In Memory of a Wonderful Brother

To the family, he was always Somers.

When he was born, a minute or two after his older brother, he was named Lewis Somers Leeds. The ‘Lewis’ was in honor of Dad’s brother; the ‘Somers’ was in honor of one of Dad’s best friends, Somers Kears.

The birth of the twins occurred on June 24, 1928. At that time, Uncle Lewis was in his early forties and there was still a possibility that he would have a son of his own. To avoid any future problems, Mom and Dad decided to call their son, Somers.

Fourteen years later, our parents had another son. Since Uncle Lewis and Aunt Nellie were still childless, Mom and Dad decided to do things a little differently this time around. They named this son Douglas, in honor of General Douglas MacArthur, and Lewis, after good old Uncle Lewis. But this boy would be known as Lewis.

Life was simple. We had a brother named Somers and a brother named Lewis.

When Somers went into the Navy in 1944 at the age of sixteen, the officers insisted he be called by his first name. Thus, Somers became Lewis to his fellow sailors and, eventually, to his friends and acquaintances back home.

Thus, when I was a boy, answering the phone was fun. When the caller asked for “Lew”, I’d respond by saying, “Which one?”

First-time callers assumed they were dealing with a father/son situation and asked to speak with the son, to which I’d reply, “Which one?”

Eventually a code was developed. Somers was “big” Lew and Lewis was “Little” Lew.

Now you know where Bob Newhart and his writers came up with Larry, Darryl, and Darryl.

Laughter. That’s a word that is extremely fitting when we remember Somers. He was always fun-loving and could tease with the best of them. My problem is I never knew for sure when he was teasing. All too often, I took his antics seriously.

Having two brothers sixteen years older than me was both a blessing and a curse. At times, it was like having three fathers. And I tried to please all three of them. There were many times when Somers could not be pleased, but I never knew for sure if he was serious or just teasing me.

One time we were working on Gert and Mac’s back porch and Gert offered to make us sandwiches for lunch. The sandwiches were simple; jumbo baloney, yellow mustard, and bread. Somers insisted that Gert put his mustard on the bread and not the meat. When she handed him his food, he complained that she had gotten mustard on his meat. I know he was teasing, but he sure sounded angry.

When Somers first got out of the Navy, he was hired as an office worker for American Standard.

But let me interrupt this part of the story to provide some background information.

After Somers’ first hitch with the Navy Sea-Bees, he re-enlisted. His second tour of duty took him to Cuba and then to South Africa. It was in South Africa that he came down with Hepatitis. It took a Congressman named Jim Fulton to pull some strings to get Somers transferred back to the states and sent to the VA hospital in Aspinwall. Within a short time he was released and Mom nursed him back to health at home.

I think I was always a little jealous because there were certain food items, like orange marmalade, that were reserved for him.

I bring this up only because it points out the beginning of this numerous health problems – all of which he basically ignored as he tried to live his life to the fullest.

Shortly after beginning his job with American Standard, he was transferred to New York City. Every morning we’d watch Dave Garroway in hopes of seeing Somers waving at the camera.

Living in New York City was not to his liking. Nor was wearing a suit and tie and working in a building. He soon quit that job and became a truck driver for Fort Pitt Supply and began delivering bath tubs and other plumbing supplies. All too often he’d arrive at a building site and find no one there to help him unload his truck. Of course, there were probably times when there were people there and he carried the bath tub on his back anyway. I don’t think he was showing off. I think he just believed he could do a better job by himself.

Those heroics led to a number of back surgeries and, eventually, to chronic back pain. There’s little doubt that those physical exertions added to his painful knees as well.

The knees were probably originally injured while Somers was playing sports. In his youth – and beyond – he played every sport imaginable.

I remember playing center field when he was on the other team. If I played deep, he’d hit the ball in front of me. If I moved in, he’d hit it over my head. I think he had a lifetime batting average of well over 500. Even in slow pitch softball, that was an impressive feat.

Of course, his worst enemy in sports was his own drive for perfection. When playing golf, he was known to bend a few clubs around trees and threw a club or two into the nearest body of water.

And who could forget the time he dropped a bowling ball out of a fifth floor window when he didn’t do as well as he thought he should have.

Speaking of back porches. There was a time that Somers, Seward – also known as Bill – and I were building a back porch on our parents’ home. Seward and I were measuring and cutting the floor boards and Somers was nailing them down. If a board wasn’t cut exactly to his liking, he threw it back at us. It wasn’t long before our scrap heap was getting bigger than our pile of new lumber.

