What Family Does 3s4c1o

What

FAMILY Does

VINCE FLECKER

AuthorHouse™ 1663 Liberty Drive Bloomington, IN 47403 www.authorhouse.com Phone: 1 (800) 839-8640

© 2020 Vince Flecker. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 01/06/2020

ISBN: 978-1-7283-4052-4 (sc) ISBN: 978-1-7283-4051-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019920839

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations,

and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

CONTENTS

Main Characters

Preface

Prologue

Part I

Chapter 1 Margaret

Chapter 2 The Promise

Chapter 3 The Reunion

Chapter 4 Triumph and Tragedy

Part II

Chapter 5 New Beginnings

Chapter 6 Everything went Black

Chapter 7 Wedding Bells

Chapter 8 The Kids Are Coming

Chapter 9 Apple Pie

Chapter 10 The Move

Chapter 11 Growing with the Garden

Chapter 12 Music to the Ears

Chapter 13 Surprise

Chapter 14 Nicknames

Part III

Chapter 15 Tinker’s First Life Lesson

Chapter 16 Boxing Match

Chapter 17 Tough Love

Chapter 18 The Accident

Chapter 19 That’s What Family Does

Chapter 20 Growing Up

Chapter 21 Moving Out

Chapter 22 Living Life

Chapter 23 Foolish Words

Chapter 24 Uncle Tinker

Chapter 25 Learning the Hard Way

Chapter 26 Unconditional Love

Chapter 27 Changes

Chapter 28 The Visitor

Chapter 29 Plans Change

Chapter 30 Narrow Minds

Part IV

Chapter 31 Law Trouble

Chapter 32 Family Matters

Acknowledgments

About the Author Meet Vince Flecker

For Peggy Love ya Bunches & Gobs

MAIN CHARACTERS

Tosco & Myrtle Wiedemann, parents of Margaret Margaret Wiedemann, mother of Bernie Bernard Tosco Wiedemann, son of Margaret

Clovis Riley Heckman, husband of Audrey Lyn Audrey Lyn Stinson, wife of Clovis Children of Clovis & Audrey Lyn: Clovis Riley Jr. (Butch) Carolyn Rose (Sissy) Tobias Edward (Scooter) Eldon Jefferson (Tinker)

PREFACE

I n the early part of April 2019, I found myself awake in the middle of the night and unable to return to sleep. I am sure I am like most folks who, when they cannot sleep, have many thoughts running through their minds. In the past, it has usually been thoughts about work projects or some special event, but this morning was different. My thoughts became a story with a flood of ideas gushing forth, including names, time frame, and plot. Normally after a restless night, I can sometimes my thoughts, but usually, they vanish in a short time. These did not. Please keep in mind that I have never aspired to be an author. The ability to write a book is as foreign to me as eating meatloaf with chopsticks, something I couldn’t do if I wanted. Several more restless nights followed, with the story continuing to develop even more. Many of my ideas came from personal experience, either from hearing someone else’s story or events that occurred in my life. The main story is fiction, but several of the side stories are quite true. The whole idea of the book became overwhelming to the point I sat down and started typing out the story. After about five chapters I realized how much work it was going to require to write a book and decided before proceeding any further I needed some affirmation that this story was even worth writing. My wife, Peggy, is a voracious reader, so I sheepishly presented my work to her for review. I asked her for her true opinion as to whether or not I should continue or just consider it a nice try. Her positive pushed me forward. As the ideas continued, I hammered out chapter after chapter until Mother’s Day, when my rough draft was complete. When I first shared with others that I had written a book, most were very surprised. They were somewhat astonished that I had written it in six-week time period. After all, I am not an author. The next obvious question was what to do with it. Unfamiliar with what it takes to publish, I pretty much sat on it other than giving it to several folks to read for

story content criticism. In July at a family camp in Wisconsin, I spent time with Keith Ogorek discussing my book. Keith, who works in book publishing, shared ideas that gave my book direction. After our discussion, I came back and reworked my manuscript by adding a lot more content and rearranged some of the formats. The book took on a more organized look and by October was ready to be considered for publishing. In the process of putting this together, I looked for ways to include others. While fishing I took a picture of an old covered bridge and felt it best described the time period of my book. I asked a longtime friend and artist David Seward to consider doing a painting of this photo for the cover of my book, which he agreed to do. Neighborhood Fellowship is an inter-city church that serves the needy of Indianapolis. Under the leadership of founding Pastor Jim Strietelmeier, amazing things have happened in this rough part of the city. Neighborhood Fellowship Church has created a food pantry to serve the hungry, an academy to teach the youth, and women’s and men’s groups for spiritual care. One of the most physical impacts has been their neighborhood health clinic. Every Saturday for years they have served the public with free health and dental care. It is staffed by volunteer med students from several universities. The long-term vision has been to expand their services from one day a week to being an everyday provider. They have acquired the building space to do it, but need to fund the interior construction and medical material costs. This book has become a way for me to try and help with Neighborhood Fellowship’s clinic. The ideas for my book were not my own. They were a gift from God and I wish to share that gift with the clinic. Any profits made from the sale of What Family Does will go directly to the of the clinic. I truly hope you enjoy my story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Blessings

PROLOGUE

M argaret sat in the dimly lit room looking at Bernie’s battered body lying in the hospital bed. His head was swollen and both eyes were so blackened that it made his face unrecognizable. IV tubes were going into his arms and various machines monitored his vital stats. Nurses were checking every fifteen minutes on his condition hoping to see some improvement. Her eyes could not stay dry as she watched her precious son cling to life. Bernie was all Margaret ever had and the thought of losing him was so overwhelming she could not allow her thoughts to go there. The doctors had not been very encouraging and had told Margaret to prepare for the worst-case scenario. She kept replaying the details of the attack in her head. She could not grasp how another human being could be so vicious to the point of killing someone for so little without really caring. Bernie was the type of person that always treated others with kindness and respect. He was a war veteran working every day while pretty much leading a normal life in America. As she pondered those thoughts, she found herself coming back to Bernie’s critical condition which prompted more tears. She did only what she could do during this tragic time, and that was to pray. Bernie needed a miracle to live and Margaret knew this could not come from any doctor. She repeatedly pleaded with God to save Bernie’s life, and now all she could do was wait for His answer.

PART I

CHAPTER 1 MARGARET

M argaret Wiedemann lived in Tabor Valley, a small town located in eastern Ohio. She was the eldest and the only daughter of Tosco and Myrtle Wiedemann. Margaret’s school interests were mainly in the arts. She loved singing and it was a natural fit that she was in both her church and school choirs. Her voice was a full-bodied alto that allowed her to perform a wide range of music. When the school decided to do the Broadway Musical, The Wizard of the Nile, in the spring of 1898 she could not wait to audition. The show was a Three Act Operetta that had great success on Broadway and in Europe. Margaret landed the role of Cleopatra, which gave her several singing opportunities. The cast gave two sold-out performances and was highly praised for their acting and musical talents. Margaret truly excelled when she was performing, and it was during these times she was her happiest. It was during the many rehearsals that Margaret had secretly become involved with Jonathon Stuart. He was a dashing young man with dark wavy hair and large brown eyes that could look through a person. He was also a year behind Margaret in school. They kept their romance hidden from everyone including their family and closest friends until September of 1898 when Margaret discovered she was with child. There was probably nothing worse at this point in history than to be a young unwed mother. Options were few and the overall social implications were staggering. The shame and humiliation a family would endure were tremendous. Most often it seemed that the reputation of the young woman was ruined and the male was never called to such an ability level. In many cases, it forced loveless marriages to protect the child. In Margaret’s case, this was not an option with Jonathon being younger and still in school. She realized there would not be much of a chance for this type of marriage to survive. Margaret suffered privately with her secret as long as she could. She knew sooner or later she was going to have to share the news with her parents, something she dreaded more than anything. She had always tried to please her

parents by working hard to get good grades in school. She did her chores without being told and helped care for her two younger brothers. She could only imagine the disappointment it would be for her parents when she finally told them. The day of reckoning came when she could hold out no longer. She was starting to show and hiding her morning sickness was getting close to impossible. Myrtle’s first response was a gasp followed by uncontrollable tears. Tosco felt like the air had been sucked out of his lungs and could not form any words to speak. This was his little girl and the news set off an emotional tornado that when it subsided the flurry of questions began. The first question was, “who was the father?” Margaret was well prepared for that question. She had given many hours of thought about how she would respond when asked. To her parent’s astonishment, she refused to name the boy. This only aggravated Tosco to the point of raising his voice and hurling words he would never have used in front of his family. All of this commotion only made Myrtle cry more as she felt her heart breaking for her only daughter. Margaret’s choice not to divulge Jonathon’s name was an act of unselfishness that only she could understand. She knew her life was going to be affected tragically and felt that there was no point in destroying another person’s life with hers. The fact was Jonathon did not even know Margaret was pregnant. Their relationship had cooled off by the end of summer and they were no longer speaking to each other. To her, the idea of having to marry someone she did not love for the sake of the child was an unthinkable option. Since Margaret held her ground and would not name the father it only left a couple of other choices for Tosco and Myrtle to consider. First, have the baby and live at home. If this were to take place they knew that living in Tabor Valley would be difficult. Although folks would try to hide it, they would be judgmental about Margaret and her illegitimate child. They knew that poor child would not have much of a chance of success if they stayed here, so that option was quickly nixed. A second, but not even considered possibility, was the idea of aborting the child. Tosco and Myrtle’s religious convictions would not even permit that thought to be mentioned. Abortions were available, but usually not in the best places or by qualified people. A botched abortion could leave the mother sterile or possibly cause her death. As much as Margaret wished she was not pregnant, thinking of killing her unborn child was detestable.

Finally, it was decided to send Margaret to Cincinnati to St. Joseph’s, a home for unwed mothers. It was a Catholic home run by the Little Sisters of the Poor. Girls would arrive there to live and deliver their babies. Upon birth, the child would be given over to adoptive parents. While at the home the girls were expected to continue their studies, help with meals, cleaning and any other chores needed until close to their due date. It was right after Thanksgiving that Tosco and Margaret took the train to Cincinnati and proceeded to St. Joseph’s. It was a difficult trip for both. Few words were spoken on the hour and a half trip, and the silence just made the ride longer. When they arrived Tosco and Margaret listened as the home’s director Sister Marie Paula explained the home’s rules and took any questions. After the orientation, it was time for Tosco to leave Margaret; still, words could not come out of his mouth. His mind had been filled with hours of brooding over this entire situation. Here he was leaving his first child, his only daughter, whom he loved dearly—yet, no words. As they stood on the steps of the home he said goodbye and walked down the steps only to stop from the weight of Margaret’s stare. He turned to see streams of tears running down Margaret’s face. He could not contain himself any longer and bound up the steps and embraced Margaret as only a father can do. Still no words accompanied the hug that said everything to Margaret. Tosco was also in tears as he kissed Margaret’s forehead and said goodbye. Even though nothing was spoken there had been father and daughter reconciliation. As Tosco rode back to Tabor Valley all he could do was think about Margaret being alone. His mind replayed her youth as a little girl, including her excitement when he came in after a day’s work, the little handmade birthday cards she drew for him, and most recently how well she sang in the high school musical. Now she was going to be a mother. Tosco found himself haunted by the thought of a grandchild he would never know and this thought cut his heart deeply. The train pulled into the station at 9:30 p.m. and life returned as best it could to normalcy in the Wiedemann home.

CHAPTER 2 THE PROMISE

L ife at St. Joseph’s was pretty good under the circumstances. When Margaret arrived there were a total of seven girls in the home, with one just days from delivery. Each day the wakeup call came at 6 a.m., breakfast at 7, then chapel at 8, with classes starting at 9. The nuns were kind, but firm, with the girls. To prevent homesickness they made sure they did their school work and chores with little downtime. It was a very structured lifestyle that worked well for these young moms-to-be. s Loy was 19, from Cleveland, and seven months pregnant when she met Margaret. They became fast friends, something both needed. In spite of the busy daily schedule, missing home was taking a toll on both girls. Margaret learned that s had conceived by rape. She had been dating a boy from another school who had tried to be intimate with s on an earlier occasion. The first time she refused he backed off, apologized, and said it would never happen again if she just gave him another chance. She bought it and things seemed to be okay on the next several dates. Then on their last date while walking back from a school basketball game he forced her into an empty warehouse and raped her. After the rape, s did not know what to do. It was not going to be easy to prove it was rape since they had been dating for a while. She thought it was best she did not say anything and hoped it would just go away. It did not go away and there was now a small life growing inside of her. Much like Margaret’s parents, s’s parents were shocked and angered. Her father demanded to know the name of the boy and like Margaret she refused. Her reason was plain and simple. She knew her father was enraged and he would kill or do real harm to the boy. She knew the family could not afford the loss of her father. Now s, like the other six girls, was waiting until her child arrived only to give it up. Margaret would write letters home and on several occasions, her mother would write her back. She got brought up to date on town news and how her brothers were doing. It seemed neighbors had asked about Margaret’s whereabouts and the family had concocted a story about her outstanding musical ability. They said

the Columbus School of Arts wanted her to enroll immediately to get started on her musical career. The façade seemed to work for the most part. One benefit Margaret got out of being at the home was the lessons from time spent in chapel. Since she now had the time to listen and think, she took the teachings to heart. She knew what she had done was wrong and felt like she could not forgive herself for all the hurt and pain her actions had produced. What she learned was that no matter how many times she failed or messed up, God would always be there to forgive and love her. Margaret for the first time felt the love of Christ and knew He would care for her. Time in the home moved quickly with girls leaving and coming frequently. s’s due date finally arrived, and she gave birth to an almost eight-pound girl. She was allowed to hold her briefly before the nuns snatched her away. s could not restrain herself as she let out a mournful cry much like a person discovering the sudden loss of a close family member. The sisters tried to comfort her but to no avail. Her baby was gone and so was her will to live. Margaret was asked to try and console her, but s just withdrew deeper into herself, speaking to no one. One week after the birth, s was sent back to Cleveland. Within a week, St. Joseph received word s had hung herself, leaving Margaret devastated by the loss of her friend. As Margaret’s due date got closer she could not get s out of her mind. She kept replaying the hopeless look on s’s face and the emptiness in the person she had come to be so close to. She was also scared that the same thing could happen to her. She knew it would not be easy to give up her baby and, after seeing what s experienced, fear started to overwhelm her. Two days before she was to deliver Margaret made a secret decision to leave St. Joseph’s. About an hour after lights out, Margaret took what few belongings she had and quietly left. Fortunately, it was May in Cincinnati and the weather was quite pleasant as Margaret walked quietly down the sidewalk leaving St Joseph’s in the dark shadows of night. On May 14th Margaret gave birth at Cincinnati General Hospital to a handsome 7 and a half pound boy. She named him Bernard Tosco Wiedemann, with Bernie being the name he would go by. Margaret was experiencing love for the first time, the kind only a mother could know.

After Margaret was released from the hospital with Bernie she had no idea what to do or where to go. From her lessons at St. Joseph’s she kept hearing that God loved her and He would take care of her. She was ready to take Him at His word as she walked down the sidewalk. She had walked about a mile from the hospital when she stopped to rest on a sidewalk bench. As she sat there contemplating her next move she happened to look across the street and saw the All Souls Redeemer Church. She noticed the information board out front and went over to investigate. It had the usual church information like service times and the pastor’s name, but what caught her eye were the words on the board. It said, “All Sinners Welcomed.” Margaret thought to herself “that’s me” and was in the church office within about thirty seconds. Mrs. Olsen was the church secretary and greeted Margaret warmly and ired her new son. She then asked her how she could help her. Without any hesitation, Margaret burst out that she was there because of the sign out front. Somewhat puzzled Mrs. Olsen had to think what exactly was on that sign that brought this young woman in here so zealously. Racking her brain she gave up and asked what she meant. Margaret quickly explained her serious situation and how desperate she was for help. After seeing the sign about “sinners welcomed” she felt the church could somehow help her. Mrs. Olsen was speechless and must have looked dumbfounded to Margaret. She finally composed herself and excused herself so she could talk to the pastor. Pastor Kevin Richards had been at All Souls for two years and he was a young father of two in his mid-thirties. Upon meeting Margaret he could sense in her the desperation for help. After about 30 minutes of hearing Margaret’s story, Pastor Richards knew he could not turn this young mother out. He left Margaret and son in the care of Mrs. Olsen for about an hour. When he returned smiling, Margaret could tell he had some good news to share. The pastor’s widowed mother lived a few blocks from the church in a large home by herself. When Kevin told his mother about Margaret’s situation she could not wait to get her hands on that new baby; so without any real concern, she was willing to take this pair into her care and love on them like her own. Bernie and Margaret had been cared for after all. God’s promises were real and Margaret treasured them in her heart for the rest of her life.

CHAPTER 3 THE REUNION

I t took about a month for Margaret and Bernie to settle into a routine at the Richard’s home. Claire Richards had three grown children and had lost her husband two years earlier. She managed to keep busy with things, but the nights were the worst times for her. The house was empty of the noise of life, which she so craved. The Wiedemanns filled Claire’s void and, for a young mother on her own, Margaret felt so blessed and grateful to Claire for her kindness. Even with all this attention Margaret still possessed an emptiness for her family. She knew she could not return to Tabor Valley, but she also knew her parents were probably worried sick or wondering happened to her. All the Wiedemanns knew was that she had left St. Joseph’s and was never seen or heard from again. She decided it would be wise to at least let them know she was alive and well. Writing the letter took some thoughtful time because she did not want to upset her parents or make things worse between them. When finished she sent her brief but concise letter home.

Dear Mother and Father,

I am sure you have been concerned about my whereabouts and I want to assure you I am in good hands and I am in good health. Baby is also doing well and has gained two pounds since his birth. How I wish you could see him. I hope that could happen if you wish it to very soon. Please tell Ollie and Steven hi for me and I bet they have both grown two inches since the last time I saw them.

Your Loving Daughter, Margaret

Margaret did not disclose her address in the letter, because she wanted to take things one step at a time with her parents and felt that moving too fast could have an adverse effect. She also knew she and Bernie could not stay with Claire Richards forever. She needed to be thinking about her future and how she was going to the two of them on her own. Claire was an outstanding seamstress and had won many blue ribbons at the county and state fairs over the years. She was a patient teacher and Margaret caught on fast. Before long, folks were bringing all sorts of things for Margaret to mend and she even got a couple of orders to make some simple dresses. It worked out well for her because she was able to take care of Bernie at home while earning some money. Along with learning to sew, Margaret became involved at All Souls Redeemer. Her desire to sing again was renewed and she had become an active member of the choir. There were bake sales and other church activities, but what she enjoyed most was working in Sunday school with high school girls. Pastor Richards was a forward-thinking man and had encouraged her to spend time with these younger girls. He felt she had a lot to share with them from her early life experience and that she might be able to help keep other girls from making some of the same mistakes. Margaret knew she was in the right place and started to grow quickly as a person. She had seen how people who truly believed in God and His Word lived. This church had welcomed her and her son with open arms and no questions. This had become her home. In late October, as the holiday season was fast approaching, Margaret sent a second letter home to her parents.

Dear Mother and Father,

Oh, how I miss you and would so cherish a visit from you. If that is something you would also like, please write to me at 416 North Grant St., Cincinnati, Ohio.

Your Loving Daughter, Margaret P.S. There is room for all of you to stay here.

Two weeks after sending her letter, Margaret got a reply from her mother.

Dear Margaret,

We cannot wait to see you! We can come for Thanksgiving if that is acceptable with who it is you are staying with.

Love, Mother

The Wiedemann’s train arrived in Cincinnati on Wednesday at 8:15 p.m. Pastor Richards decided it was best if he met them alone at the station. It was about a twenty-five minute trip from the station and this would give them a little time to get acquainted. When they arrived at the home, Pastor Richards introduced his mother, Claire, to the Wiedemanns who immediately thanked her for the amazing care she had

given Margaret and their grandson. Upon seeing Margaret, it was one big family hug. Ollie and Steven thought their older sister looked great and was even prettier than they had ed. Margaret complimented them on their good behavior and that they had indeed grown at least two inches and were not that far from ing her height. Myrtle and Tosco just stood quietly trying to absorb everything that was taking place. All the ill feelings were far behind them. They just wanted their daughter and this moment was long overdue. After the commotion had settled down, Margaret excused herself and returned shortly with a sleeping bundle. The boys were wide-eyed as they looked on the small infant boy. They both looked at each other and grinned calling one another Uncle Ollie and Uncle Steven. Margaret handed the baby to her father and said, “Bernard Tosco Wiedemann wants to meet his grandpa.” Tosco never dreamed he would see or let alone hold this grandchild and here he was, this infant bearing his name, in his arms. Uncontrollable tears rolled down everyone’s face at this joyful family reunion.

CHAPTER 4 TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY

A fter the Thanksgiving reunion, the Wiedemanns kept in regular with Margaret and made at least two trips a year to see Bernie and her. The family did not have a lot of money, but Tosco did try to send some to help with Margaret’s living costs. Margaret stayed with Mrs. Richards for two years and then decided she and little Bernie should have a place of their own. Claire was heartbroken. She had grown so close to Margaret and the thought of not seeing little Bernie devastated her. The fact was Margaret loved Claire and she did not like the idea of leaving either but felt it was the best thing to do. After searching for a place, Margaret, found a small apartment she could afford and the best part she was only three blocks from the Richards’s home. You would have thought she had given Claire a million bucks when Margaret asked her to watch Bernie while she worked. With Claire watching Bernie she could also have Margaret over for dinner often when she came to pick up the boy. The new arrangement worked very well for both parties. Margaret’s reputation for being an outstanding seamstress had gotten around the Northside of Cincinnati to the point that she had enough work to keep her busy full-time. They were in the best place possible and she was very thankful for all the people in her life. Before long Bernie was in school. He was a small, shy boy that had difficulty in school. Having no father made him stand out to the rest of the children. Bernie had been told his father had died shortly after his birth. Margaret hated to lie to Bernie but felt he was too young to comprehend the situation. It also helped take the pressure off of her when people questioned where the father was. Because of his shyness, if he did not understand something in class, he would never ask any questions. Some thought that he was a slow learner or had a learning disability, but that was far from the truth. Just because he did not speak much didn’t mean he was not learning. The fact was he was always observing people and things.

