The Builder – an introduction

It was December, the year was 1940. War raged in Europe and the US would be forced to enter that fray. No one knew that a scant year in the future we would be plunged headlong into war with Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor, or that 4 days later on December 11, 1941 Hitler would declare war on the United States. Even with this uncertainty, the builder and his wife Thelma brought their new son home from the hospital and laid him under the Christmas tree. Life was good for the moment, even if they didn’t know what the future held. The total bill at the hospital was $38.

The builder worked at repairing typewriters and adding machines and was considered to be in a critical defense role so as it turned out he was exempt from the draft. He had held this job for 15 years and was considered to be very good at it. The builder was my dad and this story is about him, and about how his life as a builder. Life in the early 1940’s was not easy. The country was not fully out of the depression years yet and the war and the restrictions on everything from food to gasoline to tires, made life difficult. Even color movie film was rationed and could not be bought. It was into just such a world that the builder brought four children, the last coming in January 1946. The second, a girl named Abigail, lived only a short 4 hours and we never knew her.

These stories are about the builder and the things he built. They are true to the best of my memory and recollection. They will cover over 60 years and I cannot say with certainty how many there will be nor how often. I only know that I must write down the legacy that he left me and I think this will be a meaningful way to do it. If you choose to tag along, I can assure you that there will be tears because they are there now as I write this introduction.