Then Somers got a phone call. While he was on the phone, Seward and I nailed all the rejected boards in place. When Somers came back outside, he had a total conniption and told us we’d turned the porch into something a hillbilly might be proud of. Then he got in his car and left.

After we got all the boards nailed down, we took the circular saw and cut the edge so that everything was even. Somers never mentioned that topic again.

The enigma I saw as my brother with a bad temper and a strong need to be a perfectionist was balanced out by the brother who would let me use his car for an evening of fun with my buddies or a date. He’d also give me money for the date and let me use his credit card to fill the gas tank.

This is also the man who would rent an Easter Bunny costume and sit in Vrabel’s Dairy Store window coloring eggs. He would then have me drive him to various hospitals so he could give eggs and candy to children who were spending the holiday dealing with their illnesses or injuries.

I have so many wonderful memories centered around my brother. Like the time he was helping me fish by casting the line for me. I was – and still am – hopeless when it comes to casting without getting the line all tangled. The fish I caught while he was trying to convince the game warden that he was not fishing – but simply helping his little brother – cost him twenty-five dollars.

Perhaps that’s why, when he took me with him on his truck, he would intentionally grind the gears and blame it on me. Every time the gears would grind, I’d get punched on the arm.

While Somers was still reasonably young, Fort Pitt Supply went out of business. Somers soon got a job with Dilner’s West Elizabeth shipping facility. His job was to load and unload barges. One day, the captain of the tug boat pulled out while Somers was caught between a barge and the dock. That caused his most serious back injury and ended his days of working for a living.

Unfortunately, his more serious health problems resulted from the asbestos with which he was in constant contact while on that job.

So the last few years of his life were spent in pain with his back and knees and the breathing problems from his lung disease. And yet I’m sure none of his siblings would have been surprised if we’d received a phone call from him announcing that he was at the airport and needed to be picked up. He had a habit of surprising us with his visits.

He also had a habit of letting people know they were loved. All four of my children refer to Somers as their favorite uncle… even after I told them how he would wake me up in the middle of the night and tell me it was time to get ready for school.

The man had a heart of gold and was loved by many. He’ll be deeply missed by us all.

The Wealth of Country Music

Yesterday I wrote about how fast I would run through money… if I had a bunch of it. Then my friend, Nick Sarge, sent me the link to the following video of Aaron Wilburn.

Naturally, the song titles listed by Aaron took my mind away from money and got me thinking about other gems from Nashville.

I always did like Roy Clark.

Bobby Bare gave us this memorable thought and prayer.

This next song is one that, as far as I know, has been around forever. It gained its notoriety when Paul Newman sang it in the movie “Cool Hand Luke”. Trying to find a decent rendition of it on ‘You Tube’ was not easy, but I finally came across this one. I believe the artist is a fellow named Keni Lee Burgess.

There’s another song bouncing around my mind that centers on a football game. Some of the words were “with Jesus playing fullback and Moses playing guard.” Perhaps that will ring a bell with someone.

Finally, there were two songs from Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley. I could find neither on ‘You Tube’, but the titles will remain in my mind and heart for as long as I let them.

One was “The Wildlife Sanctuary”, which was a tavern for the ‘preservation of wild turkeys like us.’ The other was “We Don’t Rock Much Any More, but We’re Still on a Roll.”

I almost forgot about two gems from the “Cotton Patch Gospel”. This particular rendition comes from the Loaves & Laughs Dinner Theatre, which is obviously a ministry of King of Kings Lutheran Church in Woodbury, Minnesota. It was recorded in May 2009.

I know there are many more wonderful heart-wrenching song titles out there. Some might even have a tinge of humor to them.

Do us all a favor and use the comments to tell us all about your favorties.

If I Were a Rich Man

I’ve often said that if I were a rich man I wouldn’t be one for long.

It’s easy to look at professional athletes and Hollywood or musical celebrities and question how they could earn so much money and end up without a dime. Some might even question the idea that they truly ‘earned’ their money… but that’s another subject.

For most of us, being five million dollars in debt is beyond our comprehension for anything other than a government entity. I still can’t understand how a company like Delta Airlines could lose millions of dollars in three months and be able to continue in business. Why would anyone continue to loan them money when they’re unable to break even… let alone make a profit?

I’ve looked back at my earnings over a lifetime and discovered that I did indeed earn more than one million dollars during my working career. I still have some of that money, but very little. Since 1966, I’ve had quite a few bills that had to be paid. And the government insisted in taking their share as well. Come to think of it, my net earnings over the last forty-five years were a good bit less than that one million. Between state and local governments and Uncle Sam, at least a third of my million was eaten up by the tax collectors.

