A Young Life

THE HOUSES THAT BEN WILLIAMS BUILT

On the left, a 1947 black and white picture of the house  that I grew up in. Dad built the house with an upstair's renter's flat in 1922 for his first wife, Gertrude). He also built Gertrude's sister and husband a house next door (in the left image, peaking through the trees). The color picture on the right, care of Google Earth, shows the same architectural features when they were build nearly 100 years ago. Whoever lives there now, thanks for keeping them up. They look great.

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Dad was a gentle and slow, patient man, not given to quick motions. Squirrels liked him...me less so. I had not yet mastered the patience. We fed them peanuts and Ritz Crackers. I'm sure they were fatter than they were suppose to be. Since then, I'm been disappointed that squirrels stay away.

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FIRST BIBLE MEMORY CERTIFICATE. I'm guessing I was 4-5 here (circa 1951-1952). I was big for my age. Looks like I'm wearing one of my Dad's dress shirts. If the collars were any longer I could use them to blow my nose...and probably did. That is definitely one of Dad's ties I'm wearing. I remember it in his collection of wide, wild color silks. Ben Williams was not flamboyant but the ties of the era were. I'm standing in my parent's backyard in Ferndale, MI. It's about noon or early afternoon (shadow being cast to the North, probably June (not many weeds yet in the flower bed). We've just come home from church (the only reason I'd be dressed this way) and I probably had just received, that morning in Sunday School my first Bible Memorization Certificate. Bible Memory work was always a big deal growing up in Evangelicalism...one of the things that the movement had over the larger mainstream faith organizations, like Catholicism.  by the time I was in high-school I was memorizing  whole chapters of the Bible...which was not an easy thing for a marginal academic. 

Here is a scan of the same certificate I'm holding above.  Notice that whereas the picture of me above only has one gold seal in the middle, the final certificate has all five  placeholder's filled. I never thought I could memorize stuff—my excuse in school for getting bad grades. But my Mom would pull out this certificate (once in a glass frame) and beat me over the head with it (the glass eventually broke on my hard head) to remind me of the alternative. I didn't convince myself until I was in my 50's and wanting to do good in graduate school, when I finally rose to the occasion. There's a favorite Bible verse that I memorized back then, which I often recall yet today, and it continues to guide my life and decisions...and it's one of the reasons I named my only son Joshua. It's God's charge to Joshua when Joshua took over leadership of the Israelites after Moses's passing and just before Joshua led the throng across the Jordan to "attack" Jericho.

Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your god will be with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:7-9) 

MY FIRST CHORE CHART

This is the chart I discuss in the book. My Mother was of German heritage. It wasn't the blonde-blue-eyes, it was the regimen. The week after I turned 7 she introduced this document to me, which became part of breakfast, lunch and dinner...if I could be caught. It was either do what it commanded or eat it. In my Mom's strange way of thinking "zero (0)" was a good thing. It mean I had no demerits. That's how it was. She didn't believe in attaboys. She lived for swats. Like I said, she was German. (Dad was English, they sort of balanced out.)

THE REVERSIBLE DRAGON JACKET WITH A TIGER INSIDE
The Dragon Jacket I describe in the text had a dragon embroidered on the blue outside. This was a picture of the inside I am modeling. I found this slide among my aunt's slides. It was given to me about the same time as we started the chore charts above. And the picture on the right is what I refer to as Tiger or Dragon Alley. The last gate on the right, just before you get to the brick Presbyterian Church at the end, housed the famous empty chicken coops.

MY FIRST SCHOOL CHART.    My second grade teacher, Miss KILL-GORE (my mother loved her name), also introduced a chart of such. The caption reads, "Stanley is very careless when putting his rubbers in the closet..." You can imagine why or read that relative chapter in the book. It took a few years before I realized that the blue ink, penmanship, and paper stock were the same, whether it was my mom's chore chart or Miss KILL-GORE's "Point" chart.  Hmmm?

This next chart was for the week after the one above. Notice, unlike the first week, this chart reflects a perfect little guy. Miss KILL-GORE explains, "Stanley had an exceptionally good week." Now there are only two possible explanations for the difference. Key to understanding what the difference might be is the last line of the chart above where Miss KILL-GORE writes, "Perhaps a word or two from you on the subject will help."  Dear reader, you can choose which to believe.  Either (A) Mom's "word or two" was really convincing to the little devil who was throwing his rubbers in the closet and missing his target, or (B) Miss KILL-GORE finally met my mom and had sympathy on me. 

MY FIRST GET OUT OF SCHOOL NOTE.

This final piece of court evidence came about during elementary school. I tell the story in the text. Suffice it to say the event really did happen and this note gives evidence to it.  It reads:

Dear Mom. Today in school I blew my stack at my X Teacher Mr. Jagodzinski. He said either take number 6 or get out of school for 3 days. I was so mad I took the 3 days (over). I do not want to talk to anybody until tomorrow. Then and not to then will I tell you and the family what happened. Love Stan

Get that "Love, Stan" bit. I was a very loving kid. It was either this note and hide, or be found and get strapped. I think the number 6 referred to how many swats from Mr. Jag's paddle. My butt was so swore during those years I would do anything to find some relief. 

The two biggest influences in my life: Mom and Jesus. I think this was taken on my 3rd birthday. Mom could still lift me. About three years later  in a Bible memor contest, I won the wooden plaque with the Sallman's Christ the Pilot clear lacquered to the front. I kept it over my desk from about age 6 till I was out of college. Wish I still had it. That's me steering the ship if you didn't recognize the curly dark hair. I think this piece of art had as much to do with giving me a strong faith as did my mother's prayers.

Neither me or my nephew, Bob (who was older than me by 6-months) had a brother, so when the opportunity arose we did things together. I think was our annual Christmas trip to the famous toy department at the J.L. Hudson story on Woodward Ave, early 1950's.

The apple tree in which I occasionally got tangled during my harness period. I think that's me, which my head cropped off.