SO, THAT'S THAT! Continued...

A coat is just a coat, until it saves your life. Luckily for my dad, his warm personality could charm anyone, including the engineer. The chicken story was told to me when he was 98 - the description of that meal was delicious, it was like he was tasting it all over again.

 The Great Depression taught my dad a few things - mostly how to survive with very little. He loved to tell stories of his hobo days which, to him, was an adventure - if you made it out alive! They used to call it the "the jungle" for a reason... I believe the experience made my dad a stronger person - it certainly toughened him up for real life!

My dad's life was filled with the usual mix of tragedy and comedy. As a wise guy once said "All humour is based on grievance" and is a mechanism that helps us cope with life. Sometimes when my dad told me a funny story, he would burst into laughter and not be able to finish the story. I would then laugh at his laughter and we'd both crack up!!

When my dad told me this story I thought it was horrifying, but it made a lasting impression on me - something you never forget. For him as a young boy, I just can't imagine. There is a movie on the subject by Dalton Trumbo called Johnny Got His Gun which is quite difficult to watch, but well worth taking a look at.

Institutions of any kind, including educational ones, never agreed with my dad, and he never agreed with them.

My dad had a habit of leaning on his elbows with his hands covering his ears. This trait stayed with him since he was a boy, and to me it was a sign of distress. He still did it at times, like when he didn't want to talk about a difficult time in his life, or an experience that had stayed with him all that time.

My dad told me about really wanting a Meccano set as a young boy, so I eventually  tracked one down and gave it to him as a Christmas present one year. By that time he was well into his eighties, but when I gave it to him, he looked to me like he was eight years old again.