Flashback Friday #52 (part 1)

Stories My Dad Told Me.

Hello all. Welcome to my one year anniversary of Flashback Friday (Let's have cake!). As many of you know, I started blogging at the request of my oldest daughter, Lady Lemon, to write down some of the stories that I told her & her sister throughout the years. This way she still gets to read them, even though she lives (too) far away. I thought I lived a normal, ordinary life, but from some of the comments that I have received, this wasn't the case.

Today's post covers the stories that my Dad told me about his childhood. I got to spend time with him last Friday, and picked his brain for some extra details of these stories. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

In honor of this being the one year anniversary, I am going to do something out of the ordinary. Instead of writing an eternally long post that will go on forever, I'm going to carry the Flashback Friday anniversary party edition on all weekend. There will be a post Saturday and Sunday wrapping up stories that I enjoyed as a kid. I hope you check out each of my weekend posts.

My Dad grew up in the same small town that I did. His Dad farmed about 100 acres, and worked in Columbus, Ohio at a factory that made grave vaults. Grandpa worked the night shift, so when the kids went to school, he would farm until they got home. The kids (my Dad and my Aunt) would take over while Grandpa slept in preparation for going to work that night. After his farming accident, Grandpa moved to Westerville, to be closer to work.

Dad knew several people in Westerville before his parents moved there, and would catch rides into the city with friends. He tells of one time when he was 13 of 14 about a trip into Westerville. There was a water tower nearby that had a flashing bulb on top of it. Dad thought that flashing bulb was cool, so he decided to climb the tower to swipe the bulb. One of his friends would stay by the base of the tower, and be the lookout. Dad said he climbed to the top of the tower, unscrewed the bulb, and climbed back down. When he got to the ground, a police office was waiting for him (his lookout took off when he saw the cops). This police officer knew dad and his parents. The officer asked him if he really needed that bulb. When Dad said no, the officer told him that he would forget the whole incident, if Dad would climb back up the tower and put the bulb back. And that's exactly what he did.

Check back tomorrow for Flashbck Friday #52 (part 2)