Thursday, June 21, 2012
Daddy - Part 1
We always called him Daddy - as children and grownups. I tried to change it to just plain Dad but it never fit.
As you all know, his name was William John Pratt. He was the youngest of three and the least favored, I think. Probably because of his disability. Yet, unlike his brother, Roy, he left the family home to live alone with his own family - then, Mom, Adeline & me. His mother never quite forgave him for that. We visited her occasionally and altho' she was always sweet to us, it was more of an obligation than anything else. As Daddy didn't have a car, we took the bus to Clementon and then, walked a couple miles to their house. My Uncle Roy did have a car but rarely gave us a ride home. I can still remember that walk and how tired I was. Jeannette, being the youngest at that time, got to ride in a wagon. Daddy & Mom would entertain us with conversation that made the trip go faster. Adeline who hated visiting family, grumbled the whole way. :)
Our first home was in Hi Nella on Pocahontas Avenue. Daddy worked at the Wilson Line in Philadelphia. The Wilson Line was a Cruise Ship operation and Daddy was a clerk there. I think I told you before that he took Short Hand & Typing in high school. In the "olden days", men had this sort of job. Dad took the trolley car to work and often carried bits and pieces of lumber home to make things for us. He loved to work with his hands and that included painting. He made bookcases for us, little furniture for our dolls, etc. As money was scarce, it helped a lot and we never felt poor.
From my earliest memories, he was always around to help, to read to us and just talk with us. He was a great father! He wasn't strict but we knew what we could get away with,etc. Mom was more so and sometimes, would egg him on punish us. "Wait till your father gets home" became her mantra. :)
We never had a lot of money growing up. During WW11, he grew vegetables in the back yard. He called it his Victory Garden. My Uncle Frank had one as well and would bring over tomatoes and squash to supplement. I hated aquash but Mom did a good job cooking it different ways. I'm going to finish this later.
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