A Father's Stories

I was born and raised in Monroe, New York as the son of a small business owner and nurse. Dad owned Monroe Lumber, or Monroe Lumber and Building Supply, or Monroe Lumber and Coal if you go back even far enough. Dad was the third generation to run the lumber company. He took it over from his dad, Rodney, who took it over from his father-in-law. Mom was a nurse. She graduated from SUNY Plattsburg with a nursing degree and worked in hospitals and schools. My best memory was of her being the campus nurse at Harriman Junior College before taking a job down in The Bronx.  In the 1970s through early 1980s, Monroe was still far enough from New York City that not a lot of people had moved there to make the town "the suburbs". We were about 50 miles from Manhattan but we were still surrounded by farms, lakes, and a general easy going life.  It was a different time.  Before there was Walmart there was K-Mart. Before K-Mart in Monroe there was Grant's Department Store and Jamesw...

Tom Brown 1933-2006 My Dad is dead. This is not news. Tom Brown died almost fifteen years ago in a nursing home in Myrtle Beach, SC, while I sat by his side, holding his hand, as he transitioned from this world to whatever comes next. With him left the stories of h is 73 years. Stories of growing up on Long Island. Stories of being drafted and going to Korea. Stories of hauling milk from upstate New York. Stories of running a business. Stories of being a volunteer firefighter.   While I can remember bits and pieces of some of his life I know that the details are sadly lost forever. Dad never met his grandsons and he passed when Sam was only 8. Our time in this world can be so short sometimes; even at 73, and his grandchildren will never hear those stories as he remembered them. As it stands now, only one of my three kids has any interest in who I was growing up. I don’t blame them; I don’t think I showed much interest in my dad’s life either.   I understand that. It’s ...