My Mother and My Father

by: Harley

This is hard - I've been doing a lot of thinking on this subject, "My Father." It's hard because he has been my boss for so many years. Some main points: I remember him working long hard hours, but when home, teasing Mom. I've always said about Dad, that as a boss there's a right way, a wrong way, and there's Dad's way.

He could take the saddest of children and make them smile by one of his jokes, stretching a wrist, or his spoon bending trick. Anyone of a dozen tricks were available with Dad. How could a child resist such a clown?

There's a few men over the years I would have fired but Dad kept them, usually because he would be a family man. One employee came out to work drunk one day. (Dad's an abstainer) The guy plopped on Dad's lap. Most thought it was funny -but Dad didn't. He asked the guys to remove him from the premises. Dad didn't fire this man because he was a family man. Another time Dad sent Mom uptown to Savanna to bail one of the employees out of jail. Mom said, "Sheldon, that wasn't the smartest thing you ever had me do." She didn't appreciate that kind of errand and the guy almost wished he could have stayed in jail after his encounter with Mom.

Lorraine made a special thick ham and cheese sandwich for Dad's lunch. She took it out to the mill and he put it in the refrigerator till lunch time. Lunch time came but no "special sandwich". The thief might have lost his life if Dad would have caught him.

Dad is one of the most generous guys around and he'll usually share most anything but this was a matter of principles. It was made special for him by his daughter.

Another thing you don't do is take Dad's "ROLAIDS". George Dauphin once said, "you don't take the Boss Man's Rolaids. . ."He's mean enough with them without them he's impossible."

Now I'll go back in time and tell some about him being our father. I remember trips to Wyoming, IL (down-home) to see Mom's parents. It could be cold with snow, rain, sleet or ice and Dad kept a going at times with his head out of the window to see and Mom kept a yelling at Dad to be careful. As kids this was funny to us. Mom had a mean right hook. She could really give Dad a good whop sometimes. Dad would always explain, "She's a Hendrick, she'd been O.K. if she'd been a Helle." This was done in good humor.

I remember listening to the "Lone Ranger" on the radio before we got a TV I remember one of our favorite cars, a dark blue 1954 Pontiac. We called it the "The Blue Goose." We sure loved that car.

Getting back to Dad, he was a natural mechanic. He got things running. He had his own original designs when needed. Uncle Delbert was an inventor but he would ask Dad's opinion and advice.

Dad used to tell tall stories - One in particular about how he started off roofs on his stilts. Well, I was a little kid and believed him. So, I took off from the sawmill roof and came across the field (about a half a mile.) This was before it was developed. Dad saw me and decided to shorten his stilt stories.

Dad was never too hard on my buddies and me for our escapades. He always remembered a few of his own. We always laughed about a couple of their trips out west. One was in the old Mercury. They decided to go in the Fall to avoid the snow storms. It didn't work! They got caught in the biggest blizzard of the season on October 12. They got snowed in at Ogallala, Nebraska. We always told how the next morning when they got out that Dad pushed that snow plow all the way to Scottsbluff with the big 01' Mercury.

Another trip Dad tells about was when Mom was driving. We are told that a sharp right curve snuck up on Mom and the suitcases fell over. Before you knew it, a sharp left curve snuck up and with Mom's driving it set those suitcases right back up again.

Another cute story Dad tells is about when Mom got a self winding watch just before a trip out west. Dad said, "It will never work." Mom wanted to know why. Dad said, "Because it takes motion." Sure enough by the time they got to Nebraska it quit

working. I guess the original credit for that line goes to Janice Brunner, Royal's wife.

One of the most touching moments in our lives was in 1966. Louise could not come home for Christmas with her three little children. Mom was real upset. "It just wouldn't be Christmas with out her." What she didn't know was that Louise was coming home on the train as a surprise. Dad and Mom left that morning to go check on the Laundromat at the Big Elm Park. By the time they returned Lorraine and I had picked up Louise and the children up at the station and had gotten her back home. The look on Mom's face when she saw Louise will forever be implanted on our minds. A touching story, right! But what Mom said when she saw Louise set us all a laughing. Comment? "You little fart, you!"

Now on to more of Dad's teasing. He spent the last twenty-four years trying to convince eleven grandchildren and now two great grandchildren that Mom is a "ding-a-ling." Well, as each child learns to talk they all respond, "No! Grandma's not a ding-a-ling, You are." Well, that worked for nearly twenty years, then one day, his granddaughter, Amber says, "Grandma, you are a ding-a-ling!" After all those years, Dad really crowed over that one. At this point in time, Amber's decided they're both a couple of Ding-a-Lings.

Last on my list, I'd like to tell about an unusual story, one that would not likely happen today. Back around 1948 Mom looked out the window and saw "0ld Hi Chi" sitting there on his suitcase. He was tired, weary and footsore. She took him into the house and fed him. He was there when Dad came home. Dad took "01' Hi Chi" out to the mill. His real name was Harlan Wicks but all called him "Hi Chi." He had worked for them before in Iowa, then sent to Savanna for four years, then he'd left and went to Arkansas for about eighteen months. While in Arkansas he wrote a letter asking for ten dollars, which they sent. Ten days later Hi Chi was there and thats when Mom saw him.

Well, they moved "01' Hi Chi" into an old repair shop, just a tiny shack. He ended up staying and working probably fifteen years until he retired. After he'd been there sometime, they built him a basic little home right where the other one stood. He was kind of a night watchman too. He stayed around a few years after his retirement but eventually they sent him to a nursing home in Bloomington, IL. He died there about 1968. I know of few men that would give so much for so little a reward. I would not change my Mom or Dad for anyone. They are great!

Harley V. Helle

Harley's wife, Tern, is a lovely person which we are happy to have in the family. She is also quite a poet. The following are a couple of her many poems.

WHY GOD MADE LITTLE GIRLS

God made a world with tall trees beautiful mountains Restless Seas

Then He said,

"It needs more

Someone to laugh

To dance and Sing

To walk in my woods

To talk to nature in quiet hours

To pick my flowers." So            

Little Girls

With laughing eyes

Golden curls and joyful hearts

With charmed smiles When He was done

He said, "A job well done."

"The world seen through a little girls eyes

Is Paradise."

.........................................................................................................................................................

WHY GOD MADE LITTLE BOYS

God made a world out of his dreams

Of magic mountains

Oceans and Streams

Prairies and plains and woodlands

Then he said,

"I need someone

To stand on top of mountains

To conquer my seas,

Explore my plains,

Climb my trees,

To start out slow and grow sturdy and strong."

So             

Little boys

Full of spirit and fun

Exploring and conquering

To romp and run

With dirty faces

Banged up chins

Brave Hearts

Sly Grins

When He'd finished what He'd begun

He Said,

"A Job Well Done."

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