He was very inquisitive and wanted to know what made things work. Since music was a big part of Margaret’s life she insisted Bernie become acquainted with some form of music. It seemed the violin was to be Bernie’s instrument of choice. He practiced regularly and played very well. As he grew older he played his violin in his high school orchestra. Music was a form of relaxation for Bernie. He was accomplished, but he was not ionate about it. His mind’s interest was still trying to understand how things worked or, in some cases, didn’t. Whenever there was a construction site, he could stand there for hours watching all the various jobs being performed and especially the different types of equipment being used. His fascination with what made things work motivated him to always be considering ways to improve things or invent something that could help perform a task better. To Bernie, a mechanical problem was a challenge that motivated him to try and find solutions. Upon graduation from high school in 1917, Bernie immediately enlisted in the Army. Margaret was extremely displeased that her only child would be halfway across the world fighting a war in a foreign land. She knew her son was a gift from God and that God would use him as best He saw fit. She prayed harder than ever for Bernie to return home and for the war to end. Basic training took place at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Even though Bernie did not have a particularly strong looking appearance, he was quite athletic. He scored high on the physical fitness tests and proved he had great physical endurance. Many of the larger trainees struggled to perform and barely ed the fitness portion. Bernie also excelled in other areas of training which made him one of the top enlistees in his company. After boot camp was completed, Bernie was transported to . Eventually, he was within a couple of miles from the front lines. During basic training, Bernie’s ability to figure things out was noticed by his commanding officer. The captain noted these special talents in Bernie’s file. Bernie’s new unit commander read the file, so instead of Bernie being in the trenches, he was used everywhere to help solve problems. Guns were jamming and Bernie saw that the springs used to force the bullets into the rifle were too weak to keep up with the heavy use. Soon replacement springs were being installed and the jamming problem was resolved. He was later attached to a medical unit and rode on ambulance runs to pick up wounded

soldiers. The ambulances were nothing more than Model T trucks and the rides were very bumpy, making it hard on the wounded. Bernie made a cushioned spring floor to put the men on and that reduced their ride discomfort by 40 percent. Some of his changes had a large impact while others were nothing more than refinements, but either way, his improvements were a good asset for the Allies. On November 11, 1918, the Great War came to an end. Soon Bernie and his mother were reunited and a sense of normalcy returned to Margaret and Bernie’s life. Bernie found a job working as a machinist in a tool and die factory. He lived at home for a while allowing him to save up some money. When he turned twenty-one, he decided he should get a place of his own and found a small apartment about a mile from his mother’s place. Bernie and his mother remained close and continued together as of All Souls Redeemer Church. Bernie would occasionally play his violin during Communion or accompany the choir on special occasions. Most Sunday evenings were spent at Margaret’s where he enjoyed her fine homemade meals. Bernie was particularly fond of fresh baked apple pie, which he immediately smelled upon entering her home. Margaret’s pies were plump with apples and cinnamon. Her handmade crusts were as flaky as any found in a fine pastry shop. To Bernie, there was nothing better than a large slice of mom’s pie and a cup of coffee. One night after working late at the factory Bernie was walking home when he was approached by two men. At first, they appeared friendly, asking directions to the nearest place to get a bite to eat. No sooner had Bernie turned and walked away, than a sound like something he had heard exploding in , came through his head. The lead pipe cracked Bernie’s skull and sent blood gushing down the back of his head onto his neck. He hit the ground hard with no recollection of what happened. Whatever the two thieves thought they were getting, it was not much. Bernie only had some small change on him, probably less than one dollar. Bernie first opened his eyes two days later in Cincinnati General, the place of his birth. Margaret had been by his bedside non-stop since she learned of the incident. She fervently prayed to God not to take her beloved son and the entire church had come together for a prayer vigil the first night he was in the hospital. Many had taken assigned times to pray for Bernie. The doctors had

given Bernie only a slight chance to survive, and if he did live, not to expect him to be able to function on his own. To the doctors’ amazement, Bernie left the hospital a week after the mugging, walking on his own. Their only answer to his fast recovery was that the prayers must have worked! The folks at All Souls thought so too and celebrated Bernie’s return. Bernie had triumphed over death for now. As miraculous as Bernie’s healing had been, there was a side effect. The blow to his head had caused him to now speak with a pronounced stutter. This frustrated Bernie greatly and the more frustrated he got when trying to form words the worse the stutter became. He went to speech rehab for a couple of months and it did help, but there was no getting rid of it. The stuttering made him very selfconscious to the point he avoided speaking as much as possible and spent his free time with his music and machines. In the winter of 1933, Margaret became mysteriously ill. She had been losing weight, coughing uncontrollably, and having night sweats. Bernie tried to work and care for her as best he could, but she was not improving. Her condition only deteriorated and she started coughing up blood. After several tests, the doctor’s suspicion was confirmed. Margaret suffered from “consumption” or the medical diagnosis of tuberculosis. Many who suffered from tuberculosis and endured a long series of drug treatments were able to recover. However, Margaret’s body seemed to reject all the treatments and her condition grew grave. Her recently widowed mother, Myrtle, came to care for and be with her. Her brothers, Ollie and Steven, also paid visits to their ailing sister. Bernie watched helplessly as the woman who would not give him up, first as a baby and then after the mugging, lay there withering away. Prayers and promises were offered, but in the end, Margaret’s life was over and Bernie felt he had lost everything he had.

PART II

CHAPTER 5 NEW BEGINNINGS

C lovis Riley Heckman was born in 1910 in the small southern Indiana town of Sweetwater. His father Merle was a skilled craftsman at the nearby Watson Globe Factory where his talent was blowing glass chimneys used on kerosene lamps. At this particular time in history, the majority of rural America was in the dark since most communities had yet to receive the modern convenience of electricity. Evening illumination was mostly provided by oil lamps which were still in high demand. There was nothing particularly outstanding about Clovis’s childhood. His life was pretty much like any other kid growing up in the early 1900s. In those times, grammar school was in a one-room schoolhouse with twenty other students of different ages and class levels. Playing marbles and Kick the Can were two of his favorite games. Clovis’s recollection of the Great War, or what is known now as World War I, was not explicit except for the loss of his uncle. Uncle Harold was Merle’s little brother by five years. Clovis did Uncle Harold coming over on Sunday afternoons for dinner. When Uncle Harold was in the house there was lots of laughter and horseplay. Uncle Harold loved playing with Clovis and his two brothers and provided lots of horsey rides and wrestling matches that always ended in tickling fights until all the kids succumbed to the point of wetting their pants. With the outbreak of war, Uncle Harold soon enlisted. Those Sunday dinners with him would never be the same again. Uncle Harold died in while serving his country, and Merle’s sense of loss was immense, to the point he never really recovered completely. By the time Clovis arrived in high school, the Roaring Twenties were in full swing. America was enjoying a time of recovery after the Great War. Jobs were abundant and the overall quality of life was at an exceptional high point. During high school, Clovis was a member of the basketball team. During the 1920s basketball players were rarely over six feet tall, so Clovis, being five foot eight, played a guard position. He had reasonable success, not because he was a high scorer, but his hustle caused many turnovers. Clovis graduated from Sweetwater

High School in the spring of 1928. For Clovis and many of his classmates, going to college was something most folks in Sweetwater never really considered. It was a rural, working-class town and that was pretty much the way things were then and to a certain extent still today. Production at Watson’s Globe Factory started to slow down because the demand for kerosene lamps continued to fall as small towns got electrified. Merle was able to keep his job because of his seniority, but there were no new hires and it was not a favorable profession for a young man to consider. Fortunately, Clovis had an affection for automobiles. In contrast to kerosene lamps, cars were the up and coming trend as horse and buggy use continued to decline. While in high school Clovis had started working at Pop Wilson’s Standard Station and garage. Much of what Clovis did was gassing cars, adding oil, and cleaning windshields. During lulls in business, he would repair flat tires. As he earned Pop Wilson’s trust, Pop would teach him how to change oil and do minor repairs. Pop did not have any sons and through working with Clovis, they developed a real closeness. Before long Clovis was changing spark plugs, pulling radiators, and finally had become skilled enough to replace blown engines. He took great pride in his work, and because of his outstanding mechanical abilities, business at the Sweetwater Standard increased substantially. Pop recognized the reason for the growth and promoted Clovis to lead mechanic, which also increased his pay from 35 cents to 50 cents an hour. Not only was Clovis on a positive career path, but he had also grown sweet on a wisp of a girl named Audrey Lyn Stinson. Audrey Lyn was two years younger than Clovis and had the kind of smile that melted Clovis’s heart whenever he would see her. He first encountered Audrey Lyn during his senior year while working at the station. Audrey Lyn’s father, Philip Stinson, had brought in a flat tire to be repaired. Business was slow that afternoon at the station, so they decided to wait while Clovis made the repair, which took longer than usual. Clovis, who by this time could fix a flat in about 10 minutes, could not stay focused and he kept dropping his tools. While performing his task he nervously tried to explain in great detail what it took to repair a tire properly. Mr. Stinson could see that Clovis was delaying the repair because of his interest in Audrey Lyn and was able to tolerate it for so long. Finally, upon Mr. Stinson’s insistence to get the job done, the tire was repaired. Clovis watched as Audrey Lyn’s car went out of sight taking Clovis’s heart with her. It was just two days later when Clovis hurriedly opened a door to leave school

that he almost collided with the incoming Audrey Lyn. His forceful exit nearly knocked her down and sent her books flying in all directions. His face was flush with embarrassment as he apologized repeatedly for the near catastrophe and helped Audrey Lyn gather up the scattered books. In spite of the close collision, there was something kind and forgiving in Audrey Lyn’s blue eyes that helped ease Clovis’s pain. She spoke softly and reassured him that he had caused no injury. She proceeded to tell him how much she had ired his work on the tire earlier in the week at the garage. As calmness returned to his heart, a boldness grew within and he summoned the courage to ask her if she would like to have a Coke later that afternoon at Logan’s Pharmacy. He fully expected her to be too busy or have little interest in spending much time with this grease monkey. Clovis was truly surprised when she accepted and met him for the first official date that would change the rest of their lives. After their afternoon Coke date, Clovis thought he should hasten up the process in this courtship by asking Audrey Lyn to the semi-formal dance Saturday night. The dance was the school’s popular annual Harvest Hop celebrated every fall with a live band. Clovis felt with certainty Audrey Lyn would accept since their first real meeting had gone so well. He was shocked and somewhat hurt when she declined his invitation. His first thought was, “What happened? We had gotten along so well. Had someone else already asked her to the dance or maybe she was embarrassed by who he was?” All these thoughts were quickly put to rest when she said, “Instead of going to the dance how about going to church with me?” Talk about being blindsided, Clovis was speechless because the church had not been an important part of his life. His family would say they were Christians, but they usually only went to church on Christmas, Easter, baptisms, weddings, and funerals. Looking like a deer staring in the headlights of a Model T, Clovis could not think quickly enough of any reason to say no to that heart-melting smile of Audrey Lyn’s. The truth was Audrey Lyn loved to dance and for her to turn Clovis’s invite down was painful. Clovis was unaware at the moment he asked her to the dance that Audrey Lyn had other intentions. She saw no purpose in wasting any time developing a relationship with a young man if he did not share the same faith values as she did. Clovis was unaware of how close he had come to losing his opportunity to know Audrey Lyn if his answer had been any different. The following Sunday, Clovis, Audrey Lyn, and the rest of the Stinson family listened to a sermon about forgiveness and unconditional love. As it turned out, Clovis got a lot more than just Audrey Lyn, he became a man of faith.

Mr. Stinson made sure Audrey Lyn brought Clovis over often to visit. The entire family wanted to get to know this young man as much as possible before the relationship escalated too far. What they understood quickly about Clovis was what others saw in him. He was an industrious young man and was respected by all who knew him. He had no problem conversing with the family , including Audrey Lyn’s annoying 11-year-old sister Helen. Mr. Stinson’s apprehensions about Clovis quickly diminished as he saw how Clovis treated Audrey Lyn with great care and respect. The Heckmans found Audrey Lyn’s arrival in the family to be like a breath of fresh air especially for Susanne Heckman, Clovis’s mom. Susanne’s entire married life had been one of male dominance since she was the only female in the household. Just having another female presence allowed for conversation of a different nature that Susanne had so long craved. Audrey Lyn and Susanne quickly became friends, first out of necessity and later out of a bond of love that formed between them. Clovis’s dad, Merle, found Audrey Lyn to be bright and engaging with a witty sense of humor. Clovis’s little brothers did not know how to respond to Audrey Lyn upon first meeting her. The only girls they had been exposed to were at school and they all had cooties. The brothers found her to be unique from their perception of girls. Not only was Audrey Lyn pretty, but she also smelled really good. The air was crisp and wildflowers were in bloom everywhere in Sweetwater. The spring of 1929 could not have been going better for Clovis. He was on top of the world. He had a good job at Pop’s station, the girl of his dreams, and a developing faith that energized him. Audrey Lyn was finishing high school and had taken business courses like stenography, entry-level ing, and general business. She was looking forward to becoming a secretary or working in some form of business and was eager to get started. As the seasons changed, fall appeared to be shaping up well also. After graduation Audrey Lyn had acquired a job at the Morrison Law Office. The job description was everything she had studied so diligently to be, a secretary. With her many duties, she became proficient in typing briefs, scheduling appointments, taking dictation and miscellaneous tasks. Joe Morrison was a good attorney who practiced general law for 15 years in Sweetwater. Most of his work was handling business dealings with some occasional jobs involving family law, like wills and estates. Audrey Lyn’s first real job seemed to suit her job skills perfectly.

Yes, the fall of 1929 was good, too good, and that was all about to change on October 29, Black Tuesday.

CHAPTER 6 EVERYTHING WENT BLACK

O ctober 29, 1929, is the date most associated with the start of the Great Depression. The real truth was that the fall was set into motion in the summer as a recession began slowing down the demand for goods, which in turn, reduced manufacturing production. Stock speculators had been buying and selling overpriced stocks to the point that if there was a financial downturn, it would not take much for the house of cards to fall. This trend continued and on Thursday, October 24, nervous stock market investors began liquidating large masses of their overpriced shares, almost 13 million of them. The crash had begun. The following Tuesday another 16 million shares were dumped and panic broke out over Wall Street. The good times of the Roaring Twenties were turning into the troublesome thirties. The lack of confidence in the stock market created a domino effect within all areas of business. There was a decrease in spending that led to small business failures. With the decline of consumer demand, manufacturers were forced to lay off workers in high numbers. Those fortunate enough to have a job usually found their pay reduced. High unemployment meant a rise in home foreclosures. In 1932 alone, over 200,000 homes were lost to the mortgage companies. By 1933 banks were proces to 1,000 foreclosures a day. Americans had enjoyed high credit use and now, with the inability to pay their creditors, many were forced into bankruptcy. America was not alone in the Depression. It was felt worldwide. Another problem that was created after the stock market crash was the run on banks. Fear motivated high numbers of people to withdraw their savings from banks. Because banks used investors’ money to reinvest to grow profits, they were unable to repay depositors when panic caused mass withdrawals. This caused many banks to fail under the weight of the runs. When President Roosevelt defeated President Hoover in the 1932 election, he put banks on a “holiday” by closing them. Closing the banks prevented further runs and gave both the government and the financial institutions time to regroup. The closings

helped avoid additional bank failures. To bring further insult to injury it was during this time the “Dust Bowl” came into existence. It stretched all the way from Canada, across the plains of America, hitting Oklahoma and Texas hard. There were four periods of severe drought beginning in 1934, again in 1936, 1939, with the final drought in 1940. Because of poor farming practices and lack of moisture, the prairie winds were able to move the parched soils to the point of no visibility during the worst of storms. Farmers and their families lost everything with many abandoning their homesteads in search of new ways of life. Americans felt like they were punched in the gut and the pain was deep. Soup kitchens helped with some of the hunger problem, but people needed work and, until that changed, the country would continue to struggle. The Great Depression lasted around 10 years. President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal helped create jobs that gave hope to the struggling nation. Many historians believe it was not until after World War II when industrialization returned, that the depression was finally over. Either way, the Great Depression left a huge scar on America and the world. Through these terrible times, American resiliency held as the nation that hurt together also was going to heal together.

CHAPTER 7 WEDDING BELLS

T he crash of ‘29 did not have as big of an initial impact on people not heavily invested in the stock market or banks as those who had played the markets. Eventually it trickled down and affected everyone in America in one way or another. The Watson Globe Company was able to struggle and keep their doors open for most of the Depression, but by 1939, there just was not enough demand for oil lamps. The factory lost its fight with new technology and the Depression. After working there 20 years, Merle and the rest of the small staff were let go. Merle was 56 years old. Finding a new solid job would be difficult for a man his age, especially with the already high national unemployment. Merle was quite good with his hands and was able to pick up enough odd jobs to pay the bills. Due to some more unfortunate circumstances for America, he would not gain full-time employment again until 1941. For Clovis and Audrey Lyn the Depression was difficult for them to grasp. Their life experience was lacking in so many ways. They were just getting started in the job world and beginning to understand finances. The Depression did not affect them like many others. Cars still used gas and needed to be repaired. The difference was not as much gas was being pumped and people put off repairs. Things did slowed down at Pop’s station, but Clovis was able to keep his job. Like Clovis, Audrey Lyn was able to stay employed at the Morrison Law Firm. Work was also reduced, but steady enough to make payrolls. All in all this young couple was weathering a very bad storm in much better shape than most. The big problem for Clovis and Audrey Lyn was they were madly in love with each other. Despite their youth, they were anxious to get married and start their life as husband and wife. In the spring of 1930 Clovis called on Mr. Stinson one evening when he knew Audrey Lyn was out. He found himself fumbling for words until he finally blurted out, “Would you and Mrs. Stinson mind if I asked Audrey Lyn to marry me?” Mr. Stinson maintained his poker face and asked Clovis if he understood the seriousness of matrimony and what it meant to be a

husband. Clovis was able to give solid answers, which caused Mr. Stinson to finally give a big smile of approval. He told Clovis he would be a welcomed member of their family. With that task behind him, Clovis was able to relax and felt like he could finally breathe. Clovis assured Mr. Stinson he would take good care of Audrey Lyn. With ing the first hurdle successfully, Clovis thought about how he would propose to Audrey Lyn. He decided that he would pop the question on their Saturday night date. As he looked forward to their date, he wasn’t sure how and when he would ask Audrey Lyn. After having dinner at the church’s chili supper, Clovis and Audrey Lyn were walking home hand in hand when they came to the park and he asked her to stop to sit for a while in the gazebo. After a few moments of silence Clovis said, “As I look around and see the trees and flowers and the beauty of all the things God has created, I am more amazed by how beautiful God created you.” Audrey Lyn blushed from what Clovis had said to her. He continued by saying “What would you say if I asked you to marry me?” Audrey Lyn said, “Well I would say yes, why?” Clovis responded, “Because that’s what I just did!” Audrey Lyn jumped up, grabbed Clovis by the hand and kissed him, and said, “I hope Mama and Daddy are ok with this.” Clovis just grinned and said, “I think they will approve.” After Audrey Lyn accepted Clovis’s proposal, they headed over to his parents’ home to share the news. Merle and Suzanne were not completely surprised by their announcement, but very happy for them as were Clovis’s brothers. Next, they were off to Audrey Lyn’s home to share the news with her parents. When Audrey Lyn discovered that Clovis had met secretly with her father to ask for her hand, she was deeply touched. She knew Clovis wanted their marriage to start on the right foot and having parental approval helped get it going in the right direction. The wedding date was set for June 21, 1930. It was a simple service with just close family attending the wedding at Sweetwater Baptist Church. Audrey Lyn looked radiant in the dress her mother, Alma Stinson, had meticulously made for her. She carried a bouquet of fresh daisies as she walked down the aisle to her soon-to-be husband. Clovis, in his best and only Sunday suit, beamed as Philip Stinson gave his precious daughter to be wed. The ceremony took about fifteen minutes and Audrey Lyn was now Mrs. Heckman. The reception was very basic with homemade wedding cake and punch in the

basement of the church. The couple was showered with rice as they left the church and climbed into Clovis’s 1923 Model T for their honeymoon at Wyandotte Caverns. As they pulled away, the clanging of tin cans tied to the bumper made a lot of noise for a short distance until they broke away from the car. It was a short trip of 50 miles and the Heckmans stayed at the Wyandotte Inn for two nights before returning to Sweetwater to begin their life together. Their first year was typical for newlyweds. Many adjustments had to be made, and the biggest was where they lived. Without much savings they needed to save money to get their own place, which meant living in the basement of the Stinson home. While a kind act by the Stinsons, this was not really the place one would want to start their first year of marriage. What worked well about this arrangement was that Audrey Lyn worked regular office hours and since Clovis did not, she would not be at home alone. Because business was slow and few employees, Clovis often worked 12 hour days just to keep the station open. Their basement-dwelling lasted for 9 months until a small apartment opened up over the Hamiltons Five and Dime store. The Hamilton’s owned the building with two, one-bedroom apartments overhead. The other apartment was occupied by Mavis Johnstone, a widow of 10 years. Mavis also worked in the Five and Dime behind the lunch counter. Mavis was a large woman with a laugh that could be heard a block away when she cut loose. She loved to corner Audrey Lyn as she came home to fill her in on the latest news and gossip. Audrey Lyn liked Mavis but often took care to enter later and be as quiet as she could to avoid Mavis. She just needed time to get dinner ready for Clovis and get other chores done. The newlyweds loved having a place of their own to call home and added their personal touches. Along with work, they enjoyed church and family activities, with an occasional movie at the Roxie Theater. They made friends with two other young couples from church and they enjoyed watching baseball games at the high school. The first year of marriage had gotten off to a good start for the young Heckman family.