Considering it took me forty-five years to earn one million, is it any wonder that I’m amazed by people who earn more than that in one week? And I continued to be amazed at how they could spend it faster than they could earn it… until my day dream of a couple of days ago that made me realize the realm of possibilities that go along with wealth.

I began thinking about winning the lottery. My thoughts were triggered by news coverage of a Georgia man who had won one million dollars. I couldn’t help thinking about what I’d do with that kind of money.

First of all, I ignored the chunk that would be gobbled up in taxes. (I don’t like thinking about such things.) Next, I thought of Hawaii and how much I’d love to go back for at least a two week vacation. Then, I thought of my sister, Gertrude, who has been to every state except Hawaii. I then thought how great it would be to take all of our children and grandchildren and how nice it would be to give each of our seven children a thousand dollars to spend however they wanted.

The islands are calling to me

If you’re interested in doing the math, my bride and I have seven grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Six of our children are married. Thus, so far in my reverie, I’m taking thirteen adult children (unless my youngest son wants to bring a date, which would take us to fourteen), my sister (and a companion of her choosing), and Lu and I. We’re up to eighteen people (airfare, lodging, and meals) and I’m only beginning my dream.

Lu and I always have a great time with Lu’s sister Linda and her husband Tom. In fact, they were our traveling companions that last time we visited the land of Aloha. They have two adult children and three grandchildren. Let’s take them as well! That puts us up to about twenty-five.

I don’t want any hurt feelings, so let’s take my brothers and their families. The number is skyrocketing past fifty!

Now, the next consideration involves my sister’s not wanting to island hop unless we do it on a ship. She doesn’t want to pack and unpack every time we move to another island. So, let’s charter a yacht for two weeks. Then, we’ll have rental cars for each family unit on each island.

At this point I begin to think I need to win more than one million or try to get a loan.

I can hear the ukeles and Aloha is on my lips

Our trip would begin on the Big Island. We could fly into Hilo and board the ship there… except for my brother, Doug, who hates flying. We’ll have to start the chartered yacht in Seattle to appease him. If we all flew into Seattle and boarded the ship we’d save some airfare. But now, the trip will need to be expanded to allow for approximately ten days at sea.

Obviously, one million dollars won’t do it. We need more!

I think I’m beginning to understand how people can go through money like that. Day dreams are nice, but I think mine turned into a nightmare!

Perhaps being a wealthy man would be more trouble than it’s worth. My reverie has me doing these things without being asked. I’ve a sneaky suspicion that I’d have lots of people claiming to be my relatives who would want to help me spend my money.

Perhaps those wealthy athletes and celebrities have already discovered that little problem.

Cap & Trade or Michael Jackson

Regardless of which side of the issue you’re on, it should bother you that the news media is spending far more time keeping the American people up to date on the Michael Jackson memorial service than they are in informing us of the progress of the Cap & Trade legislation.

And why are they placing so much emphasis on a dead celebrity? Why are they ignoring more important issues that could affect all tax payers?

Some right wing conservatives would have us believe that the left leaning media is intentionally taking the focus away from Congress so the Obama administration can shove another giant spending (and taxing) bill down our throats.

The left wing radicals would argue otherwise.

Naturally – and unfortunately – the truth has nothing to do with politics. Sadly, the media is giving the American public what the American public wants. I’ll admit I haven’t checked, but I’d bet that any broadcast of the American Idol show garnered a much larger share of the viewing public than any of the Presidential debates.

The truth is a large portion of our population doesn’t care about what goes on in Washington, D.C. In fact, they care even less about what goes on in their own state capitols.

Many years ago I attended a Key Club convention in Philadelphia. Each delegate was given a key ring. On one side was the Key Club logo. On the other was the phrase, “Combat Complacency.”

I believe we’ve lost the battle. In the 1960’s, college students stood up and voiced their opinions. While many of them were wrong in their beliefs, they all had the courage to stand up for what they believed. As a result, many things in our society were changed.

The youth of my youth took the time to learn about things that mattered. Sometimes they heard one side of the story and jumped to incorrect conclusions, but in most instances, they looked at both sides and came to good logical conclusions.

I’m afraid today’s youth are too busy twittering their lives away.

Perhaps that’s the major difference. While we didn’t have CNN, FOX News Channel, C-SPAN, or… come to think of it, we didn’t have any cable channels because we didn’t have cable. We also didn’t have lap top computers and the Internet. But we did have newspapers, news magazines, and the library.

We paid attention to the world around us – sweat bullets during the Cuban Missile Crisis – and felt a responsibility to speak out against what we saw as injustice.

Perhaps that was the influence of John F. Kennedy. I know we all admired the man and took the “New Frontier” very seriously. And we all deeply mourned his passing.

