Father's Day Memories - Nanette M. Holloway

Father’s Day memories conjure many images of my dad. Although long deceased, I’m grateful for his contributions to our family and my life.

Some of those memories are included in my memoir, Before you Depart: God’s Touch Before Eternity.

The following is an excerpt:

My dad’s life, Carl, began in an idyllic small-town farming community. A simpler time with simple hope of survival a better future ahead.

The small white farmhouse perched on a hill overlooked a farmland tapestry as far as the eye could see.

Bright sunshine filtered through the lace curtains covering ample windows. The simplicity of functional furniture graced the living room, welcoming all who entered.

Nan gave birth to Carl on September 4, 1910. He was number three out of five boys raised by Len and Nan.

Isn’t this a great photo? It’s one of my favorites. The class pictured above is from approximately 1920. My dad is the third child in the second row. I’m sure those overalls were hand-me-downs.

The Family

was poor but self-sufficient. Nan, like others in her day, grew vegetables and canned provisions for the winter. She raised chickens and sold eggs and butter in town. Livestock raised on the farm provided meat. Corn was a staple. Other crops grown in the area included sorghum cane and wheat.

Nan provided hearty farmhouse meals for her five hungry boys. The smell of freshly baked bread filled the quaint home. Accolades of her good cooking brought rave reviews long after her death.

During Carl’s high school years, Nan worked in the field alongside Len so her boys could graduate from high school and earn a diploma.

The trip to the one-room schoolhouse was two miles on horseback. No such thing as a snow day in the early 1900’s.

Carl told stories of helping the neighbor harvest and clarify sorghum cane. A team of mules were used to mill the cane, and the juice boiled down into sweet syrup better known as sorghum. The reward for his labor was a gallon of the refined brown syrup ready to compliment cornbread.

Growing up during the Depression created a strong work ethic in Carl. As a young man he followed the crops harvesting whatever was available, eventually arriving in Southern California. He married at age 40. He and his wife, Edna moved to Littlerock, California.

Dad

became a father for the first time at the age of 48. My brother was born, followed by my own birth, 19 months later. Mom was twelve years younger than Carl who adored and loved both his children. He worked at Lockheed Aircraft in Palmdale for 33 years.

The town of Littlerock was renowned for peaches and pears, an orchard oasis in the middle of the Mohave Desert. Orchards were everywhere. Pink and white blossoms provided a nonstop parade of color in spring. Followed by a harvest of fat juicy peaches and succulent pears in summer. Fruit stands dotted Pearblossom Highway where growers sold the prized fruit. The crops drew people from as far as Los Angeles and the surrounding area. Some growers shipped their crops to market.

Carl cultivated his own small orchard — five acres of peaches and pears.

I graduated from Palmdale High School, then ventured to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Drawn to Dad’s roots in Welch, Oklahoma, I graduated from Oral Roberts University with a degree in nursing and married my husband, Andy.

I always enjoyed visits to Dad’s family farm and the climate which differed from the California desert.

Yes, I’m missing my Dad

this Father’s Day season.

Enjoy your Dad. The time passes so quickly.

Before You Depart: God’s Touch before Eternity

is a memoir of my dad’s last year of life after a terminal diagnosis of cancer. I hope you get it and read about God’s loving touch at end-of-life. God answered my seemingly impossible prayers.