CHAPTER 8 THE KIDS ARE COMING

C lovis Riley Heckman Jr. arrived on May 27, 1932. He weighed in at just over 7 pounds. The young Heckmans were elated to have a healthy child. Being the first grandchild for both the Stinsons and Heckmans, it was difficult for Clovis and Audrey Lyn to get any private time with Clovis Jr. It was a good problem to have. Both Clovis and Audrey Lyn had friends whose parents lived quite a distance away which made seeing their grandchildren difficult, if not an impossible, task. Little Clovis’s aunts and uncles were so excited about their new nephew and were willing babysitters whenever help was needed. Audrey Lyn transitioned from a full-time secretary at the law firm to a full-time mother. It became evident right away that Audrey Lyn did not relish the idea of having two Clovises in the house. She foresaw future problems with two males using the same name. It was quickly decided that a nickname would be appropriate, and Clovis Jr. soon became known to everyone as Butch. Little Butch was quick to walk and soon was into everything. He lived up to his rough and tough nickname by chasing the girls with frogs and spiders. If Butch was pushed into a corner he would come out fighting and usually end up on top. He was all boy. He loved following his daddy around when he was home. Clovis loved time with Butch whenever he could find time away from the station. He wanted to be the best father he could be to his impressionable son. One day Clovis was playing with Butch and having fun tossing him up in the air and catching him. The more Butch got tossed the more he wanted to do it again. Clovis then held Butch by the arms and spun him around in a circle. At one point Clovis laid down on his back and tossed Butch up into the air at which point this proved to be too much activity for Butch’s stomach to handle. As Clovis laid there laughing heartily with his mouth wide open, Butch opened his mouth and the morning’s breakfast made a direct hit. The game of toss was abruptly over for the day. Butch’s dominance as an only child was short-lived. Carolyn Rose entered the world on March 5, 1934. Audrey Lyn’s grandmother was Rose and the name

Carolyn just seemed right to both parents. She was a beautiful child with blonde hair. As soon as Carolyn Rose had enough hair, Audrey Lyn fashioned a bow for her to wear. She enjoyed dressing Carolyn Rose up and pushing her in the stroller for long walks. Clovis was also sweet on his new baby girl. They were truly blessed to have two healthy children, and the only problem was they had more than outgrown the apartment above Hamilton’s Five and Dime. They discovered a small three-bedroom bungalow just outside of town had become available. Mr. Branson, who was advancing in years, owned the place and wanted to get rid of it. It was a unique piece of property because it also had a detached garage with a small apartment connected to it. Clovis’s work had been steady enough to pay the bills, but purchasing a house during the Depression was just about impossible. Mr. Branson knew that it would be difficult for the Heckmans to get a home mortgage, so he sold the property on contract to Clovis and Audrey Lyn. For them, it was a dream come true and thanks to Mr. Branson they now had their own home. The Heckmans moved to their new place on Park Street on June 1, 1934. To Clovis and Audrey Lyn it was like moving into a mansion after their cramped one-bedroom apartment. It had three full bedrooms, a dining area in the kitchen, a full-sized living room and a basement. They thought, “How could we ever fill all this space?” They also had other ideas about that apartment next to the garage and what to do with it. There was little doubt in their minds, that if they could get someone to rent that apartment, it would certainly help with paying the bills. Before they could rent it they needed to get it in shape. Currently it was not really livable, so they got busy repairing and painting the place. With Audrey Lyn’s taste they had converted the drab apartment into a welcoming place to live. Now all they needed was a renter.

CHAPTER 9 APPLE PIE

A bout six months after Margaret’s ing, Bernie had decided he had enough of the big city of Cincinnati. Things had gone downhill for him since the mugging. His injury caused him to miss a lot of work and the Depression was hitting manufacturing hard. Many were being laid off and that was the case for Bernie. After losing his job, he lost his mother and now there weren’t any real reasons for him to stay in the city. To Bernie, Cincinnati was just a place of bad memories. Bernie managed to save some money and so had Margaret. It was not a lot, but Bernie figured if he handled it right he could live for almost two years on it. He believed that would be enough time for him to get resettled and find the work he had in mind. So at age thirty-four, Bernie took his life’s savings and headed west to begin a new life. The trip west was not the far west, it was just west of Cincinnati. When Bernie pulled into Sweetwater, Indiana, he immediately thought there was something special about this town. No-high rise buildings, just a nice main street made out of bricks, a hardware store, grocery, bank, and several other shops and a couple of churches. He was hungry and a guy outside the bank told him there were only two places to eat in town. He decided to go to “Sweetwater’s Best” for something to eat, thinking it was an amusing name since there were only two restaurants in town. He could only imagine if this was the “best,” what could the name of the other eatery be? Upon entering the restaurant his first impression was a good one. Millie the waitress had worked there for over ten years and knew just about everyone in Sweetwater. She recognized Bernie was not a local and greeted him with a welcoming “Howdy.” She went out of her way to make him feel welcome and suggested the daily special of liver and onions. As usual, Bernie refrained from speaking much, but he wanted more information about the town. He waited until the noon rush was over and asked Millie if she had a few minutes to talk when she was done cleaning up. She smiled and agreed.

The few minutes turned into an hour as Millie put her best foot forward to acquaint Bernie with all of Sweetwater’s features. She shared her abundant knowledge describing the three churches, two schools, the annual town events, doctor’s office, post office, and anything and everyone of importance that came to her mind. By the time she had finished, Bernie felt like he had lived there for a long time. Millie had done such a great sales job, Bernie felt he needed to spend a little more time here before deciding whether or not to continue moving further west. After Millie gave him the name of a place to stay, Bernie thanked her for all her help and proceeded to find lodging. The Brooks Hotel was a two-story building on the north side of Main Street that offered 10 rooms to its guests. Three of the rooms had long-term guests, so when Bernie checked in for the night, only three rooms were available. His room was modest with one double bed, a dresser, and towels. The bath down the hall was shared with the other hotel guests. It was late afternoon when he got settled in at the Brooks. Bernie wanted to take advantage of the daylight and decided he would spend the next couple of hours walking around the town. He thought to himself that if the rest of the town was as friendly and helpful as Millie, it might be the right place for him to consider. Over the next three hours, Bernie enjoyed ice cream at Logan’s Pharmacy. He took a stroll through the town park, where he watched a pick-up baseball game by the local youth. The people he encountered seemed to be genuine and hospitable. There was a calm feeling inside of Bernie that he had not sensed for quite some time. The following morning Bernie could not believe he had slept in until 9 a.m. He had always been an early riser and this was very much out of character for him. As he left the hotel lobby he decided he should give Sweetwater’s other dining facility a chance. The Bluebird Café was a smaller place, but cozy. Melba, a 45ish graying waitress, was taking orders, serving food, and bussing tables. Being late morning, Bernie decided to indulge himself by ing on a large breakfast for a cup of coffee and a piece of the fine-looking apple pie sitting inside the glass pie case on the lunch counter. As he swallowed his first bite of the pie it took him back to when his mother would, on special occasions, make one of her apple pies. This pie was as close to Mama’s pie as you could get. He had been enjoying his Sweetwater visit so much that these past hurts had been temporarily put on hold. The pie brought the ache back.

He did not have time to dwell on those hurts much when Melba asked him what he was doing in town and how long was he staying? His response to her was “Depends.” Bernie’s answers were always as brief as possible. Melba had an inquisitive look on her face and shot back with “Depends on what?” Again, using as few as words as possible he said, “Depends on fi finding the right place to stay and do my wa work.” Well, his answers just made Melba ask more questions and that ended up being a good thing for Bernie. It so happened Bernie required a shop or barn to work in as well as a place to live. Melba said she thought she knew just the place that might work for him. In less than 24 hours Bernie knew this town would become his new home. Sweetwater, like a good pair of shoes, just seemed to fit him right.

CHAPTER 10 THE MOVE

A udrey Lyn was hanging out laundry on the clothesline when Bernie pulled up to the house. She was too busy watching Butch and Carolyn Rose to even notice Bernie walk through the gate into the backyard. As she turned around, Bernie stood directly in front of her. She was so startled by his presence that she dropped her basket of clothes. Bernie quickly bent over to help Audrey Lyn recover the dropped laundry, and his face blushed with embarrassment for shocking her. Meanwhile Butch was all about asking Bernie who he was and what he was doing and did he live around here? Questions so fast that Audrey Lyn had to remind Butch of his manners. Butch then took off to check out Bernie’s car, leaving Carolyn Rose in the care of her mother. As calmness returned Bernie explained that Melba from the Bluebird had told him that she thought Audrey Lyn might have a place she wanted to rent out. Well, Audrey Lyn’s face brightened and said it was still available and would you like to see it? Bernie entered the small apartment through its front door into the living/bedroom. The apartment was more of a studio with a small kitchen and bath. It was attached to a nice sized garage. Bernie asked if he could look in the garage which puzzled Audrey Lyn. The Heckmans did not use the garage so it just had some gardening tools, a couple of empty bushel baskets, and a few miscellaneous items. Bernie took more time looking at the garage than he did looking over the apartment. After about twenty minutes of scrutinizing the place, Bernie asked how much to rent both the apartment and garage. Clovis and Audrey Lyn had not ever considered renting both the garage and apartment together. She wanted to know what Bernie had in mind if he rented the garage. Bernie explained his machinist background and that he wanted to use the garage as a shop. Audrey Lyn’s face showed concern about this type of business. She wanted to know if his work would be making a lot of loud noise because she did not want the children’s naps disturbed. Bernie assured her that there might be some noise occasionally, but he would make it a point not to use any noisy equipment during

their designated nap times. After considering all this, Audrey Lyn said he could rent the place for $25 per month. The price was a little high for Bernie so he offered to keep the grass cut around the house and assist with other chores if she would lower the rent cost to $18. Audrey Lyn thought about it and decided that would work out just fine. It seemed, with Clovis working long hours, having someone to do the yard work and repairs would just free him up for a little more family time. They shook hands and Bernie made plans to move in as soon as he could find some furniture. Audrey Lyn could not wait to tell Clovis the good news and thought it might be fun to take the children on an outing to the gas station to surprise him. They had both been praying for someone to move in and Bernie appeared to be a good fit. Even though Clovis was working long hours he was not bringing home any more money. The station held its own, but business was not what it once was and Clovis was thankful just to be working. Their only concern was how Bernie was going to pay the rent without a stable job. Audrey Lyn did tell Bernie his rent was due the first of each month, and he had to pay one month in advance, which was good with him. Bernie was splitting his meals between Sweetwater’s Best and The Bluebird. So between Millie and Melba, they were able to help him locate a bed, small table, and everything else he needed to furnish his humble home. The day he moved in Butch was making sure he could help out anywhere and everywhere Bernie went. Bernie was annoyed by the lively boy because he seemed to get underfoot and was slowing down the move. Even though Butch was in the way, Bernie was kind and Audrey Lyn finally made him leave Bernie alone. With his home furnishings in, he could get down to the next order of business which was equipping his workshop. Millie or Melba couldn’t help him with that task, and this was where Clovis came to the rescue. Clovis knew of an old garage that had gone out of business in the nearby small town of Riverview. Bernie took the cue and headed the ten miles to Riverview and found the closed garage. After some inquiries, he was able to locate the widow of the former owner. The garage contained most of the shop equipment he was looking for and it would get him started. He could pick up other items later, but for now, this would make his shop operational. After negotiating a fair price, he found a fellow in Riverview who had a truck and made arrangements to have him deliver the equipment in two days.

Bernie was excited about getting his new shop set up. The equipment arrived on time as scheduled. With the help of the young delivery man, the machines were placed in their designated spaces. New electrical wiring had been installed the previous day to carry the necessary load of power to run the shop. Soon Sweetwater would have a new business. After the long day of setting up his new equipment, Bernie was exhausted. He ate a light dinner and went to bed early. As he lay there in the dark he reflected on how much his life had changed in just ten days of first coming into Sweetwater. Dozing off, he offered up a prayer of thanks to God for all He had done for him in such a short amount of time, just as sleep consumed him.

CHAPTER 11 GROWING WITH THE GARDEN

T he nation’s economy was not growing, but the Heckman family was. Audrey Lyn was expecting child number three in January 1936. Butch and Carolyn Rose were already a handful, so it looked like having three children under the age of five was going to be a challenge. The good news was the infant would sleep a lot and couldn’t get into much trouble until he started crawling, and Butch would be off to Kindergarten in the fall. Bernie had made real progress in his new shop. The more folks found out about his ability to repair just about anything, the more the business started picking up. This was good because it helped cover some of his startup costs, but Bernie did not want to be full-time in the repair business. He had his sights set on doing what he loved to do the best which was problem-solving. The relationship between Bernie and the Heckmans was friendly but not invasive. The children were not to go over to see Bernie unless invited. Bernie was a very private person and desired to be left alone. Whenever he saw one of the Heckmans, he always had cordial responses and there might even be something mentioned about the weather. Very seldom did the conversation go much further than just small talk. All the Heckmans knew about Bernie was that he came from Cincinnati and his mother was deceased. With it being winter there were fewer opportunities for Clovis and Audrey Lyn to get to know their new tenant. Daily life consisted of Clovis working at the station, and Audrey Lyn tending the house and kids while Bernie did repairs on someone’s broken radio or other disabled appliance. The new arrangement was working out well for everyone. Tobias Edward arrived just before midnight on February 26, 1936. Audrey Lyn’s mother, Lois, moved in for the first week. Clovis’s mother, Suzanne, came the second week to help Audrey Lyn with the kids and house, that way Clovis would not have to miss any work. Life for the Heckmans in Sweetwater was pretty busy, which was to say, normal.

As the winter melted into spring, more outside activities increased. The children could not get outside quick enough after being cooped up for months indoors. Butch turned five and Clovis found a secondhand bike for his birthday. With Clovis balancing Butch it took no time before he was off and riding on his own. Now the only problem was to get Butch to stop and come in for meals. Carolyn Rose also enjoyed the outdoors, especially watching the insects. She was enthralled by the steady work of the ants and how they could move large items with ease. The colorful wings of the butterflies caught her eye as well. Everything was new and exciting to Carolyn Rose and she could not get enough of all the spring nature activities. The warm weather also encouraged Bernie to open the two large garage doors. The garage could heat up fast on a warm sunny day, and the outside ventilation made a huge difference with the inside temperatures. Purring, clanking, and grinding noises were common sounds emitted from the garage. Even if there wasn’t any noise coming from the shop, you knew Bernie was in there working by the sweet aroma of cherry tobacco burning in his pipe. Spring also meant it was time to put in the garden. Bernie had agreed he would help with the outside chores for a reduction of his rent, so his first job was to make the garden ready by tilling it. The garden was quite large, some 40x50 feet, and tilling it was not an easy task. Large gardens were common throughout the Depression, and anyone who had a plot of land most likely had one. Audrey Lyn had her hands full with young Tobias and was barely able to keep up with the daily chores; therefore, she relied heavily on Bernie to also plant the garden. As the plants started to grow, they needed occasional watering and the weeds needed to be removed. The large garden took time and Bernie enlisted the help of young Butch, who was an eager recruit. Butch liked to carry his small pail for watering the plants. Initially teaching Butch the difference between a weed and vegetable required constant observation to prevent losing the much-needed crops. Even without many conversations between Bernie and Butch, their time spent working in the garden developed a closer friendship. As the garden came in, Bernie was out there daily harvesting. Peas were first to come in, followed by green beans, zucchini, tomatoes, and much more. When the bounty was picked Audrey Lyn got to work canning as much as she could. The food was so important for stretching every dollar and nothing was wasted. By late fall, Tobias was moving around quite well on his own. He did crawl, but

he also liked to scoot around in the grass by bending his knees and pushing his feet into the grass on his bottom, driving him backward. One afternoon after work, Clovis was on the back porch watching Butch chase Carolyn Rose around the elm tree and nearly fell over with laughter as he saw Tobias doing his best scooting backward trying to get into the game. Audrey Lyn came out quickly to see what all the noise was about only to find herself bent over in pain from laughing so hard at the kids. From that day forward Tobias was to be called “Scooter”. The first frost saw the end of most of the garden and an end to most of Bernie’s outdoor work which gave him more time to work in his shop. Some of his best ideas came to him while working in the garden, and now he could not wait to make them happen. This cycle of life continued for the next several years without interruption. Butch and Carolyn Rose were now in school, and Scooter was headed to Kindergarten. It looked like there was finally going to be some quiet time in the Heckman house with all the kids in school. As much as she loved the children, Audrey Lyn was looking forward to some solitude. She so wanted to read more and the women’s Bible study at church. Audrey Lyn seemed to have everything planned out or at least that’s what she thought.

CHAPTER 12 MUSIC TO THE EARS

I n the late fall of 1939, Bernie came to Clovis and Audrey Lyn and said he was having a tough time financially. He asked if they would consider letting him pay half his rent for the next three months and he would make up the difference the following three months. They inquired if he was struggling now, how was going he going to be able to make a change in a couple of months. Without going into great detail, he told them he had a couple of irons in the fire that should start to pay off by then. Without any real hesitation, both agreed with what Bernie was proposing. Bernie had been living there for nearly four years and had never been late on making a rent payment. He had shared in the outside care and had been more than just a tenant to them. Even though he was a man of few words, Clovis and Audrey Lyn felt comfortable with him there. They trusted him completely and could not imagine anyone else living in their apartment. Meanwhile, things were starting to change at the station for Clovis. Pops Wilson was getting up in years and the gas station was becoming more difficult for him to manage. Clovis knew this and was concerned about his future employment. December 14 was a cold dreary day and Clovis arrived at work thirty minutes before the station opened. Pops had requested him to come in early because he had some things he wanted to discuss with Clovis and needed some uninterrupted time. Promptly at 6:30 a.m. Clovis walked into the tiny office off the front area to find Pops looking over some paperwork and enjoying a cup of coffee. Pops offered Clovis the only chair in the office and got right down to what was on his mind. Clovis had not slept well the previous night. He had not shared anything about work with Audrey Lyn. Times were tough enough and he did not want to add any possible stress to her life so, he carried the burden of uncertainty by himself. Pops started by stating he was ready to retire. The work had become too much and he was having some minor health issues. The time was right. Clovis’s heart rate increased and a knot was forming in his throat as his mind rushed ahead of Pop’s words. What would he do? What about paying for the house? How

difficult was this going to be for Audrey Lyn and the kids? Everything was a blur for Clovis and he was having a difficult time staying focused on what Pops was saying. After a pause, Pops said, “Well what do you think?” Clovis didn’t know what to think. He had to replay the words back again just to get his thoughts composed. Slowly, Clovis repeated back to Pops what he thought he heard. “You would like me to buy the station from you, right?” Clovis asked. The grin on Pops’s face and head nod were a solid yes. Pops Wilson had only one child, a daughter, and she had no interest ever in the family business. Clovis had been working at the station for over ten years and could run it as well as Pops. Customers trusted Clovis and even with the tough times they still used them whenever possible. To Pops, there could not have been a better person to transition the business over to than Clovis. Clovis felt honored that Pops would even consider the idea of him taking over the business, but there was a problem. How would Clovis even begin to pay Pops for the business? When Clovis brought that subject up, Pops just smiled and pushed a piece of paper over to Clovis with the answer on it. Clovis examined it for several minutes before looking up at Pops with as wide a smile as his face could make, stood up, reached across the small desk and grabbed Pops’s hand and shook it hard while saying “You got a deal!” Pops had given a good amount of consideration about selling the business and realized it would be difficult to find a buyer under the hard economic times. He had proposed that Clovis would buy his business on contract without any money down. His were simple, just keep paying Pop’s regular salary with a portion of it going towards the purchase of the business. Pops had lived long enough to know that the Depression would not last forever and eventually things should get better, or at least he hoped that. Clovis could find no reason not to accept Pops’s . All this meant was things would stay pretty much the same other than Clovis would now be in charge. The burden of despair Clovis had been carrying disappeared and a rush of excitement took over. Keeping focused on his work all day long was difficult. His mind raced with ideas about some changes for the place. He could not wait to get home and tell Audrey Lyn the good news. Christmas of 1939 was full of hope in the Heckman house and they were thankful. There were a few small gifts for the children. Clovis and Audrey Lyn

exchanged no gifts, just homemade cards. Christmas dinner was simple, a small ham, sweet potatoes, biscuits, canned corn, and a homemade apple pie. This was the first Christmas dinner Bernie attended in the Heckman home. During previous Christmas celebrations Bernie would return to Cincinnati to see his uncles and grandmother. Myrtle had ed away in November and the uncles could not figure out what to do for Christmas, so Bernie was staying in Sweetwater. It must have been the day with all the Heckmans or just the warmth of their hospitality, but something had changed for Bernie. As he ate the apple pie he started opening up about his life. He told Audrey Lyn how apple pie always reminded him of his dear mother. He retold the story of how she had gotten in trouble as a young girl and that she had refused to let him be adopted. He continued to explain about her work as a seamstress and the difficulty of growing up without a father. He also told them how much he ired their family and how nice it was to see the parents’ love for their children. He did not elaborate much about the Great War, but that he had learned a great deal during his time in the service. Bernie slowly and painfully talked about his injury and the difficulty he had speaking. When Bernie had finished there was a kind of awkward silence in the room. The Heckmans were caught off guard by all that Bernie shared with them. They also felt great comion towards this man and knew how hard it was for him to tell his story. Bernie excused himself and returned moments later. All the Heckmans were amazed when they saw Bernie holding a violin. They had no idea he could play. Since he had been living next door they had never heard any music coming from his apartment. Bernie explained he had not played since moving into Sweetwater, but that he would like his music to be his Christmas gift to them. He started playing one of the children’s favorites, “Jingle Bells,” which got everybody singing. “Joy to the World” and “Silent Night” happily followed with the Heckman family choir doing their best to sing on key. Bernie finished with a solo of “Oh Holy Night” that brought tears to Audrey Lyn’s eyes. She wondered, how could this man, living right next door possess such a hidden talent from them? To the Heckmans, Bernie’s gift of music was the best Christmas present ever. Bernie would never spend another Christmas in Cincinnati.

