My Father's 100th Birthday

Special to FreeRepublic ^ | 23 December, 2005 | John Armor (Congressman Billybob)

[Congressman Billybob]

This is a personal story, of course. But it is also a Christmas story that might be of value to my friends on FreeRepublic.

John / Billybob

[bert]

Thanks for the story....

Merry Christmas

[marron]

I've got tears in my eyes. Thanks.

[proudmilitarymrs]

A Christmas story indeed Congressman, thank you.

Merry Christmas to you!

[Congressman Billybob]

Thank you. I had tears in my eyes when I wrote this. But it seemed a story worth telling.

John / Billybob

[RadioAstronomer]

Merry Christmas!

[exit82]

John, Merry Christmas to you and your family.I always enjoy reading your point of view.Hope you will be around in 2043 to celebrate your 100th birthday.

[Congressman Billybob]

I'll do my best. But it IS a long shot. LOL.

John / Billybob

[kipita]

With the kid you've adopted and taken into your home and your kind thoughtful words expressed on FR, it seems as though there will be many white envelopes during Christmas for generations to come.

[GloriaJane]

"Thank you. I had tears in my eyes when I wrote this. But it seemed a story worth telling."

You've brought me to tears also. But they are tears of the best kind. God bless you and Merry Christmas!

[Mike Darancette]

Merry Christmas and a prayer for Mike and your dad.

[geezerwheezer]

My Dad and Mom raised thirteen of us. Each of us became our own person, steeped in the tradition of God, Family and Country. When I was little, I remember asking my Dad why there were so many of us, and he told me that when he was a little boy he was quite ill with pneumonia, whooping cough, and a constant fever. Of course, his Mother would not let him go out to play and he would sit at the front window and look at the house across the way where the family living there had seven children. The children that lived there played and had fun together. He told me that he decided then that he wanted a child for each window of that house, so when he looked out of his window he would have a playmate too. He then told me there were thirteen windows in that house, and that was why there were thirteen of us. I always thought my Dad made up this story, and when he died we went to his hometown for his funeral service. Afterwards, I drove by his old house for the memories, saw a bunch of children playing across the way, looked at their house and counted the windows. Of course, there were thirteen! I then felt connected to my Dad, and still do. Thanks for sharing your story about your Father. Aren't all Fathers special? Merry Christmas to you and yours.

[Luke Skyfreeper]

He would be sad to know that the last vestige of his work disappeared this year, when AT&T was bought out, having long ago been stripped of all its “baby Bells.”

At the risk of unduly disputing such a personal memoir, not so.

His work may be dispersed, renamed and even redone, but without him and others of previous generations, we would not have what we have today.

We stand on the shoulders of the giants who came before us. Everything we are and have has been built on the foundation that they laid, and that foundation will last for as long as our civilization endures.

[litehaus]

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours....many more happy memories in the days ahead I am sure....

[Congressman Billybob]

I haven't adopted any child. I have my four children. But my younger daughter, with whom I'll spend Christmas, married a fine man who has four children, and they've had one more. So I have "adopted" four grandchildren.

John / Billybob

[Congressman Billybob]

I have a slightly similar story. I was born premature, and in my first six months in our new house at 205 E. College Avenue in Salisbury, Maryland, I nearly died of whooping cough. I was, to put it mildly, quite different than I am now.

My Mother used to tell the story that two local women came to visit when my family moved in, and that as they were leaving, one of those women said to the other, "She'll never raise that one." They told my Mother that story years later, when I was healthy and well on my way.

Like your father, I spent many hours in that bedroom, looking out, and wishing I could go out and play. However, nothing in that experience had any effect on how many children I had. LOL.

John / Billybob

[SeaBiscuit]

Giving.. the gift that keeps on.. giving. Thanks for this spirited story.

Merry Christmas to you and yours.

[doug from upland]

Thanks for sharing it with us, John. Have a blessed Christmas, my friend.

[ozaukeemom]

Thank you. Yes, I have tears in my eyes. Wonderful stories.Merry Christmas.

[markman46]

Thank you for the wonderful story John, have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year