Until President Obama came along, we hadn’t had another President who could reach out and stir the interest of the youth as JFK did. But it appears that the interest of our current youth petered out once their man was elected.

It’s a shame because, the way I see it, it’s the youth and future generations who will be most harmed by what is currently happening in Washington.

The U.S. Government has no business being in business. Every time government has taken over an industry, that industry stops being self-sufficient. For example, independent bus and trolley companies operated in major cities for decades. They competed for riders and most of those companies were profitable.

The companies that couldn’t compete went out of business and their assets were bought up by the other companies. Then, the government decided to take over. The two ‘companies’ I’m most familiar with – the Port Authority Transit (PAT) in Pittsburgh and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit  Authority (MARTA) – have both operated at a loss for decades. Taxpayer subsidies are the only way they stay afloat.

Will General Motors be any different? Will taxpayer subsidized pricing put Ford, Chrysler, and others out of business?

The Federal Government has put itself in a very awkward position. Congress is talking about passing a ‘clunker bill’ that will give citizens a tax break for trading in an old car for a new, more fuel efficient, car. Will the tax break be higher for those of us who buy a GM product? It would make sense if the government wants their ‘company’ to flourish.

But wouldn’t that be unfair to the other companies? Does the government care?

There are many people who believe the economic crisis could’ve been solved months ago simply by the government letting workers keep their entire paychecks. Think about that. The typical worker has almost a third of his or her paycheck withheld every pay day. If that money had been available to the individuals, they would’ve spent it. Even if they simply paid off some bills, the economy would’ve improved.

Foreclosures would’ve been reduced dramatically and banks would’ve had more money for other loans. Consumers would’ve bought more cars, televisions, and other big ticket items… which would’ve resulted in more jobs.

If consumers bought Fords and Toyotas rather than Chevys and Buicks, GM would’ve had to fix their problems or go out of business. With increased sales, the other auto makers would’ve been able to buy GM factories and put the former GM employees to work building other makes of cars.

Is it too late for the government to get out of the auto business? I hope not. And while they’re at it, they should also get out of the banking and investment businesses.

Come to think of it, maybe it’s time for MARTA and PAT to liquidate and let the private sector show the politicians how it should be done.

Considering the business acumen of most politicians, it wouldn’t take a business genius to repair the damage done by congress. Think of it! How many politicians have held a ‘real’ job during their adult life. There may be a few, but most of them were borderline lawyers who recognized they could make a lot more money supporting the causes of special interest groups.

If they were intelligent enough to be successful business people, why would they even consider becoming a member of Congress?

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and see if Michael has been buried yet.

Next!

Well, we have just about completed remodeling of the kitchen. Lu decided to paint the outlet covers to make them blend in with the ceramic tiles. She’s done a really good job of it. For a brief time she thought about painting the plugs themselves. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to find them.

Today, my bride is still on vacation, which means an opportunity to work in the garden and busy herself with other projects.

To me, having finished the holiday weekend and feeding all our guests means I can move on to other projects.

Next Sunday will be my first week of explaining the scrip program to members of our church. We hope to begin selling gift cards (that we buy at a discount) to help pay down our mortgage. I estimated that my bride and I could contribute about fifty dollars a month to the cause by using gift cards rather than cash. We have over two hundred families in the church. If you do the math, you see where we could pay off our million dollar debt in less than ten years… if everyone participates.

I’m also part of the planning committee for a county wide picnic for Lutherans. That will occur in mid-August, but will require a lot of planning and work.

Photo included just because

I’ve included so many pictures lately that this entry seemed bare without one. I’ve always like this sign because it casually demonstrates the dry humor of many subjects of the Queen of England. Perhaps I should have spelled humor with a ‘u’, as ‘humour’.

The Fourth with Friends & Family

A few of our guests

Okay. So it’s more than a few of our guests. I’m not sure how many friends and family members showed up yesterday. I know that many of them came bearing gifts of food and gifts.

A ceramic bird goes well with the back-splash

After dinner, we all gathered on the deck for a good old-fashioned Gospel sing-along.

A trio of instrumentalists

We also had a woman on autoharp and a old grumpy guy on harmonica. All others lent their voices.

Since the police never showed up, our neighbors either couldn’t hear the racket, or enjoyed listening to the wonderful music.

There was one other gift given to us… one that we’ll hold near and dear to our hearts.

A welcome mat that will never be trod upon

Our plan is to frame it in a waterproof case and hang it where it can be seen by everyone who comes to visit. You could say that we are more than a little proud of our children’s offspring.

Is it Finished?