CHAPTER 13 SURPRISE

I t was February when Audrey Lyn became aware she would be giving birth to yet another Heckman in the fall. This was a total surprise and not necessarily something she was anticipating with joy. To Audrey Lyn, she had the perfect number of children at the right spacing between one another. This was also going to interrupt her plans for alone time and other interests she wanted to pursue. At first, she was very upset with the idea of having a fourth child. Clovis, on the other hand, was delighted with a new baby coming. The thought of all his kids being in school and no little rug rats around just made him sad. How either felt didn’t matter, come September there would be another mouth to feed. Just when the new birth news was being announced, Bernie appeared with the back three months’ rent he had promised to pay. Clovis and Audrey Lyn thanked Bernie because both had forgotten totally about the deal they had struck with him. Much to their surprise, when they told Bernie about another child, his eyes lit up. Since Christmas, things had changed between Bernie and the Heckmans. They had more meaningful conversations than the usual day-to-day casual greetings. Bernie had even started attending church upon Audrey Lyn’s invitation. Bernie saw this new child as a potential opportunity for him to develop a close relationship. Since he had no children of his own, this was something he wanted deeply. Work for Clovis at the station under his ownership was still consistent with the way it had been when Pops ran the place. Clovis had updated the station a little bit with a fresh coat of paint and some new waiting room chairs for customers, which they seemed to appreciate. He had also tried to get more business by offering specials like a free tank of gas with a new set of tires and kids got a sucker with an oil change. People liked Clovis’s new way of doing business and there was a steady rise in traffic. Pops Wilson would stop by every Friday morning just to visit and see the place. He was impressed with what Clovis had done, which gave him that much more assurance he had done the right thing when he ed the place over to Clovis.

For the times, Sweetwater was doing better than the big cities. It was like they were hidden from the rest of the world. Speaking of the world, there had been a lot going on. had invaded Austria, Poland, and . The Germans were now focused on hitting England hard, hoping to cross the channel soon. The US was still neutral but had been assisting Britain without becoming directly involved in the war. Americans did not want to be involved in another war in Europe, so everyone watched nervously to see what Hitler’s next move would be. Winter had soon ed and gardening was in full swing. As in the past, Bernie was doing his share to cultivate the patch. Scooter had replaced Butch as the helper in the garden. As the produce came on, instead of working, Scooter could be found munching on a fresh tomato. When confronted about not working, Scooter would deny that he had been eating anything only to be betrayed by the juice running down his chin onto his neck. Bernie found this quite amusing, but would never let Scooter know. Butch had advanced to other chores like mowing the grass and he helped Clovis on the weekend at the station. As much as Carolyn Rose liked the outdoors, she had no love for gardening. Getting her hands dirty was not an option. Helping in the kitchen and working with Audrey Lyn was to her liking. To her brothers she was no longer Carolyn Rose, she was now Sissy. None of the Heckman children went by their given names unless they were in trouble. When that happened their entire name was uttered in such a manner they had best not dally when called. All the Heckman children went back to school the day after Labor Day. The house was quiet for the first time in many years. The quiet lasted for three weeks. On the twenty-sixth of September, Eldon Jefferson Heckman let the world know he had arrived with one loud cry. The youngster had a powerful set of lungs and knew how to use them. Audrey Lyn had not looked forward to having another child; but, as she held this new helpless life in her arms, she could not imagine the world without him. If anything, she was mad at herself for being so selfish in the first place. If God wanted her to have this child, how could she put her wishes above His? This little boy melted her heart as she pressed her face next to his and the aroma of his newness filled her being. Bernie brought in some fresh cut flowers for Audrey Lyn. The flowers were an excuse to see the new kid in town. Audrey Lyn pulled the blanket back so Bernie could get a better peek at the boy. When Bernie asked about his name Audrey

Lyn said they were going to call him by his middle name Jefferson or Jeff for short. Bernie smiled and cooed at little Jeff. To his surprise, Audrey Lyn handed him to Bernie. Bernie had never held an infant and looked like a fish out of water. Audrey Lyn laughed at Bernie’s uncomfortableness with the baby. After a few minutes, Bernie felt better about holding the boy and marveled at his tiny fingers. Everything about the child captivated Bernie in a way that he had never before been touched. Upon handing Jeff back to Audrey Lyn, Bernie told her if she needed any help with the child to let him know. She sensed something deeper about this baby had moved Bernie. As 1941 came to a close the Great Depression had mostly declined with the nation now focused in other directions. America was pulled into the war on December 7, when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Factories were now being converted into munitions plants. The automotive manufacturers in Detroit were building jeeps, tanks, and other war machines. Gas rationing had come into existence and that had a major effect on Clovis’s station. Rationing was based on a classification system. Most motorists were Class A drivers and were allowed three gallons a week. Class B drivers, consisting of traveling salesmen and factory workers, got 8 gallons. Other classifications had different fuel amounts. Tires were a and difficult to get. Trips out were well planned so as not to waste any of the precious fuel. Living in America during the Thirties had been tough, and the hope for better times in the Forties was dashed by the war. Every town in America had sent some of their boys off to war and many never returned. As bleak as these times were, it brought Americans together as a nation with one great cause. Everyone pitched in for the war effort. As the men left to fight, the women filled the factory jobs vacated by them. For those who could not serve, like Clovis, they did their part by buying war bonds and conserving everything they could to the cause. The war was the finest hour to prove Americans were a truly United States determined to stop Nazi and Japanese aggression.

CHAPTER 14 NICKNAMES

B y the summer of ‘42 Jeff was on his feet and ready to explore everything he could get his hands on. Audrey Lyn could not take her eyes off the tireless boy. One afternoon Jeff had been confined to the living room and the front door was open, but Audrey Lyn had forgotten to hook the latch on the screen door. She was working in the kitchen when little Jeff ever so softly opened the door and quietly left his designated area. As Audrey Lyn continued her work back at the house, Jeff ventured across the yard towards the noise coming from Bernie’s garage. Bernie was oblivious to Jeff’s presence as he worked hammering out a part on his workbench. Bernie was working on an idea of how he could improve a window opening system. Most windows did not open smoothly and with time they either were difficult or almost impossible to open and the ever observant Bernie was finding solutions to problems. Bernie stepped into his apartment for about two minutes to get a cold drink and wipe the sweat off his brow. After his quick break, he stepped back into the garage just as Audrey Lyn was rounding the corner of the open garage door. Both stopped in their tracks as they witnessed Jeff, now holding Bernie’s hammer and trying to hit a piece of metal laying on the shop floor. It was humorous to see this little runt of a boy trying to lift this man-sized hammer, let alone trying to hit something with it. Audrey Lyn let him take a couple of shots before scooping him up and scolding him for leaving the house. She apologized to Bernie for disturbing his work. Bernie said he needed a break and the laugh felt so good. He rubbed Jeff’s head with his calloused hand and told him when he got a little bigger he would teach him about tools. As Audrey Lyn exited with the toddler, Jeff kept looking back at Bernie. Jeff’s adventure into Bernie’s shop was just the beginning. He had tasted freedom and wanted more. Audrey Lyn had to beef up house security and had to

keep on the other kids to make sure they left nothing out that Jeff could get into. As Jeff got several months older it became even harder to watch him. If left alone for even a minute he would be gone. One day Butch left his baseball mitt on the couch, not thinking that would be a problem, only to find Jeff had removed all the webbing. Butch was really mad at Jeff, but Audrey Lyn told him it was not the toddler’s fault that Butch left it out for the boy to find. If Jeff was a little older, Butch might have done more than yell at him. It had gotten to the point that every time Jeff could escape from the house he always ended up at Bernie’s shop. Most of the time Bernie would see the little guy, scoop him up, tickle him a little bit, then take him back to his mom. One afternoon Audrey Lyn heard a knock on the front door and was greeted by Bernie holding a jar with several medium-sized nuts and bolts in it. He also had a piece of wood with several holes drilled through it a little bigger than the size of the bolts. When Audrey Lyn asked Bernie about his reason for the visit, he explained he thought little Jeff might like to play with the items he brought. Audrey Lyn thought to herself, what kind of toy could this be? Bernie, taking his time to speak, said that Jeff was always wanting to get his hands on things and he thought he might enjoy putting some things together. With that explanation, she encouraged Bernie to sit for a bit and show Jeff what he had brought over for him and how it worked. Jeff was happy to see Bernie after his nap and immediately eyed what Bernie had in his hand. Bernie sat down on the couch and carefully opened the jar pouring its contents out on a piece of newspaper on the coffee table. He took a small bolt out and slowly twisted a nut on the end of the bolt, with Jeff enthralled with the mechanics. He unscrewed the nut and handed it along with the bolt to Jeff, who very quickly had the nut back on the bolt and screwed up as far as he could get it. Bernie then took another bolt and shoved it through a hole in the wood and put a nut on it. Jeff eagerly grabbed the wood and mimicked what Bernie had just done. Bernie left Jeff happily playing with his new “toy.” A few days later Audrey Lyn saw Bernie outside and came over to thank him for the lifesaver of an idea for her rambunctious youngster. She said that was all he wanted to do and that his invention had occupied his time for hours. Her only concern was how long it would be before he got bored with it and would be running off again. Bernie listened and then said he had an idea and would be back over later. Two hours

ed and Bernie showed up with a wooden box. Inside were all sorts and sizes of different pieces of wood with holes in them. There were holes also drilled through the wooden box. When Jeff saw Bernie his eyes lit up with excitement to see what new thing it was that he had brought with him. Bernie showed Jeff how to hook the pieces of wood together and even bolt them to the box. He could now build many combinations that should keep him busy for a long time. Audrey Lyn couldn’t thank Bernie enough and promised to make him an apple pie. Bernie liked the idea of the pie, but he enjoyed seeing the happy expression on little Jeff’s face even more. As he was getting ready to leave he said, “Th that boy r r really likes tinkering around with the wo wood set.” Audrey Lyn gasped and said, “That’s it!” out loud. Bernie was puzzled by the remark when Audrey Lyn explained that all the kids have nicknames except little Jeff and Bernie had unwittingly come up with the most fitting nickname. From that day forward I became known as Tinker.

PART III

CHAPTER 15 TINKER’S FIRST LIFE LESSON

W orld War II ended officially on September 2, 1945. My memory of it is not much more than all the church bells ringing and people outside everywhere. It so happened that when the war with Japan ended, it also was Labor Day weekend. This gave most Americans an extra day to celebrate and they did. It looked like the economy and war problems that had plagued the country were coming to an end. Sweetwater would host a welcome home parade later that year for all the boys returning from service. To a child who did not understand the events that had taken place and all the pain related to the war, it was like a big party; and yet, it was no one’s birthday. With the end of the Labor Day weekend, something very new was about to happen to me—Kindergarten. I was very excited about entering school but was rather nervous about leaving my safe home. Mama had gotten me some new school shoes and I was forbidden to wear them anywhere other than to church or school. She talked to me about my manners and told me that Heckmans were known for their politeness and their good study habits, and she expected nothing less from me. Then Mama dropped on me the hardest possible thing for a young boy to understand, she told me my name. Now, this may sound peculiar, but when the only name you had ever known was Tinker and now you were being told something different, it just didn’t seem quite right. Mama explained that when I go to school the first day the teacher would call off the roll and she would say “Eldon Heckman” at which time I should respond with “Here.” I thought to myself who is Eldon Heckman and what will my friends think? None of them knew an Eldon. They only knew Tinker and why was there a name change? Just when I began to grasp a little understanding of what Mama was saying, she added to my confusion by telling me she wanted me to go by my middle name, Jefferson, and the short version, Jeff. My head was now thoroughly spinning and the look on my face must have told Mama there was something desperately wrong with her youngest child. It was at this point Mama said we need to have a long talk. She got out of the cupboard a homemade chocolate chip cookie and

poured me some milk to ease my tension; her strategy proved to be successful. Jeff (Jefferson) Stinson was my great-grandpa and Mama thought the world of him. He had been in the Civil War as a lieutenant in the cavalry. Mama said that whenever he talked about the war he never spoke badly about the southern boys. Just said they were doing what they thought was right, just like we were. The main difference was Jeff was deeply opposed to slavery and thought it should have ended long before the war. He thought owning other folks was a sin and went against what the Bible said about how we are to treat all the people God created. She said you always knew where great-grandpa stood on things. She ired that about him, mainly because he spoke the truth. This was the reason she gave me his name and explained that I should feel honored to go by this great man’s name. Mama’s talk had helped make me feel better, at least until school actually started the next day. When I entered the classroom I was greeted by a warm smile from Mrs. Cahill. She was probably a little older than Mama and seemed really nice to me. She had all the kids sit on the floor in a big circle. As Mama had predicted the teacher started roll call, starting with Sarah Ackerman until she uttered “Eldon Heckman.” There was dead silence in the classroom as if there was some sort of anticipation to who this mystery person might be. I sheepishly responded with “Here,” which was immediately followed by a burst of laughter from the class. Mrs. Cahill quickly silenced them and asked me if that was the name I went by. I SO wanted to tell her, my name is “Tinker”, but Mama made sure that would not happen. Instead, I replied that I go by Jeff, again bringing some snickers. After this small disturbance, Mrs. Cahill continued with the roll until all 22 names had been called. The rest of the day went pretty well as Mrs. Cahill told us about what we would be doing each day and how much fun we were going to have in her class. You could tell from her voice and how she spoke to us that she would do more than just teach us about things. As we departed school and started walking home, several of my friends started saying things like “Have a good evening Eldon!” and “What happened to your brother Tinker?” I was in tears by the time I got home, and Mama was there to comfort me. She said, “How was your first day at school, Tinker?” Talk about being floored, Mama was calling me Tinker, so I said, “Why are you calling me that when you told me I had to go by Jeff?” Mama gave that heart-melting smile that only she could give and said, “Son, you will always be Tinker to us.” The lesson I learned that first day of school was

that Tinker was the name the family gave me to describe what I liked to do because they knew and loved me. To all the other folks that did not know me, I was Jeff.

CHAPTER 16 BOXING MATCH

I n first grade, my routine each day after getting home from school was filling Mama in about the day’s events, grabbing a snack, and going over to say hi to Bernie. Upon entering the shop the air was composed of distinct odors of machines, oil, and pipe smoke. Bernie could usually be found under a hazy cloud fiddling with some foreign-looking object. I was always careful to make sure Bernie knew I was there by making some sort of noise when I came into the shop. I had discovered that Bernie was usually in deep thought about the project he was working on. So if I just walked up on him, it scared the daylights out of him, which would produce a short lecture about inappropriate surprises. For some reason, Bernie never seemed to mind me interrupting his work. I could tell that he liked to hear about my day and any new discoveries I had made. One day I asked him about something called television and if he had ever heard about it. To my surprise, Bernie’s face lit up and he tried to tell me everything he knew about it. “Yu yu knnow, te te television wi will be in ef ef everybody’s home som som day,” he stuttered with excitement. The great thing about being a child is that you don’t own the prejudices that come later in life. Bernie’s speech was normal to me and was just who he was. He went on to try and explain how television worked, but my mind could not comprehend how pictures could somehow be pulled out of the invisible air and be put on some viewing screen. How radio worked was still way over my head. Even without grasping what he told me, I loved his enthusiasm when something excited him. Most every day Bernie would show me what he was working on. Usually, it was something rather small and was more of a refinement to some already existing invention, while other times it might be something new. For the most part, I had no idea what he was doing, but I just liked being with him and he trusted me. He trusted me that I would not share any of his secret inventions even though I couldn’t tell you what any of them did. He trusted me as a person who cared about him and saw well past any of his imperfections. Bernie and I were friends and some days I would sneak him one of Mama’s cookies, which always made

him happy. One day as I quietly lifted two cookies out of the cupboard I turned and directly ran into Mama. Her stern face told me I was in trouble, which translated to me that there might be a spanking in order. She said, “Tinker, you know the rule; one cookie after school and no more. Do you have anything to say?” I just stood there looking down at my feet thinking about what was to come when Mama said, “Tell Bernie ‘hi’ and I hope he enjoys the cookie.” I said to Mama, “How did you know this cookie was for Bernie?” Mama said, “Mamas know everything that goes on in their house, so you best that next time you go sneaking around doing something you shouldn’t be doing.” As my first year of school progressed I made several friends, but my best friend was J.R. Sloan. His real name was Jasper R. Sloan. The R in his middle name stood for nothing but the initial R. I guessed that since he was the last of eight kids, they had run out of family names to give him and just settled on giving him a middle initial. J.R. was a scrawny, freckle-faced boy with protruding ears and an impish smile. Since he was the last of a long line of Sloan kids, mealtime was a frenzy and if you wanted to eat you better fight your way into the food. In school, as little boys often do, they sometimes made fun of J.R. because of his size and that was not real smart. It was like swatting a bee and if J.R. got fed up with the teasing he would sting the offender no matter the size of the culprit. It became understood, don’t mess with J.R. Sloan unless you want trouble. Summers were the best of times for J.R. and me. After working in the garden in the morning and doing whatever else our mamas needed us to do, we had the afternoons free to play. Cowboys and Indians and cops and robbers were favorites. For the most part, we got along well until someone got tired of always being shot, then we would have to move on to another game. One of our favorite things J.R. and I liked to do was to go off into the nearby woods and make a fort. We would gather fallen branches to build the walls. We would clean out the leaves inside and make a fire pit and then pretend we were under attack from Indians and have to save the fort. Other times we had our bows and arrows and pretended we were the Indians attacking the fort and would shoot our arrows at it. As we got older we sometimes smuggled matches out of the house and made a real fire in the pit. If we left the fort unattended for several days and returned, we usually discovered some “no goods” had torn it up and we would need to rebuild it. We had many great adventures in the woods. When we weren’t fighting off bad guys there was baseball. There was a vacant

lot two blocks away next to the now closed Watkin’s Globe Factory that we used for our games. Pickup games started by word of mouth that spread quickly and before long eight to twelve players showed up with an array of baseball equipment. Usually, Chester Andrews brought the ball and Scoops Thompson had a catcher’s mitt. Travis Schmidt had a bat and we used whatever we could find to make the bases. Most of us all had a mitt, but if someone did not have one we were quick to share. Sides would be picked, usually by the two best players, but sometimes we would have the two worst players be captains. That way they didn’t always get their feelings hurt by getting picked last. We didn’t call balls or strikes unless you were swinging or fouled and then if you got three you were out. Most of the time everything went well without an ump. If there was a close call we would settle it with a toss of the coin. Sometimes we would play after dinner until it got too dark to see the ball, and then we would reluctantly head home tired, dirty, and sweaty. The Fourth of July was fun in Sweetwater. Each year there was a parade down Main Street. If you were not in the parade you knew a lot of people who were. There were always farmers on tractors and folks riding horses and ponies pulling carts with kids in them. Since World War II was not long over, all the local veterans would put on their different service uniforms and march down the street. The crowd loved to see the boys, some of whom were in wheelchairs or in cars. Lots of red, white, and blue flags would be waved as the vets came by the cheering crowd. There were the 4-H champion in town goats and sheep, and an assortment of local clowns throwing candy into the crowd with Mayor Joshua Wentz leading the pack. Hot dogs, homemade ice cream, lemonade, and fireworks topped off one of the best days of summer. Bernie did not socialize much, but he did like the Fourth of July. It was a day that got him out of his shop and to enjoy the festivities in town. Because of his excellent repair work, many knew Bernie and were glad to see him on the street. They also knew that speaking, for Bernie, was uncomfortable. So they usually just said hi and left it at that. It was at the parade between my first and second grade that one of my classmates, Rudy Baker, saw Bernie and went up to him and mockingly said, “Ho ho how r r are you B B Bernie?” Bernie was taken aback by the child, but I wasn’t. Before Rudy knew what hit him, he was on the ground with a large red welt on the side of his face from where I had just unloaded my fist on him. Rudy scrambled to his feet trying to escape when I caught his shin with my foot,

sending out another loud yelp of pain. I don’t think I had ever seen Rudy run so fast. My feeling of pride for defending Bernie was short-lived. Bernie had me by the collar of my shirt and was dragging me off to a nearby private place where he gave me the first and only chewing out I ever got from him. I think his lecture to me contained the least amount of stuttering I ever heard from him. He said, “Do I need you to pro protect me? No! If I I fought ba back every time someone ma made fu fun of the way I talked I would be fi fighting all the time.” Bernie continued, “Tinker you ha have to know wh when toooo pick your battles and those wa wa words that boy said aren’t worth it. The Goood Boook says be slow to anger.” I stood there stunned as my young mind tried to understand Bernie’s words. Here was a man telling me to not let someone’s comments get the best of me even when I know the kid was being a jerk. Bernie then told me I was going to have to apologize to Rudy for slugging him because it was the right thing to do. The lesson was painful, but I knew Bernie was right and agreed to speak to Rudy as soon as I left. Bernie smiled and patted me on the head and as I turned and left he said, “Hey Tinker, nice up up upper cut.”

CHAPTER 17 TOUGH LOVE

B eing the last of the Heckman children had its advantages. Many of the parenting skills had already been tried out on the older siblings and many had been discarded. This only left my siblings with the opinion that I was spoiled. To some extent, I am sure they were right, but we all know as we mature our overall abilities to do things improve with practice and that includes raising children. Most of all parents want the best for their kids and do what they think is right for the time, and unfortunately, the first child is the test model. Butch was our test model and was probably disciplined harder than any of the rest of us. He carried the responsibility of being the oldest and was expected to be a mature example to all us kids. When arguments occurred, like in any family, Butch was expected to be the one to back off first or to give in to the younger more immature child. I one time on a road trip with all of us cramped into Daddy’s Chevrolet. Scooter was tormenting Butch by repeating everything Butch said. Butch said to Scooter, “Would you please stop that. It is getting annoying.” Scooter responded appropriately by saying, “Would you please stop that. It is getting annoying.” This only provoked Butch more to the point of jabbing Scooter in the side with his elbow. You would have thought Scooter had been hit with a baseball bat by the scream that came out of his mouth. Daddy stopped the car and of course Butch was the one who got in trouble because he should have ignored Scooter. Even if Butch got in trouble he didn’t hold it against Scooter and would end up throwing the football or doing something else with him later. Daddy was a tough disciplinarian that believed a good spanking never killed a child. When one of us got in trouble and Mama knew it, she would say, “Daddy will take care of this when he gets home.” I think that was worse than getting spanked then and there by Mama. That left us with hours of dread on our minds because we knew we were gonna get it later by Daddy. On one occasion I got in trouble and had been warned by Mama of my impending punishment. I waited on the front porch for Daddy to get home to

intercept him and plead my case before he got the full story from Mama. Upon Daddy’s arrival, I cheerfully greeted him and asked if he had a good day. Well, this was not Daddy’s first rodeo and he knew us kids would normally be out playing somewhere else instead of just waiting to see how their Daddy’s day was. Daddy said, “Tinker, you in trouble?” I sheepishly replied, “Well Mama said so, but I can explain.” Daddy abruptly cut me off and said he would talk to Mama for the complete story and deal with me later. Later came and Daddy put heat to my seat for my disobedience. After giving me my deserved whooping Daddy would put his arm around me and hold me close. He would tell me how much he loved me and that he did not like having to spank me. He wanted his children to grow up right and knew however painful it was for both him and the child it was something he needed to do to make sure we turned out good. Funny thing, I don’t ever seeing Sissy get spanked. We boys seemed to be on the receiving end of Daddy’s hand, but Carolyn Rose escaped his instrument of punishment. When Sissy did get in trouble she was usually sent to her room or was not allowed to talk for an hour. I think that is one reason little boys don’t like little girls. They think girls get away with a lot more than boys do. The reality is boys do get in more trouble than girls and the boys aren’t smart enough to avoid getting caught. I knew one thing for sure: I certainly did not like being spanked, but when I was, I still loved my Daddy. That never changed.

