My Dad the Politician

In those days in Kentucky, most were Democrats...I guess blue collar Dems as they are called now. My Dad was fully involved in local and state politics. He loved it! One time we went with his buddies to a coon roast in Fulton for a political rally. There was a lot of speeches and barbecued coon and other delecacies. I hated the coon! My dad told me I should take a set of the salt and pepper shakers from the hotel to my mom. This was a old hotel. So I slipped a set in my jacket and then he and one of his buddies told the porter that they saw me steal the shakers. They had a good laugh and I was scared to death.

He ran in 1948 to be State Rep from Paducah and the area and lost but I do remember driving around with him with a sign on the top of the car and asking people to vote for him. 1948 was a significant year for the nation and Kentucky. I recall sitting with my dad listening to the returns on the radio and when we knew he has lost, we went to bed. We also thought Dewey had won as President of the US. But sometime the next day, we learned that Truman and Barkley had won and of course, Barkley was from Paducah.

Going to School

I hated to ride the bus to school and also hated the fact I was in the late classes which meant starting school later and getting out later. The school bus was one owned privately and it had wood seats. O well. So, I would hitch a ride with my Dad as he went to open the store. He had a tan panelled Chevy truck, a 1950's model. He would leave the house about 7:30 am and swing through the circle at the Reidland Methodist Church and I would jump out. I usually had no idea as to how I would get home. I would drop in Hopkins Store and buy something..usually gum and then walk on over to Reidland High School. I got to school in time for the 8:15 classes which was my goal. I don't recall talking with my Dad much on the trip to school which is rather sad but he had lots on his mind running the store. He has these times where he was what I know now as depressed and times where he was laughing and hugging and having a good time.

My Father's Sweater

My dad, Vade Sr, wore sweaters, button up type. Janet bought me a button up sweater in the Winter Holidays in 2008. When I put this sweater on, I think of my Dad. But the difference is his sweater had smells...smells of his work...his store...the place he that had the motto of "Almost Everything". His sweaters and his turned up collars on his dress shirts were such a part of him. He usually wore a shirt with collars to work and he wore it for days! One reason he had the smell he did was because he didn't take a bath that often. He was a large guy as I said earlier and it wasn't easy for him to get in and out of the bathtub. A bath came once or twice a week, not a shower but a full bath in the tub where he would make a huge mess in the bathroom. Dirty underwear and water were all over the floor but mom cleaned it up without too much complaining. I could hear him in the tub for what seemed like hours but I am sure it wasn't that long...well, maybe an hour.

Vade Sr.

This blog is about my Dad, Vade Sr. I have been thinking about this for sometime but the death of Tim Russert this past weekend increased my desire to start this and record some of my memories of my Dad. Keep in mind these are my memories and not necessarily Terry's or those of my Mom who passed along stories to Todd and Shannon also. This is just what I remember.

You know, smells are one of those things that you remember from the past as you grow older. May you all have that experience. I vividly now recall how my Dad smelled. He was a working man in a general store or two that he owned. He was large, about 265 and about my height. If any have seen the picture downstairs in the basement, you will notice that he wore sweaters over a shirt with a collar that would turn up on the edges. In my early years, he wore a formal hat. He came from an era where dressing well was the expected and the thing to do. Back to how he smelled; he had a musty smell, a mixture of all the things he sold in his store. Feed, seeds, a few vegetables, meats and cheese, tobacco, hardware, dry goods, gasoline, and much more. He was as his motto said "Almost Everything". Now folks didn't bathe then like we do now every day. He took a bath maybe twice a week and I mean a bath. Even the old bathroom where I grew up had a shower which I discovered years later, he got into a bath tub and wow, did he make a watery mess. He would fill the tub to almost overflowing and get in and lay there along with washing his large body. Lots of water on the floor! I remember he took a long time in the "tub" as my mom used to call it. She would tell me to get in the "tub"for my weekly bath also. Back to my Dad, so after a few days, he had the smell again. I loved it as he would hug me and I knew that familiar swell.

For those of you wondering when all this started, my memories of my Dad start in the early 1940's. My first memories are from around 1943-44 when I was four or five years old. This was during World War II so I have memories that the US was involved in this war of what in those days was pictured and rightfully so as a struggle of good versus evil. We heard on the radio news how the troops were doing, we went to the movies and saw newsreels and I knew and personally experienced word coming that a family member had been killed in Europe and others losing sons who were my Dad's customers or people we knew. More on this later.

But, my Dad left this wonderful smell that I can remember so well as he liked to hug and kiss me all the way until just a few days before his death when I was 17 and he was 49. He would grab me and simply hug and kiss me the best way! I have missed that.

I'm Starting a Blog!

I am looking forward to telling you some stories that I remember about my father, Vade Sr. I know that you may have heard some of these, but I think I can tell them again and get them written down for everyone.

There is so much to tell!