The ceramic tile has been sealed

I’ll be the first to admit it. I did not want to bother doing anything with the walls between the counter tops and the bottom of the wall cabinets. But I gave in to my bride’s wishes.

Lu's ceramic pitchers and crocks look nice against the back drop

I must agree that it looks wonderful. Was it worth the time and effort? Again, I’d have to say that it was.

Even the windows look better

Unfortunately, I cannot say we are finished. Lu is working on making the covers over the electrical outlets match the tiles. Who knows what she’ll want to do next!

I probably should, but sometimes I don’t listen as intently as I should.

Final Preparations

So far today, we’ve filled the new sandbox for the grandchildren, pulled a stump, leveled the dirt the sand truck screwed up, blew the leaves and other crap off the deck and driveway, mowed the lawn, filled the wading pool for the grandchildren, cleaned the house, and added numerous items to our shopping list.

Later today we’ll apply the sealer to the ceramic tiles in the kitchen.

That will have to occur either after we go grocery shopping for the crew we have coming tomorrow and before we go to our dinner engagement, or after said dinner engagement.

Perhaps one of us will go grocery shopping and the other apply the sealer.

Sometime today I want to call my brother in Pittsburgh and see how he’s doing. He sounded pretty good when I spoke with him last weekend. The, in midweek, I learned he was in the hospital.

As for tomorrow, it will be a blend of friends and family and, hopefully, the friends will bring their musical instruments. After our Fourth of July meal, we’ll have a good old-fashioned sing-along.

Life is good!

While Waiting for the Grout to Dry

The battery in one of our cars was running on borrowed time. The car is a 1999 Mitsubishi Diamante with almost 172,000 miles. We bought it used when it had a mere 30,000 miles or so.

To the best of my recollections, this is the first time we’ve replaced the battery. We have replaced the engine and a few other extraneous items, but I believe this was the battery that was in the car when we bought it.

Since our kitchen remodeling project is on hold for forty-eight hours – the length of time the grout must dry prior to our applying the sealer – I used the spare time to take the car to a garage to get a new battery.

Although I knew what I was in for, I was still a bit miffed that the car’s computer has such a bad memory. Any time the battery has to be disconnected for any length of time – that being ten seconds or longer – the computer must be reprogrammed.

The radio isn’t too much of a nuisance – all I have to do is key in the secret code and push one 0f the buttons. Naturally, I can never remember the secret code or which button to push after entering said secret code. However, once I find where I’ve hidden the secret code, the process is reasonably quick and not at all painful.

Resetting all the buttons to my favorite stations is another matter entirely.

The main computer, on the other hand, takes anywhere from one to three days to reprogram. The toughest part of that job is due to the fact that there is no easy way to do it. One must simply drive the car and do one’s best to keep it from stalling every time one brings the car to a stop.

Eventually, the computer remembers how much the engine must idle to avoid stalling. Then, and only then, the car runs fine again.

At least with the new battery, I can run the air conditioner at full blast while trying to help the car remember what it is supposed to do.

There are times I wish I still had my first car. It was a 1955 Buick and it didn’t have all these newfangled gizmos. Come to think of it, it didn’t have air conditioning either.

Excuse me while I take my Mitsubishi out for another lesson.

In the Home Stretch – I Hope

My bride had the day off. That means we both worked. And the kitchen took one giant leap toward completion.

Excuse the mess

Let’s review: We glued the tiles to a particle board backing. Then we grouted the tiles. Because we were working with four foot sections of backing, there were gaps in some places. Thus, when we affixed the sections of tile to the wall, we needed to glue tiles into the gaps and add grouting. In addition, we had to add pieces of tiles around the electrical outlets to ensure that the covers would totally cover the holes.

A sample electrical outlet

In a way, this was like working a jigsaw puzzle… except we had the luxury of cutting the pieces as needed. Plus, they didn’t have to be perfect!

So, the mess on the counters included grouting materials, adhesive, bits and pieces of tiles, various tools, used paper towels and waxed paper, beverage cans, and a little of this and that.

The toughest corner

There were a few sections we had to sand and shave to make fit. Luckily, this corner was not one of them. It fit perfectly! Yippee!!!

In fact, things went so smoothly, we added tiles in the corner we hadn’t planned to add tiles.

Something for the bartender to look at

The section in the above photo still needs to be grouted. Then all the tile has to be ‘painted’ with a sealer, which is supposed to bring out the true beauty and texture of the tile.

Considering that Lu and I are already happy with the results, if the sealer does what it claims to do, we’ll be elated.

And we finished in time for our Fourth of July company and celebration! Three cheers for the red, white, blue, and new kitchen!