CHAPTER 18 THE ACCIDENT

I n October of 1948, Daddy was working in the garage replacing a transmission in a ‘39 Packard when the jack stand ing the transmission slipped and dropped the transmission on his right forearm with a painful crash. The massive hunk of metal pinned Daddy under the car for almost 15 minutes until Ned Mosby pulled in for gas and heard Daddy’s pleas for help. It took four men to get that transmission off of Daddy. His arm was in a really bad way and they rushed him to the hospital. Mama was called and was told Daddy was in a bad accident and needed to get to the hospital as fast as possible. In those days children were not allowed in hospitals and Mama, not knowing Daddy’s condition, did not want us to go anyway. Butch was sixteen and babysat for us before a couple of times, so Mama put him in charge of us. Mama told us to obey Butch like he was Daddy. This made Butch very happy, not because Daddy was hurt, but that Mama trusted him the same way she would trust Daddy. We were all afraid Butch would get bossy and make us do all kinds of things because he was in charge, but that didn’t happen. Instead, he said, “Why don’t we all go outside and toss the football around.” Even Sissy played with us. Butch had matured enough to know that something big was wrong and he needed to take the lead. He did not want us kids to get all worked up not knowing the extent of the accident; so, he distracted us as much as he could until Mama got back home. It did not take long before Bernie came over to find out what was going on. He had been working in his shop when he heard a car speed away from the house. There was also all the noise we were making in the yard playing the game. We filled Bernie in about all we knew that had happened to Daddy. He quickly grabbed some things and left in his old truck without saying a word. Mama entered the emergency room of St. John’s Hospital and found Daddy in a nearby room. He was lying on a table holding his injured arm and his face was very pale. Mama knew the situation did not look good. Doc Dill soon showed up to look at the injury. Doc had been our family doctor since Daddy was a teenager

and took good care of our family when we were sick. After assessing Daddy’s hurt arm, Doc told Mama that the X-ray they took earlier showed Daddy’s arm was broken in three different places and there was most likely tendon and muscle damage. He said this injury was too big for him to handle because Daddy was going to need surgery. Doc said he was going to have to call a specialist in to do the job. An hour later Dr. Lybrook came to check Daddy over. Dr. Lybrook was an orthopedic surgeon and specialized in dealing with bad bone injuries. Daddy had been put on morphine to reduce the pain and calm him down. Dr. Lybrook calmly spoke to Mama and him, explaining what he was going to need to do to repair Daddy’s arm. Thirty minutes later Daddy was wheeled into surgery for the next three hours. While Mama was in the waiting room some folks started showing up. J.R.’s mom, Mary Sloan, came in briefly and told Mama not to worry about the kids, she would look in on them. She told Mama she had made an extra-large batch of chili and she would take it over for them to eat. Pastor Rodgers came in along with his wife Naomi. Mama told them about the accident and what the doctor was doing. She said the waiting was the tough part. The pastor and his wife put their arms around Mama and bowed their heads and prayed for Daddy, Mama, and us kids. They prayed that Mama could trust God to care for Daddy and that God would guide Dr. Lybrook’s hands as he did the surgery. He continued to pray that Daddy’s children could be comforted during this time of uncertainty. When Pastor Rodgers finished, they stayed with Mama until Dr. Lybrook came out from the operating room. The expression on Dr. Lybrook’s face could not be read. Mama had hoped he would come out smiling and telling her everything was alright, but all she saw was Doc’s poker face. He began by telling Mama that Daddy was comfortable and currently not in much pain, which relieved some of Mama’s stress. He then explained that the surgery went as well as expected considering the injury. The Doc had to install two pins in Daddy’s arm as well as reattach Daddy’s torn bicep muscle. He told her if Mr. Mosby had not shown up when he did, Daddy probably would have lost his arm because the transmission was cutting off circulation to that part of the arm. Doc also said with rehab Daddy would be out for at least six months and he was not sure he would get full use of his arm back. Tears swelled out of Mama’s eyes with the news as she thought about her Clovis. Pastor Rodgers and Naomi had to get back home to care for their three children

but promised to stop by in the morning to see how Daddy was doing. Mama sat down by herself in the waiting room and tried to absorb everything that was happening. This was devastating for Mama for several reasons. She knew that the potential loss of the use of Daddy’s arm would be hard for him to physically and mentally accept. Daddy made his living using his arms and this was going to impact the family in a big way financially. Mama sobbed quietly as her mind cleared and calmness took ahold of her as she recited to herself (Proverbs 3:5 & 6). 5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Audrey Lyn felt foolish for letting all of these things get to her. She had many reasons to be thankful. The accident could have been a lot worse and best of all Clovis would recover. She was praying silently when Bernie showed up. She was somewhat startled by his presence but also glad to see a friendly face. Bernie told her he had been down at the station cleaning up the mess and making sure everything was okay. He stayed after the cleanup and continued to keep the place open, filling people’s cars with gas and helping out any way he could. He closed and locked the place up at 6 and had brought the day’s cash with him since he didn’t want to leave it there. Mama, through all the day’s excitement, had completely forgotten about the station and could not believe Bernie had taken it upon himself to make sure everything was okay. She then did something that shocked them both. Mama hugged him so hard he could hear his heartbeat and then astonished him by kissing him on the cheek. Bernie blushed as Mama kept thanking him over and over. Finally, Bernie said, “Th th that’s what fam family does fooor each other”. The Heckmans were Bernie’s family and Mama knew it.

CHAPTER 19 THAT’S WHAT FAMILY DOES

D addy spent five days in the hospital before coming home. We had never had a day without Daddy being with us; so when he came home, we were so excited to see him. All of us wanted to give him a big hug, but Mama said we had to be really careful not to bump into Daddy’s injured arm. Sissy started crying when she saw Daddy’s bandaged arm and that made the rest of us hurt too. Daddy had Sissy come over and he caressed her with his good arm, soothing her with reassuring words that he would get better soon. Clovis was so glad to be back home with his family. He had missed Audrey Lyn and the kids. He was also worried about how they were going to make it without him being able to work for a long time. That night while he and Audrey Lyn were lying in bed they shared their concerns about what to do. They decided the best thing to do was to first pray together asking their Creator for help. Bernie stopped in first thing the next morning to check in and see how Daddy was doing and let him know things down at the station had been just fine without him. Daddy was completely caught off guard by Bernie’s comments and asked what he meant. Bernie grinned and said he and Butch had been minding the store the last couple of days while Audrey Lyn had been at the hospital taking care of him all day. He said they had not even told Mama because they wanted it to be a big homecoming surprise. And what a surprise! Daddy called Mama in and shared what the two had been up to at the station. Butch was called by Daddy in a tone that sounded like he was in trouble: so when he came in with a slightly scared look on his face, Daddy asked him to sit on the bed. Daddy said, “Butch, Bernie here tells me the two of you have been working the business while I’ve been down. Is that true?” Butch shook his head ever so slowly with a yes. Daddy couldn’t hold his stern face anymore and said, “Son, I am so proud of you,” at which Butch beamed. Butch was turning into a man and when it was time for him to step up, he did it well. For me, being eight years younger than Butch, he and Scooter were my idols. I wanted to do everything they did and I wanted to be just like them, good

or bad. I am sure I annoyed both of them by wanting to tag along when I could. But for the most part, they put up with their kid brother and I loved them for that. The day kept getting better for Daddy because Bernie had some more good news for the Heckmans. He said if they were ok with it he would continue to run the station until Daddy got well enough to come back to work. Bernie said things in his shop had been slow enough that he thought he could keep up both businesses without much of a problem. He said Butch was willing to help out after school and on the weekend. Between the two of them, they thought it should work just fine. Daddy and Mama just sat there speechless as Bernie laid out his plan. They turned and looked at each other, then burst out laughing simultaneously as Bernie and Butch looked at them with puzzled expressions. Composing themselves they explained how the night before they had asked God to help them with the problem of running the station because they did not know what to do. And now, here were these two men standing in front of them explaining how they were going to run the business. Bernie said, “God is gooood” and Mama said, “All the time.” And so it was each day Bernie would head off to the station and open it up for business and Butch would show up after school to assist. If Bernie had work he needed to get done, Butch would work until closing time, doing homework between pumping gas. The arrangement worked very well as Daddy kept getting better. With Daddy not worrying about the business, I believe it helped him get better a lot sooner. Jake Hampton had been a part-time mechanic at the garage for about a year helping Daddy out. He was able to do some of the repair work, but not enough to keep up with the amount coming in. Bernie used his mechanical aptitude along with Jake’s help, to quickly problem solve engine woes. It also was an opportunity for Bernie to come up with new ideas in the automotive realm, which he enjoyed thoroughly. He liked getting out of his shop to a new atmosphere. His work had become stale and the new challenges brought a renewed freshness to his mind. Butch too was thriving while working at the station. He was more focused than he had ever been in his life. His schedule was such that with working every day, he had to make the most out of his study time. The result of this new structure was that Butch was getting the best grades in school he had ever gotten. The

bonus on top of the good grades was that he was also picking up some muchneeded extra spending money. Daddy always said, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” For the first time, I started to understand what that expression meant. The Heckmans were survivors of the Depression and World War II, making them resilient and ready to deal with what was put on their plate. They were determined, but also reliant on the help of God, who they always gave credit to for their blessings. After about two months of running the station, Bernie came over to see Daddy and Mama one evening. I could tell something was on Bernie’s mind and I did not think it was good. Bernie had come over to pay his rent since it was the first of the month. He handed Mama ten dollars and said that was the best he could do right now. He asked if it would be ok if he paid them the rest as soon as he got some of his projects caught up. He kept apologizing for being behind on his rent and felt real bad about having to ask them for this favor. Mama looked at Daddy who nodded, then turned to Bernie and handed him his ten dollars back. Bernie asked what she was doing and Mama said, “How could we take any money from you right now with all you have been doing for us?” Then she said, “A wise man not long ago told me that’s what family does for each other.” The Heckmans prayers had been answered. Daddy was getting better. The business was able to hold its own and life in Sweetwater was good. Daddy and Mama had accepted Bernie’s kindness to help in their hour of need and now it was time for them to do the same. Why? Because that’s what family does.

CHAPTER 20 GROWING UP

W ithin four months of Daddy’s terrible accident he was back at the station doing limited work, but so glad to be working at all. His arm was healing faster than the doctors thought, and it looked like he would get full use of his arm back. With his return, Bernie and Butch were putting in fewer hours. The two had enjoyed working together and Butch was amazed by how Bernie took on challenging tasks with such a ion. It was like the harder the job was, the more energized and determined Bernie was to find the answer. Butch had never been much interested in what Bernie was doing, but now after working with him, he started showing up at the shop regularly. Not only was Butch fascinated by Bernie’s projects, he just liked spending time talking with Bernie. Bernie had a good listening ear and he only gave advice when asked. You knew whatever you shared with him would go nowhere else. Butch had no aspirations to go to college and he was not sure what he wanted to do after high school. One day late in his junior year, the school had a career day and lots of different folks showed up to promote their various chosen professions. There were colleges and trades, like electrical and plumbing. Nothing seemed to draw Butch’s interest until this one booth with the uniformed attendant. He was an Air Force recruitment officer and Butch honed in on what he had to say about ing the military. To him it made sense; he could the service and learn a skill. If he really liked military service he could even make it a career. The idea of the Air Force was all Butch could think about and when he got home he shared his dream with Daddy and Mama. At first, Mama was not real excited about it, but the more she listened to how enthusiastic Butch was, she started to cave in. The war was over and the Air Force seemed like one of the best branches for military service. After getting Mama’s approval, all Butch had to do was wait one more year and graduate. Sissy was now a freshman in high school. She was starting to look a lot different than she had in grade school. She spent more time in the bathroom than all of the Heckmans combined, to the point Daddy sometimes told her she had 3 minutes

to get out, so others could use it. Lots of times she had these big rollers in her hair that made her look like some kind of alien monster. There were other hints that she was changing like she spent time filing and polishing her nails and on special occasions, she looked like she might have some makeup on. And something else happened, she got real good at sleeping. She said it was her “beauty rest.” Sometimes Mama would be banging on her bedroom door to wake her up and threatened her if she wasn’t out soon she would not be able to do anything on the weekend. That always got Sissy up fast, because being at home on Saturday night for a fourteen-year-old was the worst kind of punishment. Well, all that extra work Sissy was putting in on getting pretty was starting to pay off. Several boys called and wanted to take her out and that did not set well with Daddy. Daddy’s rule was no real dates until Sissy turned sixteen and that just made Sissy mad. Now Sissy could go to school dances after football games and she could socialize at church functions, just no dates alone. Even though Sissy was temperamental at times, she was a good older sister. She would sometimes take me by myself over to Logan’s for a root beer float and play some records on the jukebox. We would get into staring matches that she won the majority of the time. She still gave me piggyback rides and would race me home. And all that work on getting pretty didn’t matter, ‘cause she was pretty to me without all that stuff. Because Scooter was closest to my age we spent more time together. We would ride bikes sometimes for hours as we explored the streets of Sweetwater. One day he decided it was time I learned how to fish. I had gone out fishing before with Daddy and the boys, but to me, it was boring just sitting there waiting for something to happen. No fishing for Tinker. That changed when Scooter said, “We’re going fishing and if you don’t go with me, no more running around together.” I had no choice but to concede to my older brother’s charge. He then handed me an empty soup can and said, “Let’s dig worms.” Using a spade, he would turn over clods of earth in the garden for those slimy, wiggling creatures, which I would quickly gather before they could burrow back into the earth. After we got a dozen or so we were off to Sweetwater Creek. Sweetwater Creek was about a mile away on an old gravel road. Upon arriving, the best point to access the creek was the beaten path by the old covered bridge. Being down at the creek was one of my favorite places to go with my family. Even though I didn’t care much about fishing, I loved to wade in the shallows

and try to catch crawdads and frogs with my hands or just skip stones. On those hot summer days, it was also a great place to cool off. Sometimes Daddy would bring some hotdogs and make a campfire to cook them over. Using his pocket knife, he would select a small tree branch and then sharpen the tip, making it easy to use as a hotdog roaster. To me, nothing tasted better than a perfectly cooked dog with mustard on it. The first thing to fishing, Scooter told me, was to set the right depth of your bobber. Too deep the hook would lie on the bottom, too shallow and the fish wouldn’t bite. Next, I needed to grab a gooey night crawler, and because it was so big, pull it apart. That was gross! After pulling the creature apart there was slime and guts everywhere as I carefully jabbed the worm on the hook. Lastly, throw the mutilated carcass in the water. Now that the hard part was over all I had to do was sit there contemplating what I would do if I really caught a fish. Next thing Scooter was hollering at me to jerk my pole in because my bobber was completely submerged. My heart started pumping faster as I tried to reel in what seemed to me had to be the biggest fish ever caught in Sweetwater Creek. After several minutes and with much effort I landed the monster, a one-pound catfish. Feeling rather proud that I had caught the first fish I asked Scooter to help me get it off my hook. He looked at the catfish and said, “No way am I touching that nasty looking thing.” So, there I was with my first fish and no help or instruction on what to do. I reached down and grabbed the flailing creature and quickly released him as I yelped with a shooting pain through my hand. I had immediately learned catfish have “stingers” or barbs on their fins made out of hard cartilage with sharp points. These fins also release a small toxin causing some pain and swelling at the puncture site. Scooter thought my screaming and antics were quite amusing until I hurled the hooked catfish at him and swatted the side of his bare calf with one of those “stingers.” Now he was screaming and yelling at me chasing me with my catfish until I yelled, “Time out!” For some reason, Scooter stopped. We were both sweaty and had mud all over us. We both started laughing at each other because we looked so bad. In the end, we cut the line and let that poor fish get back to the safety of the creek. Fishing was done for that day, but we knew there would be more fishing and stories for us in the future. On the way home, we kept telling the catfish story over and over and laughing harder the more we told it. By the time we replayed the story for the rest of the family, that catfish was up to three pounds and had attacked Scooter and me. Everyone laughed at our exaggerated fish tale.

My sister and brothers took good care of me and we all had lots of fun. Sure, we sometimes fought and might not speak to each other for a day or so, but sooner or later we were back finding new ways to entertain ourselves. One thing for sure, they could beat on me or give me a hard time, but no “outsider” better even think about picking on me. If that would happen that would be like “stink on a pig” and the offender learned if you messed with one Heckman you got all the Heckmans to deal with. Family meant taking care of each other.

CHAPTER 21 MOVING OUT

I n the spring of 1950, Butch became the first of Clovis’s and Audrey Lyn’s children to graduate from high school. Graduation was a big affair in Sweetwater and the ceremony was held in the high school gym. The day was quite warm with outside temperatures in the mid-eighties making the gym very toasty. Most everyone was using their programs to fan themselves. The valedictorian spoke about the positive qualities of the class of ‘50 and how it was time for them to step out into the world and make a difference. I think everyone wanted to step out, too, just to see if there was a breeze somewhere. After a few other brief speeches, they started reading off the graduates’ names. I know Daddy and Mama were so proud when they heard Clovis Riley Heckman Jr. announced. Afterward, we had some family and folks over to celebrate the day. Butch had already enlisted in the Air Force in early May and was due to report for basic training on June 14. He was going to be headed for Lackland Air Force Base, with San Antonio, Texas, being the closest big city. He could not wait to get there and was busy getting everything done he needed to do before leaving. You could tell Mama was not too happy as the day to depart got closer. She had a lot on her mind. As if having her first-born leaving was not bad enough things were starting to heat up in Korea. The idea that Butch might have to go to war was unsettling to all of us. Butch reminded us he was going into the Air Force and that if he got sent to Korea, he should not be seeing action like the Marines and Army boys. Still, the thought of Butch being overseas disturbed us all. At 10 a.m. on June 13 we all went to the train station to say good-bye to Butch. We had been laughing and making jokes about who would get Butch’s bed and how much more food there would be for all of us to eat. Then reality hit me and I started sobbing uncontrollably and grabbed Butch as hard as I could. That just brought tears to everyone else and all of us Heckmans were a misty-eyed mess. Butch lifted me up and said, “Tinker, I want you to have my baseball mitt, so make sure you take real good care of it.” He hugged me and told me to be a good kid. He kissed everyone bye and Mama held on to him for as long as she could.

We all watched the train until it was out of sight. The ride home was unusually long and quiet. Shortly after I got home J.R. showed up and wanted to play, but I told him I wasn’t up for playing anything right now. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. He kept saying that I couldn’t beat him at marbles or checkers. Finally, I just said, “Go away!” Poor J.R. finally got the hint and sulked home. I thought to myself, “Way to go jerk, you just sent your best friend home.” I know he was trying to cheer me up and he was disappointed when I refused to do anything with him. About an hour of doing nothing was all I could stand so I wandered over to see what Bernie was doing. Bernie did not go to the station with us and had said bye to Butch earlier in the morning. Butch’s leaving also affected Bernie hard and he knew he could not handle going to the station. For graduation, Bernie had given Butch a fine pocket knife. On the main blade, Bernie had engraved the name “Butch”. To all us boys, we thought that was the coolest present anyone could get. As usual, Bernie was working on another one of his projects while he puffed away on his pipe. I asked him what was he working on and he said, “While I I wa was working at the st st station people seemed t t to bb be having prob problems with horns so so sometimes st sticking.” He thought he had figured out what was causing it and how to prevent it from happening again. Once again Bernie saw a problem and wanted to find the solution. It’s what fueled him. Many times I would just hang around in his shop and nothing was said. I would find some kind of a tool and try to figure out what it did or see Bernie using it and then I would give it my best to imitate him. Most of the time I failed but not because of the lack of trying. I just did not have enough strength and body mass to make a wrench turn a nut on my own. Bernie would patiently watch me fail at several attempts. Just about when I was frustrated and ready to give up, he would come over and give me a lesson about leverage. He would have me put a longer piece of pipe over the wrench so that would give me enough leverage to turn the bolt. I was getting a physical science lesson that made real sense to me. He knew so much and I knew so little. He wanted to teach me and he did—but only after I had failed several times to find a solution. Bernie said, “Th the best kind of ler learning is doing.” He was all about learning hands-on, getting down and dirty that day and seeing that light come on when you figured it out.

