The Sentinel, Dad and Brother Rob 210316

      The picture is Rob getting his bath in the kitchen sink a month after he was born.

      My dad was drafted into the army in 1943. He was married to my mother at the time. Dad was in artillery training school in Colorado and mom made a trip to Colorado that year to visit him. And that was when I was conceived. (That becomes relevant later in my story). Dad went to Germany to join the 3rd artillery division serving under general Patton. I was born in late 1945 and when the army started coming home late in that year, that gave dad enough points (having a child) that got him home quicker than he would have been able to do with the army’s point system for returnees. That was the only compliment he ever paid to me. Mom and dad bought an old house a few months later and that was where me and all my siblings were raised.

      That brings me to brother Rob. We brothers, Bill (1945) and Tom (1950) were the first, then Grace in 1956 and Rob in December of 57, then Marion (58) and Joan (in 62) . Back to Rob, he was much like dad and that endeared him to my father. They were both interested in cars, they traded and bought more than anyone would normally do. Rob went through 11 cars one year. At one time he traded, bought and sold 3 in a single day. Rob knew everyone, knew what car they were interested in, found it and made the deal in short order. Rob was a dad’s dad in that he loved his children and took care of them. They had some lean times, but Rob always fed his children and kept them safe.