My father was born in 1925 to a family of 10 children. He was in the middle of the stair step ages, seven boys and three girls.

It was the time of the Great Depression and the movie Grapes of Wrath could have been his story put to film.

His father was a hard and defeated man who was taken to drink, leaving his family for weeks

at a time alone. And the older of the seven brothers were tasked with hunting and fishing

to feed the family and my grandmother

would take in sewing jobs and any odd job to buy basic food needs. The family did okay after my grandfather died and the boys were

excellent hunters and gatherers. I tell this part to explain that my father grew up in the woods hunting and by hunting I don't mean sitting in a blind with deer feeders set on timers to get the deer train together at the right time.

I'm talking about real hunting is what Dad and his brothers did

daily to provide food. Each boy left home in a different direction and would not

return home without game be be it rabbit, squirrel, deer, even a hog.

My father feared nothing and would frequently go out in the dark without a flashlight.

He really feared nothing except one thing or should I say

one place. It wasn't until I was 17 or 18 that I found out he had a fear at all and exactly what that fear was.

My father was 40 when I was born. I was what was referred to as a late runner. My sister was 16 and my brother was 12

when I came along. Always a hard worker and always trying to provide better for his family, my father managed to save money

here and there and eventually opened a gas station. Then he opened a small grocery,

followed by a trailer park and several rental properties and then he ventured into

cattle. He was good at everything he built but he excelled in the cattle business.

To say that he was my hero is an understatement, but to add to his legend he was legally

blind.

He was declared legally blind at ten years of age and he was sent to the Texas School for the Blind in 1935,

where he stayed for less than a year.

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