Spending time in the shop with Bernie lifted my spirits. With a renewed outlook on the day, I took off to find and apologize to J.R. When I got to his house, J.R. was on the front porch and his face lit up the moment he saw me. I told him I acted badly to him earlier and he quickly forgave me. I had learned good friends forgive each other and that is what makes them such good friends. Soon J.R. and I were off on our bikes to our next big adventure. As summer ed, we kept getting letters from Butch about his military training. He said, “If you thought Indiana was hot, you should come to Texas in the summer.” He said he was eating as much food as he could, but he was hungry all the time. They would wake him up at 5 a.m. every morning and the entire day was filled with all sorts of training. He did not get any free time until after supper at about 7 p.m. That gave him two hours to write letters, do laundry, polish boots and be in bed by 9 p.m. Butch said he missed all of us, but he was doing really fine. He was happy that he had made some new friends—one guy named Tom from Oregon, and another guy named Warren from Massachusetts, and they all got along great. He would be done with boot camp by the end of August and then go on for some specialty training. One time he asked if I was taking good care of his baseball mitt. I still missed Butch a lot. Sissy had gotten a job working as a clerk at Hamilton’s Five and Dime. It made her feel independent because she was earning a weekly paycheck. Up until then the only way Sissy earned money was by babysitting other folks’ kids and that wasn’t real regular pay. She was going to be a junior in high school and looked so forward to being an upperclassman. Since there weren’t any sports for girls in those days, many girls participated in clubs and cheerleading. Sissy did not have any desire to be a cheerleader, but she did like working on the school newspaper. She would write columns about what students thought about the cafeteria food and if there should be more dances. Most important Sissy was turning sixteen and that meant Daddy would let her start going out on real dates. Scooter was going to be a freshman, an exciting and scary time. Exciting because he was leaving the grade school kids behind and scary because he was the low one on the totem pole. Upperclassmen enjoyed making fun of the “frosh” and were quick to play tricks on them, like telling them they needed a to use a certain set of stairs. With Scooter off to high school, it put distance between us, although not intentional, it was just part of growing up. During the summer of 1950, for extra money I picked up a paper route. It was

fun delivering the evening Times, except on those bad weather days. Keeping them dry was real hard and people did not like wet papers, so I had to make sure they were inside their storm doors or in their mailbox. Every Friday I would go to each house and collect the paper fee and turn it in the next morning to the paper manager. I could usually make around two dollars a week, which was pretty good for a kid in those days. After all the carriers paid their paper bill Saturday morning, we would all celebrate by going to Logan’s and purchasing several pieces of one cent bubblegum and assorted candies. The final stop was the lunch counter for a fountain coke. It felt good to have my own hard-earned money to spend and save. I was looking forward to fifth grade because it was going to be a true fifth grade classroom. In fourth grade, our class was split with half third graders. Our teacher would teach us fourth-grade math or some other subject, while the third graders worked on something else, then switch and teach them something while we worked on an assignment. We just didn’t like having to share the special days like Halloween, Christmas, and Valentine’s Day with the “little kids.” Going back to school on the first day after summer break was interesting in lots of ways. It was fun to meet your new teacher and find out who was in your class. Sometimes there might even be a new kid that moved into town over the summer. Fifth grade for me this year was going to be different because this was going to be the first time J.R. was not in my class. He had been assigned to Mrs. Groton’s class, the only other fifth grade. We still had lunch together and played at recess; but without J.R. in class, I had to stretch myself and find someone else to buddy up with when it came to doing class projects. Each year, Mama would get us new school clothes so we would look our best on the first day of school. Before we could leave for school, Mama would open the pantry door and have us stand up as straight as we could and she would mark our new height on the door. To me, it seemed I never really grew much, but Mama always told me not to worry because that would change soon. She also said it was not the size of the man that counted, but the size of his heart. The fall of 1950 was full of change and was shaping up to be quite interesting.

CHAPTER 22 LIVING LIFE

T he early fifties to me seemed like the best time for a kid to grow up. Nothing bad much ever happened in Sweetwater. There was the time Daddy went down to the station to open up for the day and found someone had broken the side door window and got in. Daddy was sure some of his best tools had been stolen and quickly started inventorying everything of value in the shop. After about an hour he became puzzled because nothing was missing, and since he never keeps cash overnight, he could not figure out what they wanted. It was several hours later when a neighbor kid came and wanted to buy a Hershey Bar, that Daddy discovered the thief had stolen all the Hershey Bars and Milky Ways. In those days a candy bar to a child was like gold and it was a special treat you only got now and then. It became apparent that George Jenkins was the mastermind behind the candy bar caper when he mysteriously had one of the stolen delights in his lunch box every day. George was kind of a big kid that seemed to have developed body odor at a younger age than most boys giving him the nickname of “Stinky” Jenkins. As previously mentioned, Heckmans defend one another and I felt it was my family’s right to deal with Stinky since he had allegedly stolen from our family. I went over to George’s lunch table just as he was unwrapping a Milky Way and said, “Mighty nice looking candy bar you got there, Stinky. You must have come into a lot of money, ‘cause I’ve seen you with a Hershey Bar or Milky Way every day for the past week.” Stinky immediately lived up to his name as perspiration beads started forming on his forehead, and he started stammering out his explanation that he was using his birthday money to buy himself those treats. Well, that was where his story caved in because our class was not very big and everybody pretty much knew everyone else’s birthday. So I said, “Your birthday is in two weeks, so you are eating all this candy from money left over from your last birthday?” Stinky could not contain himself anymore and said he was going to throw up and ran for the bathroom, with me hot on his heels. As

soon as he came out of the stall, I pushed him up against the wall and said, “You are going to pay for those candy bars one way or another and pay my Daddy for that broken window.” Stinky then said, “And if I don’t what you gonna do about it, runt?” I calmly let him go and said, “Nothing.” Stinky’s composure returned with a certain smugness. Just as he started to open the door to leave I said with a smile, “Hey Stinky, I said I was going to do nothing, but I am sure Scooter will!” I then walked past a very “sweaty” George as I left the restroom. The next morning Daddy found two boxes of the candy bars with 50 cents for the missing ones and an IOU to pay for the broken glass as soon as the thief could earn the $1.50. Daddy never knew who the candy criminal was and never asked us kids, but he felt secure that candy crimes would be down for some time. Bernie continued to work in his modest shop on figuring out ways to make things better and occasionally repairing broken items of all types for the town folks. He had become such a part of our family that no one considered him our renter. We shared all our holidays and birthdays with Bernie. He would usually make something clever for whoever’s birthday it was. Bernie knew Sissy liked to read, so when she turned 17, he made her a small, well-constructed bookcase out of oak for her room. We also celebrated Bernie’s birthday just like the rest of the family. On someone’s birthday, Mama always made their favorite dinner and Bernie’s was fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans. Of course, dinner was topped off with apple pie, which always delighted Bernie. Taking a cue from Bernie, I decided I would make him a birthday gift when I was ten. The only idea I could come up with was a pipe holder. I took a small block of cherry wood and with my pocket knife, I began to whittle away at the chunk. After several hours and a couple of nicks in my fingers, I fashioned something that resembled a pipe holder. I presented Bernie with the holder and a twenty-five cents pouch of cherry tobacco. I explained if his pipe didn’t fit in it right, I could whittle some more on it until it was the right size. I could tell Bernie was touched by my effort to make him this thoughtful gift. He rubbed my head and said, “Th Th Thank you. It sh should work ju just fine.” He took the crude pipe holder and put it on his workbench. Whenever the pipe was not in his mouth, it was in the holder. We continued to get weekly updates through letters from Butch on how he was doing. He was now overseas in the Philippines which made Mama happy since

he was not in Korea. He was an Airman First Class and his duties included ordering and distributing aircraft parts. He said he really liked his job and he might even consider re-enlisting when his time was up. We all hoped that wouldn’t happen because we wanted Butch to return home to Sweetwater to be with the rest of his family. Life at the Heckmans was pretty much routine with each season; Daddy worked at the station; Mama kept the house and finally now had some time to be part of the groups she so much enjoyed; Bernie worked in the shop and helped with the garden when in season; and the kids went off to school. The years of my youth were ing by quickly, and like most kids, I was advancing toward my teens without much thought of the future.

CHAPTER 23 FOOLISH WORDS

A s spring approached in 1952, another Heckman was set to graduate, Carolyn Rose. Sissy had been a good student, but like Butch, she never entertained the idea of college. Her vision of the future was being married and raising some kids. At sixteen when her dating restrictions had been lifted by Daddy, Sissy made it known she was available for dates. For about the first year of her “dating freedom,” she enjoyed the company of three suitors, all of whom she had no real romantic interest in. That all changed her senior year when a new young man by the name of Roy Drison enrolled in Sweetwater High. Roy’s dad was an Army sergeant and had been reassigned many times during the 18 years of Roy’s life. After serving for twenty-five years, Ben Drison retired from military life to pursue a civilian occupation as a printer. His sister, Helen had moved to Sweetwater ten years earlier and painted such a good picture of the town that Ben thought it would be a good place to settle with his family. Sissy had several classes with Roy and was attracted to him because he seemed to be so worldly. He had lived in so many places and as he told her all about them, Sissy would dream about places like the Presidio of San Francisco and Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The farthest she had ever been from Sweetwater was to St. Louis for the funeral of Mama’s Great Aunt Mimi. Roy was very much caught up by Sissy’s attentiveness to his storytelling, not to mention her fine looks. It was not long before they were going steady with their eyes focused only on each other, and giving little regard to what they might be doing after high school. Scooter developed into a good distance runner and won varsity places on the cross country team in the fall as well as the track team in the spring. Like Butch, he also worked with Daddy part-time at the station afternoons and weekends when not in a sports season. Scooter was the quietest of the Heckman clan, so when he spoke most people listened. In school he worked hard and was able to make decent grades. Any time Scooter let me hang out with him, I would jump on it. He was my hero in every way that an older brother can be.

Upon Sissy’s graduation, she worked as a receptionist for the local dentist Dr. Gleason. She found the work boring but tolerated it as she dreamed about the day she would marry Roy Drison. That day came a year and a half later in October of 1953. Daddy and Mama’s only daughter was getting married and there was so much to do in the way of planning for the biggest Heckman family event. Mama spent hours sewing Sissy’s dress. The wedding would take place in the Sweetwater Baptist Church, and the reception would follow at the American Legion Hall with live music provided by a local band called the “Two Sharps to B Flat.” Sissy’s wedding brought Butch back home, which added more to our celebration. Butch had changed a lot since the last time we had seen him. He was more muscular and he carried himself differently. The military had changed Butch from a boy to a man. He even needed to shave every day. When the big day finally arrived, Butch wore his Army Blues. Scooter and I wore our Sunday suits as we ushered guests to their seats. Daddy beamed as he walked Sissy down the aisle but quickly changed to tears as he kissed her and handed her to Roy. To me, the most touching part of the ceremony was when Bernie played “How Great Thou Art” on his violin right after their wedding vows. There was lots of sniffling and many tissues got used as the music seemed to pierce our souls. It felt so good to have all the Heckmans back together again. Butch could only stay for two days after the wedding, so we all made the most of his visit. He told us about all the neat places and things he had seen and had even brought us all a small gift. We sat around the dinner table for hours telling family stories and laughing ‘til our sides ached. Bernie had us all up dancing to some fiddle tunes like “Turkey in the Straw.” Before we knew it, Butch was on his way back to his base, with Sissy living in her new apartment with Roy; the house was the quietest it had ever been. I felt about the loneliest I had ever felt and had a hard time getting back to normal. I was also haunted by the idea that in less than two years Scooter would be the next one to be leaving, and then I would be the only Heckman child left. All these changes were hard for a 12-year-old to take, but having Bernie several feet from our home helped ease the pain. Again, I took refuge in his shop and watched as Bernie would methodically work his way through problems. Something I had never noticed until I got older was that Bernie kept meticulous

records of what he was doing. One time I looked through one of his many notebooks and was surprised by his incredible penmanship. Not only was his writing outstanding, but he had many detailed, high-quality drawings in his notes. Just when I thought I knew everything there was to know about Bernie Weidemann, something else surfaced revealing another hidden aspect of this special man. One afternoon I came home from school in a foul mood. I had worked hard for two weeks on a science project only to receive a C+ and I was enraged. I went over to Bernie’s to vent my anger and, as usual, Bernie listened to my rant. After I spewed my guts out, I looked at Bernie and asked him what he thought I should do. He asked me to show him my project, which I promptly brought back to him from my room. He studied it carefully for about fifteen minutes and after a sigh said, “Tinker, I th think your t t teacher gave the ri ri right gr grade.” Well, I lost it then and there. Here was the one person I thought would me and he agreed with my teacher. I looked directly at Bernie and angrily said, “Wh wh what da do you know, you’re just a du du dumb old man.” No sooner had my angry words come out, than regret filled my heart, as I saw the hurt in Bernie’s eyes. What was I thinking? How could I have been so cruel to say these foolish things to a man who cared so deeply for me? I had just repeated what Rudy Baker had done years earlier at the Fourth of July parade, and I clobbered him for it. I immediately burst into tears, apologizing over and over for my unforgivable behavior. Bernie reached out and pulled me to his chest and held me close for several minutes as I sobbed uncontrollably. Finally, after the long silence, Bernie said, “I fo fo forgive you Ti Tinker.” Still sobbing, I said, “Bernie, how can you forgive me after what I just said to you?” He just hugged me and said, “Cause th that’s wh what family does.”

CHAPTER 24 UNCLE TINKER

A s predicted, Scooter finished up high school and was the third Heckman child to graduate. Unlike Butch, Scooter had no desire to the military. He had more of a skills trade in mind. He had always found electricity to be a marvel, and Mr. Graham, the shop teacher at Sweetwater High, had several electrical projects that captured Scooter’s attention. During the second semester of his senior year, he worked some on an as needed basis for Mic Meyers, an independent electrical contractor. Scooter would help him run wire and conduit. Meyers gave him a good introduction, but not much more. There was a trade school in Evansville that offered a sixteen-month electrical class. Scooter thought this would be the way to get his career started. He applied and was accepted. The only thing left to figure out was how to pay for the school. He had saved money, but that would not be enough. Daddy and Mama helped with his room and board, but he still needed more money to cover the tuition costs. The school counselors had talked about low-cost student loans that could help finance post-high school education. Scooter followed up and was able to secure enough to cover the school cost. He did not like the idea of debt and hoped to work part-time while going to school to keep his loans to a minimum. Within two months of graduating, Scooter was gone to Evansville and the Heckman house was silent. No more arguments about bathroom time or what we were going to watch on TV. Oh yeah, TV, something Bernie had predicted would be in everyone’s home someday, had arrived. There were not many channels, but we all enjoyed most of the shows even though they were all in black and white. Along with TV, we now had our private phone line and no longer shared a party line with our two neighbors. Daddy’s business had grown. He had paid off Pops Wilson, and become the sole owner. Another service bay was added along with a new mechanic. Overall, the business was doing real well. Even with the boom Daddy and Mama didn’t spend any more money than they had in the past. The Depression had left a scar on most Americans that lived through it that would never be erased. They kept cash in the house just in case

the banks failed again. They refused to use any credit cards. They felt that people who used credit cards were tempted to buy things sooner than if they had to save up for them. They had seen many folks go bankrupt on overextended credit that they could not pay back. When Daddy and Mama wanted something, they made sure they had the money before they bought it. Nothing could stop time. After being married for less than two years, Sissy gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Hazel Marie. Here I was just 14 and an uncle. I didn’t have any idea of what an uncle was supposed to do, but I was fascinated by little “Haz” as she was called. Sissy and Roy were elated with the new addition; however, her arrival brought a new burden on an already struggling family. Sissy had been the main breadwinner of the family with her receptionist job at the dental office. Roy just could not seem to keep a steady job. He had tried several sales jobs that rarely amounted to much more than selling to family or friends before changing jobs. He worked in a warehouse and meatpacking plant but usually found he was not “suited” for that type of work and would quit. Daddy and Mama liked Roy as a person, but detested his work ethic and felt Sissy carried too much of the load. Even with their financial woes, Hazel seemed to brighten everyone’s life. Butch had decided when his second tour was up, he would be leaving the Air Force. Said he was tired of being shipped all over the place and was ready to settle down with his new wife, Emily. Butch had met Emily when he was stationed at Edwards Air Force Base in California. They had met through a girlfriend of a buddy of his. After three months of courtship, Butch popped the question and Emily accepted. They knew having the wedding in California would be a burden on Daddy and Mama to come, so they thought it best to elope. Daddy and Mama were sad they missed the wedding, but ecstatic the newly married couple were coming back to live in Indiana, and so was I. Bernie was in his mid-fifties and was starting to slow down a bit. He was not spending as much time in the garden as he had in the past, and bending over had become more difficult for him. Almost every Sunday he had dinner with us unless he did not feel up to it. He always lit up when Sissy brought Haz over for a visit. There was something about newborns that spoke to Bernie’s heart. It may have been because of how much he cherished his mother not giving him up, or the need never filled by having any children of his own, but whatever the reason, he was a softy when it came to babies.

My time in Bernie’s shop also dwindled. I assumed Scooter’s part-time job at the station and ed the newly formed Sweetwater wrestling team. Coach Hurrle had started the wrestling program during my freshman year and asked me to consider coming out for the team. I felt honored that he had taken the time to ask me and thought I should give it a try. I did not realize at the time it was going to change my life drastically. Daddy and Mama were worried about Sissy and Roy’s financial woes. They wanted to help, but they felt giving money was not going to have any long-term positive results. They prayed hard that Roy would step up as a father and family leader and find steady employment. That just did not seem to happen and the Drison family continued to struggle financially.

CHAPTER 25 LEARNING THE HARD WAY

H igh school brought so much more to my life than I expected. Changing classes every period exposed me to lots of new teachers and their perspectives. There were more activities, and of course, there were hours spent wrestling which started in October. Our wrestling room consisted of a small cleaned-out storage room barely big enough to get one mat in. It was small, but so was our team. The coach had only been able to recruit 15 guys the first year and that meant it would be hard to fill all twelve weight classes. Practices were much harder than I thought they would be. Each night my body ached after being moved into about every conceivable position on earth. Since I only weighed ninety pounds and was the lightest guy on the team, I had to wrestle two guys that were sophomores and weighed between 100 and 110 pounds. With their age and weight difference, I found myself on the bottom most of the time. It was discouraging, and Coach could tell I was getting down about the situation. I am sure he thought I might quit, but quitting was not a Heckman attribute. One day he told me that wrestling the tougher teammates was going to pay off big when it came to meets because I should be a lot stronger than guys that had been wrestling opponents their own weight. I hoped he was right. Scooter was just about finished with his electrical school and would be returning home to Sweetwater just before Christmas. He planned to move back home for a little while until he could find a job and get a place of his own. I looked forward to spending time with him and wanted to show him how much I had learned in wrestling. After about six weeks of learning and drilling, we had Sweetwater’s first ever wrestling meet. It was an away meet with the Granite City Warriors. The Warriors had been wrestling for about three years and their team had several good returning wrestlers. One of their best guys was in the 95 pound weight class, my weight. I felt like a Christian being thrown to the lions. Not only was it the first match of the meet, but against an experienced junior. I

shaking hands at the beginning of the match and then doing it again about 15 seconds later. The defeat stunned me. I didn’t have any idea someone could be so fast and that good. Overall, the team won two matches and lost by a score of 36 to 9. Coach told us we did a fine job for our first time out of the gate, but we had to work more on refining our moves. That reality check made me more determined to practice even harder so the same thing would not happen the next time, but it did. Getting pinned seemed to be my best move against the veteran wrestlers. I finally got my first win, it was a forfeit. My real first victory came when I wrestled against another freshman from St. Cloud. It was a sound win with a score of 12 to 1. The coach was right about practicing with the heavier, better guys when it came to wrestling my peers. Wrestling also developed a Heckman fan base. Most matches were during the week and every home meet Daddy, Mama, Sissy, Roy, Hazel, and Bernie made up my cheering section. I hated to lose and sometimes had difficulty with my temper while coming off the mat after the match. One Saturday after a Thursday night loss, I was in Bernie’s garage working on something to get my mind off of losing when Bernie said, “I se see you ge ge get real mad wh when you lo lo lose.” My response was, “Sure do. It’s no fun to get beat all the time.” There was a long pause before Bernie began to speak, “You go got to cra crawl before yo you can wa walk.” Bernie then said, “Di did you th think you were ju just going to wa walk on the ma mat and st start beating ev everyone?” I said, “Of course not.” He replied, “Then why yo you so mad?” For the life of me I could not come up with a good answer to that question. Once again, Bernie, a man of few words, but well-thought-out words, hit the nail on the head. From that day forward I tried not to let my temper get the best of me. The season came to a close in February with a first round loss in the Sectional. Even though I lost, it was a positive loss. The guy I wrestled had pinned me earlier in the year in the second period and this time he beat me by a decision score of 12 to 4. To me and the Coach that was a tremendous improvement, and let me finish my freshman year on a positive note. I then decided, that during the offseason, I would continue to train on my own by working on endurance and strength conditioning. I was determined that my sophomore year would not be a repeat of my freshman year on the mat. Butch and Emily moved back to Sweetwater at the end of May. He had lined up

an assistant manager’s job at Thompson’s Auto Parts. He was going to be in charge of maintaining the inventory and the distribution of parts throughout the county. The skills he had acquired in the Air Force were now allowing him to find a good paying civilian job. Emily also was able to find employment as a teacher’s aide in the nearby elementary school. It felt so good to have the entire family back together again.

CHAPTER 26 UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

D addy and Mama were probably the best parents a boy could have. They were both firm, but fair. They had rules and expected us to follow them. If I went out at night, they wanted to know where I was and they would tell me what time to be home. If I was to be home at 10:00 and came in at 10:02, I was late and that was unacceptable. At the time I thought they were being petty about being a few minutes late, but they were trying to instill responsibility in me. Daddy said employers expected their employees to be at work on time and if you were late they would dock your pay or even worse, fire you. Parents’ wisdom often falls flat with their children and realization only comes when they have children of their own. The advantage of having three older siblings allowed me to observe their disciplinary interactions with Daddy and Mama. I do think it really helped me to have a better relationship with my parents. Something else that was special about Daddy and Mama was how they cared for each other. They had their disagreements at times, but they never let their different views get in between them. They were usually resolved quickly, not with one getting what they wanted over the other, but they would talk it out and come up with a mutual decision. Mama deferred to Daddy when it came to running the business, but she always listened to what was going on and gave her input. Daddy deferred to Mama when it came to running the house and, like Mama, would share his opinions with her. They had a relationship built out of trust and mutual respect for one another. There were other things too that made them unique. We rarely ever had a meal without offering “thanks.” In the evening Mama often spent quiet time reading her Bible. When we were little children many times she would tell us a Bible story. For a little boy who loved lots of action, my favorite was how David killed Goliath. One morning when I was about eight I woke up an hour earlier than my normal time and quietly walked into the living room and found Daddy on his knees deep in prayer. I turned around and tried to sneak out without him hearing me only to be discovered. He asked me to come back and kneel beside him,

which I did. He then said, “Tinker, do you know what I pray for?” I said sheepishly, “That the business would do real well.” Daddy laughed and said, “Well, yes I do sometimes, but I pray for you and the rest of the family every day.” He went on to explain that he considered all of us real blessings and he was thankful for each and every one in his life. I then said, “What about Bernie?” Daddy then said, “I pray for Bernie, too because to me he is part of our family.” Daddy then put his arm around me and bowed his head and said, “Dear Lord would, you please bless my precious son Tinker? I love him dearly and I know you do too. I pray he will also know You and follow You all the days of his life. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.” I had never felt so close to my Daddy as I did that day. He was a great man that lived his faith out every day. After that day, I started praying like Daddy every day, on my knees. I believe Daddy and Mama had a special relationship with each one of us that none of us kids knew about. There were no favorites, just unconditional love being dispensed by parents trying to do their best to raise their children right. I had friends whose home life was not too good. One’s daddy drank too much and he would get mean, and another kid’s mama had run off with another man. Those boys were lonely for their parents. Recognizing this made me even more thankful for Daddy and Mama.

