Memories of My Father and Me for Father's Day

My aunt remembers that my father, Lee Doyle, had a great sense of humor.  It was probably true when he was younger, with fewer responsibilities and cares, but by the time I knew my father he was a serious, purposeful man.  Below are a few memories of time spent with him.

In the Ridge there was a gas station called Smitty's where my father often purchased gas.  When I was perhaps 4 or 5 I would occasionally ride with Dad to get the car filled with gas.  He pulled up beside the pump which was under an awning that extended from the little building.  The attendant or owner came down the steps and out to the car to pump the gas, wash the windows, and check the oil.  I waited in the car while Dad went inside to pay.  When Dad came back to the car he had two little bags of roasted, salted peanuts (but smaller that the current-day Lance or Planters brands).  The memory ends there but I suppose we sat in the car and ate them.

Dad was a handyman, fix-it, tinkerer father.  He could and did fix just about anything and everything.  I remember "helping" him on projects in which he taught me how to hold the nails to hand to him -- by the narrow, sharp end, so that I was handing him the head.  Taking the nail by the head, he could place it and pound it without the need to reposition it in his fingers.  What did he build?  I have no recollection.  But somehow this activity taught me that when helping another I need to be observant about what will be most helpful.

Ironically, in the photo above, my father has his hands on the shoulders of my cousin and my sister has her hand on my shoulder.  I wonder what had been happening before this photo was taken:  my cousin and are in dresses, not the normal playwear of those days, and my brother and sister are in play/work clothes.  It's hard to tell but my mom looks like she could be wearing clothes she would wear out.  Oh, to have little details about old photographs!

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

--Nancy.

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