My attempts at shedding light on early years of the Ehrlich families in early Texas have perhaps created more questions than answers.   Your responses have reminded me that I am older than I thought.  Robert has read them;  he has difficulty understanding things like sleeping under the truck.....Understandable for someone who thinks all roads are similar to the ones between San Jose and Walnut Creek..

 

Anyhow, thanks for the cudos.....The historical narrative of our parents belongs to all of us...My perception is similar to most of yours.....I just happened to have been a young boy/man, whose physical help was needed at an early age....That was a blessing for me, as I had the advantage the experience provided, and it was quite a lot.  I never realized it at the time.

 

My reflections have brought to mind quite a few events that seem pertinent.....and perhaps I will find the voice to put them on paper some time.   One overlying thought for me has been about the social family relationships of our family.  In thinking about that, I think of Mom.....She was so proud of her husband....she was his best fan...his cheer leader.  She was always talking about his exploits....and there were many events crammed into those 30 years they spent together.   There were a lot of things they did not do.....they did not say, "I love you" every other sentence.   They didn't have to say it for you to know it.

 

I dreaded the response I was going to get for having done some stupid thing.   However, the response was almost always.....no words, just recognition that you were visible, and you knew what you did was wrong....  I sometimes stole the family car by rolling it away from the house to start it to avoid being discovered, whereupon us fourteen year old kids would ride around town for a few hours, and then hope to return it late at night, and no one would have missed it.....Afterwards,  I would dread walking into the house to "face the music".....I almost always was surprised....instead of the embarrassing grilling I  often feared, were the words, "Did you drain the water from the radiator so it won't freeze"?   Plenty of guidance, but lots of leeway.....I guess in a way you could call that love .

 

Speaking of freeze ups....I have to retell the story I have told so many times, just in case you haven't heard it   Dad bought a new tractor.....one with lights and a starter, and a cushion seat, and it was so exciting....maybe I would get to drive this instead of one of those big old noisy uncomfortable tractors that you had to crank....with steel seats, no lights, and whined like dying cats.  They unloaded this new orange beauty one afternoon, and after school I decided to try it out.....It was really neat....started right up....soft seat, lots of gears....foot brakes....etc....The next afternoon after school, I decided I would drive it again just for some more fun..When I started it up....water shot from the engine block.  Holy cow!  I forgot to drain the block.....I drained the radiator, but did not know you had to drain the engine block also.  Dad was just a block away playing dominoes at the local pool hall.  This would be a good time to tell him because he would not kill me in front of all of those people.  He was there all right....when there was a lull in the playing, I said rather firmly, "Dad, I forgot to drain the water from the new tractor, and the engine block busted".   Every head in that room jerked to look at me......Dad did not.He said, "Who downed the spinner?"   End of conversation.   Half an hour later, he said, "now what was it you said about a frozen block?, let's go look".   It ended up, the block was welded and repaired without too much expense.   Now, looking back, It seems to me I would trade "who downed the spinner?" for "I love you"....anyday.....