CHAPTER 27 CHANGES

S chool and wrestling continued to be my main focus. My sophomore year was a drastic change for me in wrestling for several reasons. Over the summer Coach Hurrle let me take home a couple of small mats that I put in our basement. Here I would practice doing drills, like stand-ups and sit-outs, ‘til I could do them in my sleep. I think one thing that helped me was when Scooter would come over a couple of times a week and have dinner. Then he and I would go downstairs for some mat time. I would do my best to wrestle him. He weighed about 40 pounds more than I did, so most of the time I was trying to ride him and keep him from escaping. Scooter was real good about not overpowering me and would let me do all the things I had learned in practice. Eventually, he would get tired and show me that even though I knew more about wrestling than he did, he was bigger and stronger. He would effortlessly flip me off his back like a fly, immediately reminding me that the big brother still rules. I had also grown over summer and had to move up to the next weight class, 103 pounds. The year started great when the first guy I wrestled was a fellow that had pinned me the year before. I think he was overconfident and had no idea how much I had worked to get better. When I took him down he was shocked by my improved speed. I had been used to trying to control Scooter who was much larger than my 103 pound adversary. This made it easier for me to prevent him from getting an escape or reversal. When the match was over, I soundly defeated my embarrassed opponent 10-3. My fan base had grown to include Butch and Emily. Not only were they coming to all the home meets, but most of the family would go to the away meets if they could. Something else changed too. After coming off the mat and talking to Coach, I would head off to the side and be greeted by Bernie. He usually didn’t say much, maybe a slap on the back or thumbs up. I think it was his way of helping me keep my temper in check. His presence was calming and a reminder that it was only a sport. He would remind me as long as I had put forth a 100% effort that was all that was important.

The rest of the year continued on the same path, with many former foes losing. I placed well in the county tourney and managed to finish second in the sectional tourney. The season became a turning point for me in many ways, first by having a winning season compared to the year before. Next, I had great iration for my coach and thought that teaching and coaching might be a career for me. Finally, there was a teammate of mine who was a senior whom I looked up to and he had been offered a scholarship to wrestle in college. At that time I was clueless about college and did not even know there was college wrestling. For the first time a Heckman was considering college, but I knew Daddy and Mama did not have enough money to send me to a four-year college. If I wanted to teach, I had to get a degree, and if I could wrestle well enough maybe I could get a scholarship. It started to seem possible for me, but I also needed to hit the books harder. Sissy and Roy continued to have a tough time making it. The best Roy could keep a job for was about six months. Because he had changed jobs so much, people were reluctant to hire him. He had no college or trade skills, so when he did manage to land a job it was entry level at a low pay grade. To make matters even more difficult, Sissy was expecting their second child. Daddy and Mama were getting concerned because they saw the strain it was putting on their marriage and they did not know how long Sissy could take it. Scooter’s job as an electrician was going well. His schooling had paid off by helping him land a good job at Adams Electric. He truly enjoyed his work at Adams, but he was contemplating the idea of opening his own business in a year or two. He thought he should learn as much as he could about the business before he went out on his own. It would also give him more time to save up enough money to get the new company started. Butch’s new job at the auto parts store was also going well. The company had recognized what an asset they had in Butch and rewarded him with two raises the first year he was there. With his experience from his time in the Air Force, he was able to streamline the overall parts process. This saved the company money and the improved efficiency meant the customers were served faster. As this happened, word got out to other garages about the quick availability of getting parts, causing more orders to come into Butch’s company. Emily, too, had settled into life in Sweetwater. She enjoyed being part of the Heckman clan and liked the laid-back way of life in a rural American town. Both

Butch and Emily were also thinking it might be time for another Heckman grandchild.

CHAPTER 28 THE VISITOR

I n June Bernie was working in his shop when an old Plymouth sedan pulled up to his door. Exiting the car was a man looking to be in his early fifties. His hair was starting to gray on the sides. He wore glasses and sported a well-trimmed mustache. He was dressed casually and peered in Bernie’s shop not making a sound, just taking in the atmosphere. When Bernie looked up and saw the stranger, he dropped what he was doing and moved towards the man to find out his business. The man was slow to speak and introduced himself as Clive Horton while shaking Bernie’s hand. He began by telling Bernie how impressed he was with his shop. There was a brief discussion about the current heatwave and both agreed a little rain would be nice. Finally, Bernie said, “Ho how can I I help yo you?” Clive responded with, “Folks tell me you can fix about anything and I wanted to see if that was true.” Bernie smiled and said, “Noonot sure about that, wha what you got broken?” There was a long awkward silence before Clive could find the words he had so long been looking to find. He said, “Bernie, I grew up in Cincinnati.” Bernie jumped in with, “Soo di did I!” Clive said, “I know and that is why I was able to track you to Sweetwater.” Bernie now was completely confused by what Clive was talking about. He asked, “Tracked me down?” “Yes, I tracked you,” Clive responded. “Let me explain.” He stated that when he was a young man growing up in Cincinnati he had gotten into the wrong crowd. His father was out of the picture and his mother could barely make it. She saw Clive as more of a liability instead of an asset. He was pretty much on his own. His friends were no more than thugs that begged, borrowed or stole what they needed or wanted. Along with being entry-level criminals, they had a real dislike for anyone different than themselves and had no problem harassing others when given the opportunity. Bernie interrupted, “That must have been a re really unhappy ti time for yo you. We are alike in sev several wa ways. I di didn’t have a da daddy either, bu but my mama la loved me a whole lot. Wis wished yo you could have ha had a

mama like mine.” Clive did not expect to hear this comion about his life from a stranger and was taken with emotion to the point he was choked up and could not speak. Bernie knew something was wrong and excused himself and returned with a glass of water for Clive. Clive said, “Your kindness overwhelms me.” Bernie said, “I it’s ju just a glass of wa water.” Clive composed himself and continued his story. “One night, Horace Gaddis and I were out up to no good. We had just swiped some apples from the local market on Dean Street.” Bernie said, “Hey I kn know that ma market. I u used to shop there.” Clive continued, “That night we were hanging out when we saw this young man coming down the street and asked him where we could get something to eat.” Bernie’s face grew pale, as the memory of that fateful night came back to him in full reality. He ed each word of the conversation and felt the pipe striking his skull, and the pain his body felt in the hospital. He mostly ed how his speech would be changed forever. As his eyes regained focus, he could see the tears and the pain on Clive’s face. His first thought was he should hate this man for what he had done to him, but he knew his faith would not allow that. Instead of curses, Bernie embraced Clive as a loving father whose lost son had just come home. Both men wept. Finally, the silence was broken when Bernie said, “You know yo you di did’nt take wa what little ma money I had, so why?” Clive’s response was, “Because you were different from us and we had so much hate and rage against those who weren’t like us. You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Bernie said, “So wa what ha happened after the ma mugging?” Clive hung his head and replied, “Things just got worse. Horace and I started doing bigger crimes but seemed to get away with them, but that was for a while. One day we had the bright idea to steal a car and rob a filling station. I sat in the car and Horace went in and told the attendant to give him all the money, which he did. As Horace turned to get in the car, the attendant pulled a gun out from under the counter and shot Horace in the back of his head killing him immediately. I was quickly arrested for car theft and attempted robbery. I was tried and sent to the state penitentiary for 10 years.” Bernie took it all in and said, “How sad.” Clive followed with, “No, not sad, well for Horace, but the best thing that ever happened to me. You see I was on a road to self-destruction and sooner or later I was going to end up like Horace if I

didn’t change my ways. Prison stopped me and it saved me. Don’t get me wrong, I was not happy about going to prison and at first, I was so angry about getting caught that I couldn’t wait to get out to get back to my pitiful life.” “So wa what ch changed?” Bernie asked. “Me”, Clive responded. “Doing time can be quite boring with nothing to do, so if there is something offered to do in prison you don’t care what it is, you take it. That’s what happened when the warden said we could go to church on Sundays if we wanted. Church had never been part of my life. I had never read any part of the Bible, so everything was foreign to me at first. This prison chaplain named Pastor Tom came every Sunday, and I had no idea what he was talking about when he said God forgives us of our sins. I knew down deep God could not forgive me of all the wrongs I had done and I had a destination with the devil. As each week went by, I started listening more and more to what Pastor Tom had to say about forgiveness. I learned that many great men in the Bible had done terrible things. Men like David who committed adultery and had his mistress’s husband killed, and Paul, who persecuted Christians, and yet God forgave them. It started to make sense to me. I hadn’t done anything as bad as those guys, and God had forgiven them, so I realized there must be hope for a sinner like me.” It was getting late in the afternoon, and Bernie told Clive he needed to close up his shop, but wanted to continue their conversation. He suggested they go down to Sweetwater’s Best and have dinner. Upon entering the diner, Millie greeted Bernie with a big smile and a friendly howdy. Clive was taken by her kindness to Bernie and also to him. They got seated, ordered their food, and continued where Clive had left off. “Pastor Tom explained that Jesus had paid the ultimate price for us sinners by his death on the cross and that He defeated death through his resurrection. All we have to do is tell Jesus we are sorry for our sins, all of them, and if we believe He is who He says He is, we are forgiven, and that’s what I did.” Bernie exhaled and said, “That’s qu quite a story.” Millie returned to the table with their food and some fresh coffee. Bernie offered a blessing and both men dove into their meals. After getting part way through their dinner Clive said, “There’s more.” Bernie said, “I am all ears.” So between bites Clive continued, “Pastor Tom also said since Jesus can forgive us, we have to forgive others too. Now that was very hard for me to understand because that meant I was going to have to forgive Mama and my Daddy, and I couldn’t see that happening. Then the light turned

on if Jesus can forgive a creep like me, how can I withhold my forgiveness to others? I couldn’t, was the right answer. I got into the prison Bible study and read the Bible regularly and everything else I could get my hands on. With time, I was determined I was going to change my life and follow God in ways I thought were never possible for me. So when I got out of prison I looked up Mama and told her I forgave her for how she mistreated me growing up.” “How di did she ta take that?” Bernie asked. “She sobbed uncontrollably and asked how I could do that, so I told her about Jesus. I now have a relationship with Mama I never had. I then tried to find Daddy to do the same, but the closest I got to him was at his gravesite. He drank himself to death five years earlier. I did talk to him there though and told him I forgave his sins against our family, and I prayed he had confessed his sins before he died so I might be able to see him in heaven.” Clive’s voice showed courage and he continued to share his life with Bernie. “Because I was now an ex-con it was hard to get a decent job. The best I could get was washing dishes at a diner that didn’t pay enough to make my monthly rent. I was afraid if I could not do better I might fall back to stealing just to survive. I started praying real hard that God wouldn’t let me go back to those old ways and that He would provide for me. I don’t believe in luck, but I do believe God can make things happen and He did. Our church needed a new janitor, so I applied and got it. It paid enough to cover my bills with a little left over. What an answer to prayer.” At this point, Millie checked in on the boys to see if they needed anything. Bernie suggested two apple pies. As they waited for dessert Clive said to Bernie, “That’s why I am here. First to say how sorry I am that I injured you. I was surprised when I heard you had even survived our savage attack. The pain and struggle I inflicted on you, by most people would be unforgivable. I would not blame you if you could not forgive me. I am willing to accept any legal charges you would like to file against me. My main reason here is to ask you for the forgiveness of my sin against you.” Millie delivered the pie and sensed the solemnness of the conversation and exited quickly. Bernie looked squarely into Clive’s eyes and said, “I too b believe in Jesus and ca can forgive you like the brother you are.” Clive rested his hand on Bernie’s and humbly said, “People were right about you.” Bernie responded, “How so?” Clive followed with, “You can fix most anything, and thank you for fixing my broken heart.” Bernie closed their conversation by saying, “Apple pie is a gr great wa way to celebrate.”

That night as Bernie laid in his bed, he thanked God for the closure of what had happened to him so many years earlier. He also prayed for Clive, that God would continue to bless him and use him to help others like himself.

CHAPTER 29 PLANS CHANGE

T urning sixteen was a big deal to every teenage boy because you could get the coveted driver’s license. At that time on the Indiana driver’s license, it said in bold print “Driving is a Privilege.” It was a state privilege and without a doubt a Heckman privilege. Daddy made us all take Drivers Ed at the high school because he thought it best that someone other than himself teach his kids how to drive. There was also a 10% reduction in car insurance for those who took the course, and saving money was an instinctive part of Heckman life. Upon completing the course, Daddy took me to the license branch to take the two-part test. I only missed two questions on the written exam and, using Daddy’s 1952 DeSoto, I ed the driving portion with flying colors. Being able to drive also put more responsibility on me. Daddy kept a close eye on my whereabouts and who was in the car with me when I went out. I did not have my own car, so to drive anywhere I had to have Daddy’s permission. I would wash and wax the car and look for any excuse to take it out for a spin. For the most part, things worked out well. Wrestling continued to go well and in my junior year, I qualified for the state tournament and managed to place. I was quite surprised when I started receiving letters from colleges asking me to consider wrestling for them. The dream of going to college was becoming a reality, and the more I thought about it, the more I could not wait to get started. I did not see Bernie as much as I used to and when I did I felt I could never stay long. Something was always coming up and I would make an excuse why I needed to leave. Bernie was always understanding and never complained when I left quickly after coming over for a short visit. There were some subtle changes in Bernie’s activity in his shop that I initially did not notice. Some of his tools were not put away when he was done working for the day. The floor was sometimes left unswept, or he was in his apartment earlier than usual. I did not give these changes much thought at the time; I was

too busy focusing on my life. The summer before my senior year was going well. I had gotten a job working for the town mowing vacant lots and city properties. I liked being outside and the physical work was a good way for me to stay in shape for wrestling. I had also been dating a cute little redhead sophomore named Melinda Atkins. I had taken her to the junior prom and we continued to date afterward. Her daddy had strict rules and she was only allowed to go out with me once a week, and no car dates unless they were double dates. I was allowed to come over and visit her on her front porch as long as her parents were home. To be a senior was to be the top dog in school. For seniors who had cars, they had their own special parking space. Seniors ate first at lunch and there was even a designated senior smoking area. Since I didn’t have a car, didn’t smoke, and brought my own lunch, none of that stuff mattered to me, but it was great being a senior. Friday nights in the fall meant football games. After most games, we came back to the school gym for a sock hop. Those nights were even better because Melinda would meet me at the dances. My grades had gotten much better since I decided college was becoming a real option for me. One school had stood out to me, Central Indiana University. It was a small private school located in Indianapolis. I liked the idea of not being out of state and thought wrestling at a small college would suit me well. CIU was also known to be an excellent teacher’s college, making it my number one choice. The only drawback was the cost. Since CIU was a private school, it was three times higher than going to a state university. They did offer athletic scholarships, but I did not know how much was available, and if they would even offer me one. At this point, the only thing I could do was to see how my season would finish and the outcome would determine if any wrestling scholarships would come my way. The season went well and I was a top-ranked wrestler in the state. Going into the sectional, I had pinned over half of my opponents and was undefeated. Our sectional was large and difficult to win; however, I was able to repeat with another sectional victory. As I went into the regional finals I felt confident that I could win the next round and move on to the state finals. For me, that night’s dream of going back to the state tourney was not to be. In fact, during that match, everything seemed to go wrong. The match was close and even though I had turned my opponent on his back twice, the referee did not award me any

points. The final nail in the coffin was when I was riding my opponent and we went out of bounds and the referee stopped the match. As we returned to the mat, the official then awarded my opponent one point escape. That point decided the match; it was over and I had lost. I came off the mat in tears. My coach tried to console me, but that didn’t work. I headed for the locker room. As I sat on the bench all I saw was my college dream being dashed to the ground. “Who would want me to wrestle for them now?” was all I could think. As I sat there with my head down sobbing, I felt Bernie’s arm around my shoulder, holding me once again as he had done years earlier. The only difference this time is that he was sobbing with me. We both knew how much this all meant and in a matter of six minutes, the possibility of college seemed to be gone. After about twenty minutes of sitting there, Bernie said, “Tinker, it wi will be al al alright. You ju just got to tr tr trust me.” I had no idea what he meant, but I did trust Bernie and a calmness returned to me. When I got home, my family, and even Melinda were all there trying to cheer me up. I didn’t want any of them around and just wanted to be alone so I could sulk about my loss. Next thing Bernie came in playing a lively jig on his violin and everyone started clapping to the song. I was so confused. Didn’t these people know I just lost the biggest match of my career and now they want to have a party? The puzzled look on my face just produced more smiles from everyone. Finally when the music stopped Daddy said, “Son, we all know how disappointed you are, but we want you to know how proud we are of you.” “Proud of what?” I thought. Daddy continued by telling me how my hard work ethic and desire to do well was a huge inspiration for the entire family. He continued, “You brought our family together at every meet and when you won, we won with you. Tonight you lost a crucial match and we feel that loss too, but what joy it has been for us to be a part of all these seasons with you. Instead of being sad tonight we are going to celebrate the joy of all of us being together. So son, you had better get happy!” I was overwhelmed by what Daddy had said. I had never thought about how everyone else was affected by my wrestling. It was not all about me. It was all as a family. How could I stay mad with a family that cared that much about me? The other good news was, I would not have to cut any more weight this season and I looked forward to eating a large piece of Mama’s fresh baked apple pie with a scoop of ice cream on top.

About a week after the meet, I went over to see what Bernie was up to. Instead of being in his shop he was in his apartment resting in his easy chair. When I inquired if he was ok he told me he had not been feeling well for the past day or so. He said that he had some pains going through his left arm and thought he had pulled something while lifting some metal in his shop. I could tell his eyes did not have their usual sparkle and he was somewhat pale. I asked if he needed anything, which he did not. I told him I thought that he should see a doctor soon. He agreed that if he did not feel better in the morning he would go to the doctor. Before I left I told him I would check on him in the morning. He smiled and said, “Yo you going to ma make someone a good mama s s someday.” For some unexplained reason, I reached down and hugged Bernie and told him, “You know Bernie I love you and don’t want nothing to ever happen to you.” Then I kissed him on the top of his head and said good night. Bernie softly said, “I lo love you too, Tinker.”

