This photo is of my grandfather on my mother’s side. His name was Elmer, and he was truly a “free spirit.” Sometimes he could be short and cantankerous, and I’ll have to say he did not get along with everyone as well as he did with me, but I loved him and his unique personality. He was a serious Christian, as was I, but we saw a number of things differently, and we had many a strong discussion over the years. Sometimes now I think about one particular thing on which we disagreed strongly. In later years – after he went to be with the Lord – I came to realize that he had been right about it all along. Many times I’ve thought, “My, I wish Grandpa were here so I could sit down with him and talk about this again – now that I can see what he was really saying.”

He had a real knack for taking things apart and putting them back together. And he loved doing it. There was something in him that just had to see what made things work. So at nearly any time, he could be found with some piece of equipment or machinery lying spread out in parts, waiting to be reassembled at Grandpa’s leisure. I even have a photo of our huge family celebrating Christmas – everyone passing around gifts and opening them – while Grandpa sits in front of the TV set with his flashlight and screwdriver, doing his own thing.

In his forties, he developed lung cancer and had surgery to remove part of his lung. That was back in the days when that kind of surgery was extremely rare, and there was not much in the way of treatments. People pretty much fended for themselves, and they either made it, or they didn’t. But since Grandpa believed in God as a healer, he had that extra Power to rely on, and he did make it. In fact, he lived more than two decades beyond that.

He spent his life farming and doing factory work, but by the time he was in his 60’s, that kind of work was beyond him, and he looked for something else to fulfill his work ethic. Our town had one Dairy Queen and another ice cream stand that was open during the summer only, but we had nothing like an ice cream truck that went around the neighborhoods offering treats. So my grandpa, innovative “free spirit” that he was, decided that, instead of growing old and run down, he’d start a brand new career. He created himself an ice cream wagon.

He bought a Cushman motorized cart (electric motor), mounted a freezer unit on the back and filled it with ice cream treats. He had to keep it plugged into an electric outlet overnight in order to charge the motor. He also mounted bells and a cassette tape recorder, from which he played children’s songs along the routes. From that point on, for many years, from May to September, he could be seen all over town spending his days with the kids, who affectionately called him “The Ice Cream Man.” 

It was also during those years that he decided to take up the guitar – not learn to play it – just take it up. His youngest son was actually a musician with a band in northern Illinois, and the photo above shows Grandpa playing around with his son’s guitar. Though very old and worn, this photo is one of my favorites of my grandfather. It shows him at a big family picnic – looking again like the farmer he used to be – in his undershirt, suspenders, and hat – “goofing off” for his kids and grandkids. I personally think that this photo shows a man who refused to be bound up by a lot of social rules, and who lived his life as a “free spirit” to the best of his ability.