Blast from the Past

Birthday Day

Today we celebrate the 99th anniversary of our grandfather's birth!

My information is that Robert Allen Adams was born March 12, 1908, the fourth of seven children born to James Richard Adams and Jessie Mae Wallace.

It is my understanding that Grandpa lived in extreme poverty as a child.
I don't know much about his childhood, but the story I was always told was that Jessie Mae left the family when he was pretty young. When Grandpa was 13, he moved to Illinois to live with his mother. He helped support her by washing train engines in the train yard. Thus, he only ever had an 8th grade education. I don't know how long he lived there, but he eventually came back to Bradshaw.

Mom always said he never wanted to talk about Jessie Mae, but I remember a brief conversation we had when my daughter Jessica was born. He mentioned to me that his mother was named Jessie, and I told him I knew that, but it was really more of a coincidence since Greg was the one who picked Jessi's name. He seemed satisfied by that.

Someone once told me that Grandpa told them that he'd decided he wanted to marry "one of those Gifford girls", and Elsie ended up being the one for him. :o)

I never saw it, but have heard tales of Grandpa having a quite a temper during his younger days. I remember him as being quiet and gentle, always with room on his lap for the grandkids. When Greg and I were first married, we decided to go to the horse races in Grand Island. We stopped and asked Grandpa how it all worked and what we should do when we got there. He told us how to bet and we came home with a few dollars more than when we arrived.

When Grandma was in the hospital, and it was apparent she was going to pass away, Grandpa walked the halls with us grandkids, telling us stories of their early years together. He loved farming, but Grandma was so sick all the time, that he took a job with the railroad so they'd have insurance. I wish I'd written down those stories - that's all I remember.

I do remember when Jessica was a baby, he made a comment that he always wished babies were born with handles on them, so they'd be easier to carry around. :o)

There were many layers to this man - the farmer, the soldier, the husband, the father, the grandfather, the gardener. I wish I could sit down with him, me being the age I am now, and ask questions and record stories...