Dear Old Grandpa Phenice

I found this photo recently hiding among some more recent photos.  It looks a little familiar, but the details of it are really charming.  It looks like Grandpa Phenice may have been out working in the yard.  He’s barefoot and it looks like he took his cap off for the photo.  (Betty Lou says, “Come on Grandpa, come take a picture with me without your cap on.  I’ll bring you a nice dessert after dinner tonight.”  He responds, “Well, alright.”)

The year is 1949 and the place is Hathaway, Louisiana.  (It is also called China.)  Mom was a sophomore or junior in high school and Grandpa Phenice was a 75 year old man.  From what I’ve been told he was a very strong man even late in his life.  In fact it wasn’t long after this photo was taken that his strength was his undoing.

Some kind of work was being done on a well and a heavy pump needed to be moved.  Instead of getting others to help or letting younger backs take care of it for him, he decided to move it himself. He succeeded in moving it, yet the strain from the activity led to him having a stroke which left him bedridden for the rest of his life.

So this is one of the last glimpses into the life that he might have considered normal.  Going about his daily business and taking a break to spend a little time with his granddaughter.  The simple joys.