new razors are a gift from Sherman, there’s enough for each of you to have one. Perhaps some of you already have a good razor and don’t really need a new one. If this is the case, I encourage you to bless someone else. Find someone that you’re not very acquainted with, someone that keeps to himself. Take him aside and give him the new razor in private. Then keep the incident to yourself. God will tell your heart that he’s pleased with you, and that’s worth more than all the razors in the world. I won’t think less of you if you decide to keep the razor to yourself, but you’ll think more of yourself if you perform a selfless act of charity.

As to the questions that some of you had regarding the Catholic Faith, I’m afraid I can’t provide you with satisfactory answers. I myself have only inquired about the matter once and as I recall my father, with tongue in cheek, described Catholics as “people that believe that God speaks Latin, but only to a handful of people”. I admittedly remain ignorant…and Protestant. Sherman is Catholic. Perhaps you work your questions into the thank you notes that I’m sure you’ll be sending him shortly.

God bless and protect you.

[Jaysun]

My Great Grandfather made a series of recordings during his lifetime. The above transcript is from one he sent to my Grandfather and his fellow soldiers during WWII. We haven’t done a very good job of organizing these but this one appears to be dated October 1943.

I’ll try to post one of these once a week if time allows. If you want on (or off) the ping list for this please let me know.

[xzins]

This is amazing and so good and so Christian. Thank you. Please continue the good work. These are a treasure.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you so very much for sharing, Jaysun! And thank you for the ping, xzins!

[SunkenCiv]

This is pretty great. My last great-grandparents died in the 1930s, and the first to go died in 1891, so I have nothing like this. Yeah, I'm a little jealous. :') Not a GGG ping, but a nice history topic.

[Ciexyz]

Yes, please put me on your ping list.

[Ciexyz]

These recordings provide a look into the lifestyle of Americans in the early 40's, during the WW II years. As such, they are important for research. Thanks for posting them.

They interest me, because my Dad fought in WW II as a serviceman in the Army/Air Force. My uncle, still alive, served on the sub Arkansas.

[JockoManning]

I enjoyed reading that. Good work Jaysun. Thanks.

JM

[Jaysun]

Please help me think of a more suitable title. As Ciexyz has pointed out to me, "Great Grandfather's Recordings" is far from enticing.

[Alamo-Girl]

I'm no good at titles, but here's a bump!

[Ciexyz]

About the title, I suggest that you work WW II and religion in the title, maybe WW II chaplain to vets. Which is kind of what your great grandfather was, even though he wasn't a chaplain in the military, but he did preach his message to the troops, and his sermons often dealt with themes facing military families.

[SunkenCiv]

hmm...

Voice from the Past?

Family Folklore, Heard Again?

dunno.

[P.O.E.]

This may help you come up with a title:

What are the stories about? What is the underlying message? What's important about what he is saying?

Note: I don't mean these questions in a critical way (sometimes when you type things they come across the wrong way). What I mean by them is to ask yourself these questions as you go, and they might help you find the "hook", so to speak, that will guide not only your title, but your overall thesis.

[Jaysun]

What are the stories about? What is the underlying message? What's important about what he is saying?

Thanks for your advice I'll see what I can come up with. It's somewhat hard to pinpoint a general theme because they weren't all made during the war. Some were made during holidays, birthdays, major events, etc. They always had a strong religious theme but that was true with almost everything he said and did - right up until his last words.

He was 101 years old when he passed away. He died on December 28, 2002. His house was literally packed with people. He didn't want the women in his bedroom when he died so at the end it was just the men. My uncle and his boys were there too. My Great Grandfather said that if his hair wasn't so "damned messy" he'd have someone take a picture of all of us because it isn't often that five generations (from him to my son) stood in the same room.

We all stayed and talked with him for the last 2 hours of his life. His breathing had gotten heavy and I wasn't sure if he'd say anything else. One of my little cousins said, "I guess this is goodbye." He said, "It's not goodbye.....it's see ya later." He didn't say anything else for a while. Then he said, "Boys" and we all gathered in and put a hand on him. A minute or so later he said, "See ya in Heaven" and that was it. I thought it was a good ending to an extraordinary life.

I don't mean to ramble on but there's a lot of neat stuff to tell. Anyway, thanks for your help. I'm glad that I can share this with you guys.