Today My Grandfather Turns 94
Wed Jul 02, 2008 at 01:53:12 PM PDT
I won't see him until this weekend, when we head to "Corn Day" but doing a little jig for the man. Thought I might just write down a few thoughts. Oh, and yes, I live in a place where we have "Corn Day."
He went to college when he was 15. So young my great grandmother moved with him to Urbana (that would be the University of Illinois). He got his medical degree when he was 20.
The next year when he got done with his internship at Barnes in St. Louis he moved home, married my grandmother, bought the place he'd have his practice at for 50 years, and joined the military in literally a day.
That must have been one heck of a day.
He was a Flight Surgeon. HUMP. China/India. He was told most likely others wouldn't return, so he needed to learn how to pilot a plane cause he might be the only one alive that could. He learned how to do that on the weekends, and later it would be something he needed to know. He won't talk of his days here. It was just something he had to do.
After war he came home to be a doctor. 50+ years.
He is known in my parents home town as the "Baby Doctor." 3,786, including myself (that had to be fun for my mom). I can't go into a place, and I don't live there now, where my name is mentioned and people don't want to tell me how much they love my grandfather.
Often I get "your grandfather was there for the happiest day in our life."
But the most amazing thing about the man was when we cleaned out his office. That office he bought in like '42.
The lawyers told us to shred everything. All the medical records. Something strange happened. As I was going through the records I saw these index cards with strange notes on them. Things like chicken or apple pie.
I asked "what is this about?"
My dad asked if could recall that cake or fried chicken around a holiday that just appeared. I said yeah, and then he said to me that many folks couldn't afford to pay for their care with cash, so my grandfather took any payment. Sometimes it was a cake or fried chicken.
Happy birthday grandfather .... happy birthday!
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