CHAPTER 30 NARROW MINDS

A t dinner that night I told Daddy and Mama I was worried about Bernie and that he did not look good. They too had noticed some recent changes in Bernie and agreed they thought he should see a doctor tomorrow. As we ate dinner, Daddy and Mama recalled how Bernie had showed up 23 years ago and that they would have never dreamed he would have been their one and only tenant. They recalled the first few years and how he kept pretty much to himself, and it wasn’t until I was born that he started to loosen up. They told me about the first time he was having a difficult time meeting the rent payment but made it up later. They reminisced how he helped save the station when Daddy got hurt. They replayed the time Bernie was upset because he needed to be late on his rent since he had spent so much time working at the station. They both laughed out loud as Mama said, “When Bernie came we charged him eighteen dollars a month rent and twenty three-years later we are still charging him eighteen dollars a month.” They did not even want to charge him that, after all he had done for them, but he insisted on paying his regular rent. We continued to reminisce about the family gatherings with Bernie and his beautiful violin playing, and how he had been there for track meets, wrestling matches, graduations, and weddings. This was Bernie’s home and we were his family. The next morning I was late waking and running behind schedule to get to school. I hurriedly ate breakfast and had just walked out the door when I looked over at Bernie’s place and ed my promise to check in on him. My first reaction was—I would do that after school, but my gut told me to do it now. I ran over and did a quick knock on the door and that was followed by a series of louder knocks. Now I knew something was not right and burst through the door and found Bernie resting comfortably in his easy chair just as I had left him the night before. I said in a loud voice, “Time to wake up and get to work.” Nothing —something was wrong. “Bernie”, I yelled, with no response. I then shook him and realized his body was cool and all life was gone. I fell to my knees and wept

on the armrest of his chair, holding his hand. I had known this man all my life and now he was gone. My heart broke. Bernie’s funeral was three days later at the Sweetwater Baptist Church. A goodsized crowd had shown up to pay their last respects to Bernie. Pastor Gibbons gave a nice talk about what death means to a Christian along with the reading of the 23rd Psalm. He reminded us that our lives here on Earth are only for a moment and that can change quickly. I thought about how that was so true in Bernie’s case. He then asked if anyone wanted to say some words. I was very much taken by how so many folks wanted to say something about Bernie. Millie and Melba both told about Bernie’s arrival in Sweetwater and how Melba had sent Bernie to our house to inquire about renting it. Apple pie was brought up a lot, which brought some much needed laughter. When everyone had finished and there was a long pause, I felt I needed to talk about Bernie. I started by telling everyone thanks for coming and then introduced myself. “My name is Jeff Heckman. To Bernie and the rest of my family and friends, I am Tinker. Tinker was the name Bernie gave me after he saw me getting into everything as a child. He made me some special toys to play with, so I wouldn’t drive Mama crazy. I never knew a day without Bernie in my life until three days ago, and it has been painful for all of us to not have him here. “Bernie was a clever man who made a living fixing things that didn’t work quite right. He also had a way of fixing people who didn’t work quite right either. Bernie did not talk much because of his stutter. It made him very self-conscious, but when he did speak it was wise to listen. You may not know this about Bernie, but he was not born with a stutter. It was the result of a senseless act of violence when he was a young man. He was mugged and almost beaten to death. The injury from the assault had left Bernie with a permanent stutter. “I would like to share a story that will give you an idea of the kind of character Bernie possessed. The man who was involved in the attack on Bernie showed up two years ago and asked Bernie for forgiveness, which he offered immediately. Now I don’t know this story because Bernie told me. I know it because the man who did it told me. Clive Horton, was his name. He shared the terrible story with me the evening after he had met with Bernie. I ran into him by chance coming out of the hotel. Since I recognized he was new in town, I asked him why he was

visiting Sweetwater. He shared his entire story of a troubled childhood, bad friends that led to doing bad things, including mugging Bernie. I heard the baggage he had been carrying for years and how Bernie erased it with his kindness by showing him the love of Christ. Mr. Horton could not say enough about Bernie’s act of kindness and forgiveness he had given him. “I cannot tell you all the times Bernie called me out or comforted me and sometimes he used words. I loved Bernard Tosco Wiedemann, Bernie’s given name, and he loved all of us. Bernie’s gift of music filled our home on many occasions. His violin playing moved all of us. Bernie was a believer in the Gospel and that is what gives the rest of us hope that one day we will be with Bernie in heaven. I don’t think anything will be broken in heaven, but if there is, I am sure Bernie will be able to fix it. “Today we celebrate Bernie’s life and how he touched so many of us, but the Heckmans are feeling the loss of Bernie the hardest. You see Bernie started here as being a tenant of Daddy and Mama’s apartment, and he ended up being part of our family. Bernie had no biological children, but we were his adopted kids and we adopted him. We celebrated all of our family traditions with Bernie. “In a few moments, we are going to lay Bernie to rest in the church cemetery. Bernie will be buried in the Heckman family plot. Some of you might ask, “Why? Because that’s what family does, and Bernie was part of our family.” After a church luncheon, it was time to head home and we said our good-byes to everyone. I told Daddy and Mama I wanted to walk home and would see them in a while. As I walked through town I stopped at Logan’s Pharmacy for a coke. As I was sitting there I must have looked somber because the soda jerk asked me if I was ok. I told him I had just come from a funeral and was feeling down about it. He asked me who had died and I told him, “Bernie Wiedemann.” I was astonished when he referred to Bernie with the most degrading name ever used to describe a black person. He finished by saying “I guess with him gone Sweetwater can be an all-white town again.” My heart wanted to pound out of my chest with anger. I had been colorblind all my life and never saw Bernie in any other way than just a man, and here was this stranger speaking so casually and derogatory about someone he didn’t know. I thought to myself, “Is that all people see when they look at another one of God’s creation?” The beauty of childhood is that they don’t see color and the tragedy is

they grow up. I wanted to grab the kid by the throat and take him out, but then I heard Bernie say, “Wh what good is th th that gonna do?” and I backed off. Instead, I composed myself, paid for my Coke and said to the young man, “Bernie Wiedemann was a man just like you and I. He loved God and people and those of us who knew him, we were blessed.” The startled soda jerk sheepishly said, “Sorry, didn’t mean to offend you.” I said, “You didn’t just offend me, you offended everyone else in the world that appears different than you. We all need to do a better job of seeing a person for who they really are inside.” The soda jerk was speechless as I left. As I walked the rest of the way home, I could not get what had happened at the drugstore off my mind. Bernie had nearly been beaten to death, not for money, but because of his skin color. I knew that so many people were like that kid with deep-seated prejudices. I thought about the many injustices people had endured throughout the ages. I recalled the story of my great-grandpa, Jefferson, and how he despised slavery. He had been such a strong example to his family that his ideas were still embraced by his future generations. Even though the government abolished slavery almost 100 years earlier, it could not abolish people’s prejudices, and no law could change a person’s heart. The only way for these changes to occur was going to be through the churches, schools, and mostly families.

PART IV

CHAPTER 31 LAW TROUBLE

S everal days after the funeral, I went over to Bernie’s place to help Mama clean up and try to decide what to do with Bernie’s things. It was eerie to think that just a week earlier Bernie was alive and going about his daily routine. It was also a solemn reminder that our lives can change quickly and that we should try and live each day to its fullest. We packed up his clothes to donate to the Salvation Army. Mama thought she would check with the other children to see if any would like some of his furniture. That was all Mama could accomplish in one day because the loss of Bernie was starting to overwhelm her, so she left. I walked into the garage and looked around his shop at his well-used tools. I spied his worn pipe resting in the crude pipe stand I had made him years earlier. I reached over and gently picked up both and smelled the burnt tobacco and decided this would be mine to keep. This would be a reminder of our love for each other. On the shelf were his many notebooks. He never really shared them with anyone, and I felt to open them now would be an invasion of his privacy. How I missed Bernie. My eyes swelled with tears as I left. A few weeks after Bernie’s death, Daddy got a phone call from Phil Bates from the law firm of Peterson, Bates & Rodgers. He told Daddy he needed to come down to the office soon because he had some important legal matters to discuss with him. Daddy wanted to know what the matter was about, but Bates refused to give any details and set the meeting for Tuesday at 10 am. Bates also requested that Mama come too. It was Friday when Daddy got the call, and that gave him the entire weekend to think about what the attorney needed to see him and Mama so quickly about. Daddy believed it had to do with something at the station. Did somebody get hurt that he did not know about or was there some kind of a new law that was going to affect the business? Both Daddy and Mama did not get much rest over the next couple of nights with all sorts of negative scenarios going through their heads.

Peterson, Bates & Rodgers law firm was on the west side of the courthouse on the square. As they entered the office lobby, the secretary asked Daddy and Mama to have a seat until Mr. Bates could see them. The waiting just added to the tension until finally, Phil Bates greeted Daddy and Mama with a warm smile and firm handshake, then led them to his office. After asking them if they would like something to drink, Bates got down to business. He asked them if they knew a Bernard Wiedemann. Realizing this had nothing to do with Daddy’s business relieved some of his anxiety, but what did this have to do with Bernie? Daddy then responded to Bate’s question by telling him that Bernie had been their tenant for over twenty-three years and had recently ed away. Daddy then asked, “Did Bernie have some kind of legal trouble?” Daddy said if he did he would try and help straighten it out. Bates leaned back in his chair and chuckled, and said, “No, no legal problems at all.” Daddy then asked, “If there are no legal problems, what is this all about?” Bates then explained that Bernie had come to their firm five years earlier and had them draw up a will making the Heckmans heirs to his estate. Daddy and Mama looked at each other and grinned because they had never been heirs to anyone and the idea of them being heirs to what little Bernie had was amusing. Bernie did not have much, just some old furniture in the apartment and his shop tools, probably less than $500. Daddy told Bates that the will surprised them, but that Bernie and the Heckmans had considered each other family, to the point that Bernie was buried in the Heckman family plot. Both Daddy and Mama were touched that Bernie had put them in his will, and this only added to the fondness they already felt for Bernie. After telling Bates Bernie’s life story, they thanked him and got up to leave when Bates said, “You had better sit back down, there’s a lot more to this story.” Bates proceeded to tell Daddy and Mama that Bernie was a very bright man as if they didn’t know that, but his intelligence was much greater than they realized as Bates continued the story. “It seems many of the ideas Bernie had were very good and he knew it. He knew it enough that he had applied for over fifty patents since he had rented from you. One of his inventions was an opening mechanism for windows that are being used by most window manufacturers. Bernie had sold his inventions to different companies and in several cases was receiving royalties off of every sale. These royalties would continue to go to his heirs.” As Bates continued to talk about the many things Bernie was involved in, they were totally surprised. They knew Bernie was creative and always improving things, but they had no idea of the extent of inventive work Bernie

was completing. Daddy and Mama were still in shock from the news about Bernie’s patents when they asked Mr. Bates if they could now have that glass of water he had offered them earlier. After composing themselves, Bates explained how the will had to be probated and it would take about three months to close the estate before he could release the funds. Daddy then asked, “How much money are you talking about?” Mr. Bates hesitated and breathed out a long sigh and said slowly,” $208,000.” You could have heard a pin drop. Daddy and Mama were speechless as they tried to wrap their minds around that kind of money that Bernie had unexpectedly dropped on them. On the drive back home Daddy and Mama said nothing to one another. They did not know where to begin and therefore remained silent the rest of the day about the inheritance. As they laid in their bed that night, Mama held Daddy’s hand and asked, “What are we going to do?” Daddy’s response was, “We need to pray and then have a family meeting.” He then kissed Mama good night and both laid awake in the night’s darkness unable to sleep from all that had happened that day.

CHAPTER 32 FAMILY MATTERS

H azel’s new baby brother, Stephen, was born two weeks before Bernie’s death. Roy continued to have trouble keeping a stable job. The only good news for the Drisons was that the baby and mother were both in good health and that in itself was a blessing. The family qualified for welfare aid and received assistance for food and their utility bills. Even with this help, it was tough to pay the rent. Daddy and Mama had to help out just so they could get by. The overall feeling was Roy should be doing more for his family, and it was starting to wear thin on everyone else in the family. Butch and Emily’s baby was not due until the fall, but they were busy planning the nursery, gathering up baby items, and tossing all sorts of names out depending on the gender. Butch thought it would be nice to have a son, but a daughter appealed to him too, but mainly he just wanted a healthy baby. They were so excited about having their first child that it was difficult to focus on much else. Scooter thought he would be ready to start the Heckman Electric Co. in about six months. He had mastered the skills of being an electrician; however, he needed to be able to understand the business side before he jumped in. He had also been dating a girl he had met six months earlier at church. Their relationship seemed to be heading in the direction of the altar. All the family could tell Scooter was smitten with Suzie, and it was just a matter of time. I was still unsure of what was going to happen in the fall. UCI had accepted me, but I did not know if there would be any scholarship money or how much I needed to come up with to make it all happen. It was an unsettling time with no clear direction. How I wished Bernie was here to talk things through. Mama had invited us all over for dinner that Sunday. It was the first time we had all been together since Bernie’s funeral and it was good to have everyone back home. Mama went all out on dinner like it was some kind of special occasion. Daddy had said it was really strange not to hear any machine noises coming

from the garage or smell pipe smoke. Mama said she knew working in the garden this summer would be hard without Bernie and how much she missed him. Scooter broke the mood with a funny Bernie story that was then followed by Sissy and everyone else chiming in with their favorite “Bernieism.” It was after the laughter settled, that Daddy and Mama started telling us about their recent visit with attorney Phil Bates. They took their time, careful to not leave out any of the details, up to the point where Daddy quietly said Bernie had left us $208,000. It felt like no one could breathe or everyone was afraid to exhale. After about a minute of dead silence Butch stated, “Wow! Daddy what are you going to do with that kind of money?” Daddy then said, “That’s why you are all here, to help figure out what to do with it.” Mama said, “Bernie always thought of us as his family and since he left it to the Heckman family we all should have some sort of say as to what to do with it. Do keep in mind Daddy is the head of the Heckman family and will make any final decisions.” Daddy said he wanted everyone to talk about it then come back next week with ideas on what to do. Daddy then closed our family meeting with a prayer and everyone went home. The week seemed to be one of the longest of the year with everyone wondering what kind of ideas they all had come up with for dealing with the inheritance. When everyone gathered again, Daddy started by asking Butch and Emily what they thought. Butch’s idea was simple, just divide it up five ways. Sissy followed by saying she and Roy thought that it might be a better idea to give those with less more than those who had more. Scooter suggested that everyone should receive $20,000. The rest of the money could be put in an annuity fund to gain interest with dividends paid every five years. When I was asked, I said I had tried to come up with some kind of an idea, but really couldn’t. I had no real-life experience dealing with the responsibility of managing a large sum of money. I was good with the overall consensus of the family. Daddy then opened the floor for discussion and brought up each idea for debate. Sissy began as the most vocal about accepting her idea because the guys, except me, all had good jobs and her family was barely getting by. This only made Butch and Scooter mad, and they both were soon telling Sissy if Roy was a better man he would be ing his family as he should be. This only made Sissy more defensive and the arguing got louder, to the point Daddy had to raise his voice to get control of the meeting. It appeared all this gathering had done

was divide the family Bernie so loved. Daddy said the meeting was over and he would let them know something as soon as he figured it out. That night as Daddy laid in bed he heard some faint sobs coming from Mama and reached over to console her, which only made her cry louder. Mama said, “Clovis, we thought this money from Bernie was a blessing to our family. I am beginning to think that it may be a curse.” Daddy agreed with Mama and then gave it up to the only One they truly trusted and asked for help. Two days later Daddy brought the children without spouses and Mama back for his long awaited decision. As everyone sat down at the table they noticed Daddy had a Bible in front of him on the table. He addressed the family by reminding everyone how much we loved Bernie and how much he loved us. He loved us so much he gave everything he had to us, much like Jesus. He then asked Sissy, “If Bernie heard the things we were saying the other night, how do you think he would feel?” Sissy looked down like a spanked puppy and said, “I don’t think he would be very happy with us, especially me.” He then said, “Butch, you’re the oldest. What are your thoughts about the meeting?” Butch began slowly, by asking Sissy to forgive him for the things he had said to her. Sissy’s cheeks were covered with tears when she hugged Butch with all her might. Scooter quickly followed with his apologies and everyone made up. Daddy went on to tell us that he believed if Bernie thought his gift was going to cause such dissent within our family he would have never left it to us. He continued with, “Bernie knew what kind of people we are, and that if there was a problem we would work it out because Heckmans stick together. You kids proved that Bernie was right tonight.” Daddy then picked up the Bible, opened it and read “1Timothy 6:10,” For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” Daddy then pointed out how quickly money can change a person’s thinking and keep them from doing the right thing. He followed by declaring money in itself was not a bad thing and that money was a blessing from God to be used wisely. He reiterated he thought the family had learned that lesson very quickly. Next Daddy turned to Acts 20:35 and read, “I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must the weak. And the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Daddy

then said, “Bernie was demonstrating that very idea as he willed his life’s work to us.” He then said, “I believe we should consider these two verses when it comes to dealing with what to do with this generous gift.” First, he addressed Butch, “Son, you and Emily are doing well financially, but your family is growing and you need more house. $5,000 will help you with a great start for your new home.” Butch was ecstatic about the idea of having their own home, and thanked Daddy and Mama over and over. He could not wait to tell Emily. Next was Sissy. Daddy started with the old saying “Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, he eats every day.” He then said she and Roy needed to look at a trade school for Roy to enroll in. “Find something he really thinks he can do, and Bernie will pay for that, plus cover the expenses of the family while he is in school.” Sissy sat stunned for a minute before she could speak. She then said, “After the meeting the other night, Roy and I had a heartto-heart conversation about our future. We both know it cannot continue this way and we discussed in-depth exactly what Daddy brought up tonight. Roy really likes electronic things and thought he might be good at fixing TVs and radios. He has been looking into how he could be a repairman.” She thought how could Daddy have known how much he had hit the mark on the direction they wanted to travel. Turning to Scooter Daddy said, “You want to be in business, so some start-up cash is helpful and a dependable truck will be needed.” Scooter was moved by Daddy’s suggestion and said, “What a great idea. My old truck is on its last leg and I have been barely able to keep it going.” Then Daddy looked at me and said, “Tinker, you want to go to college and I know Bernie also wanted you to go. Whether or not you get a scholarship, your costs will be covered by Bernie. We all know you want to pursue education as a career, so being able to concentrate on school and not worrying about how to pay for it should be quite helpful. Should you succeed, you will be the first Heckman ever to graduate from college.” I thanked Daddy and Mama but mostly wanted to thank Bernie and the only way I knew I could do that was by doing well in college and achieving my goal. Mama then spoke and told us all that these gifts from Bernie will affect the rest of our lives in a positive way if we use them wisely. She further told us we should always Bernie and how much he loved each one of us. We were amazed at Daddy’s decision and the distribution of Bernie’s gift satisfied

everyone in a most complete way. Scooter then asked, “What about you and Mama? What kind of gifts are you going to let Bernie give you?” Daddy smiled and said, “You know, for years we talked about getting a bigger house, but now that you are all grown it doesn’t make much sense. This place is plenty big enough for us, plus all our memories are here.” Butch interrupted, “Aren’t you going to get anything?” Daddy continued, “Yes, Mama has always wanted a new kitchen and now is the time. We would also like to screen-in the front porch to keep the mosquitos off us in the summer.” Everyone thought that was a great idea, especially Mama. There was just one question left in everyone’s mind and that was what to do with the rest of Bernie’s money? Before anyone could ask that question, Daddy said he had given serious thought about how the rest of Bernie’s money could be put to good use and felt he had arrived at the proper solution. First, was to give $10,000 to ours and Bernie’s church, Sweetwater Baptist. Bernie had tithed on a regular basis but felt this was something he would have wanted. Because of how Bernie grew up and struggled, it was decided to create a foundation to help young inventors with ing their patents and any other legal work to secure the rights to their inventions. It was to be called the Margaret and Bernie Wiedemann Foundation and would be istered by the law firm of Peterson, Bates & Rodgers. The family loved the idea that, even though Bernie never had any children, he would be helping young inventors and he would be ed for his generosity to others. Daddy and Mama’s prayers had been answered. The Heckmans had done it and Bernie would have been proud of his family. The funds were released just in time for my first year of college tuition. UCI did want me to wrestle, but they could not give me any scholarship money until my junior year. As I prepared to leave that fall, Bernie’s words kept echoing in my mind, “It wi will be al al alright. You ju just got to tr tr trust me.” Did he have some special knowledge of what was to happen or was he just being his comforting self to me? I will never know for certain, but either way, Bernie was still fixing things as he had always done. As summer was coming to a close, I would soon be leaving for college. Melinda was a special friend and we didn’t know if our relationship would go any further than high school. We both promised to write and I would visit her when I was

home on breaks. It was difficult to say goodbye to her. Just before I left town I stopped by Bernie’s grave for a final visit. As I stood there, my mind was full with memories of my life with Bernie. Now, I was going to be the first Heckman to attend college because of his kindness. I would be indebted to him for the rest of my life. They had recently set his headstone and it read:

Bernard Tosco Wiedemann

1899 – 1959

Forever Family

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

W riting a novel proved to be a huge task and something I would never have thought possible. The roots of making this book go much deeper than just coming up an idea and putting it on paper. As I reflect, I realize that writing began with entering grade school. The good Sisters of Providence at St. Andrew Catholic School spent hours working on penmanship, dissecting sentences and compositions. While engaged in these activities I could not see the value of the repetitions. I am sure as they graded my papers their frustration levels had to be high. Unfortunately, today these skills are not stressed to the degree they were then and it shows in our youth. My parents and siblings contributed in various ways to this story. The characters are not based on them individually, but some of their life events were used in writing this book. My father and mother were much like Clovis and Audrey Lyn when it came to family values and discipline. They were both good, hardworking people that loved their children unconditionally. After getting a rough draft of my book on paper, Keith Ogorek, a friend and President of Author Learning Center, gave me some valuable tips that were instrumental in pushing this work forward. I appreciate Keith’s direction and guiding me through the steps of getting this work published. David Seward and I go back a long way. He used to help me coach wrestling while I taught middle school. We have met for breakfast along with his brother Andy most Thursdays for the past 15 years. During this time we have shared the highs and lows of our lives. David’s wife Sam (Samantha) has been battling cancer for the last ten years and at the time of this publishing is undergoing treatment in Houston. He has demonstrated his faith throughout this entire time to his daughters and those who know him. I truly ire his courage and value his friendship. David is an accomplished artist and quickly agreed to paint the cover photo for the book. Because we both have a love for the outdoors and the beauty of nature, the picture seemed to be a natural depiction for the town of Sweetwater.

Neighborhood Fellowship Church was originally a church plant of Zionsville Fellowship. The relationship has been and is still ongoing. For many years I have had the privilege of working to help supply their food pantry. During this time I have witnessed the real good that has been able to be produced from those associated with this church. The care being given to what some might consider God’s least important creatures is truly inspiring and helps motivate me to serve those in need more. To my friends who have shown their enthusiasm for this project. They have listened to and in some cases read and reread this work. Thanks for your positive input and friendship. I asked Laura Dunshee if she would be willing to look over my book and share her insights. I knew her writing skills were keen but had no idea the extent to which she would go in reviewing the book. She returned my manuscript in less than a week and her editing skills are amazing. She knew my work was going to be used as a tool to help Neighborhood Fellowship and donated her services to this worthy cause. I am very grateful for Laura’s contribution. To Peggy, who has listened the most and helped with every step of this project. The hours of reading and revisions, while gently suggesting proper corrections have been invaluable. I could not have done this without your . Thank you so much, LYB&G. Finally, I would be remiss if I did not give credit to my Creator. I have been blessed in more ways than I can count and serve an awesome God. All Glory, Honor, and Praise be His, in the name of His precious son, Jesus Christ.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR MEET VINCE FLECKER

Courtesy of Life Touch

V ince Flecker holds a Bachelors degree from University of Indianapolis with a major in Health and Physical Education. He completed a Masters degree in Education from Butler University. Vince’s post-graduate journey started with teaching Biology at George Washington High School in Indianapolis. After five years he entered private business as an owner of a landscaping company. Sixteen years later Vince returned to the classroom at Zionsville Middle School teaching sciences, health and physical education. Along with teaching, Vince organized and led students on numerous outdoor adventure trips during the summers, with Rocky Mountain National Park being the most visited destination. He also helped lead the first Fellowship of Christian Athletes group at ZMS. In addition to teaching, Vince coached baseball, football and wrestling. Along with coaching, Vince was a wrestling official for both high school and college that spanned over forty years. Since retiring from education in 2017 Vince enjoys flipping an occasional house, various volunteer projects, fishing, camping and many other outdoor activities. As a life-long Hoosier, Vince resides in Zionsville with his bride Peggy. Both of their daughters have followed in their father’s footsteps as teachers, Jenny in public education and Rachel in private music education. Both daughters and spouses along with six grandchildren reside in Zionsville.