I was fortunate that as a child my parents read to me. My father read to me from the Jungle Book, Robinson Crusoe and Treasure Island, just to name a few. My mother read me what was age appropriate beginning with Mother Goose rhymes, Winnie the Pooh, classical fairy tales and even Edgar Allen Poe’s, Tales of Mystery and Imagination.
Jungle Book Cover Rudyard Kipling
Title Page, Robinson Crusoe by Alexander Selkirk
My father was a geologist and we took frequent long road trips to look at geology. In an effort to entertain me, their only child, we would sing songs and one of my favorite songs has always been My Grandfather’s Clock, written by Henry Clay Work.
Grandfather’s Clock by Henry C. Work
My grandfather’s clock was too large for the shelf,
So it stood ninety years on the floor;
It was taller by half than the old man himself,
Though it weighed not a pennyweight more.
It was bought on the morn of the day that he was born,
And was always his treasure and pride;
But it stopped short — never to go again —
When the old man died.
- Ninety years without slumbering
Four Generations of Grandfathers and future Fathers and Grandfathers.
- (tick, tock, tick, tock),
- His life’s seconds numbering,
(tick, tock, tick, tock), - It stopp’d short — never to go again —
- When the old man died.
- My father recently passed away at 98 years old. He lived a rich and accomplished life and was a remarkable father, grandfather and great grandfather. He had a huge influence on my life and I will miss him every day for the rest of my life.
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Four Generations, May 1,2015
