MEMORIES
HILARY BEARMON
"Though I wish for a miracle to turn this all around, I know that isn't likely; I am not that naive. I am so glad you are all there to give comfort and treasure this this precious and cherished time. If you can, please share this memory with Elliott and your family. I am sure you have millions of stories, but this is a special one for Janet and me.
Janet and I were in the front yard, attempting to set up a little, green pup tent for the first time. (We were leaving the next day for a month long camping trip. Mind you, we had never camped). Elliot came come to investigate. There were a bunch of yellow plastic stakes and we were pushing them into the ground at the corners of the tent and fly. We got them in several inches, which seemed fine to us. (That France Ave ground was so nice and soft). Elliott told us he had an idea and returned to your house. He came back with several eight track tapes and a small ax
(Well, we called it an ax, I now know it was a hatchet because it also had the hammer part on it). We thanked him and appreciated his thoughtfulness. We knew we would enjoy the music (especially Barbara Streisand and B.J. Thomas), but weren't sure we would actually ever need the hatchet. He wrapped it up so the blade was covered and we packed it away.
I can't recall how far into the trip we were, but wherever it was, it had rock hard ground and there was no way those stakes were going in, even when we tried standing on them....then we remembered the ax. We got it out, unwrapped it, and there, taped and wrapped around the handle was a ten dollar bill and a note, wishing us a great adventure. To me, THAT sums up your dad Life is all about the adventure. If it isn't in front of you, go find it. I love that about him.
That ten dollars was like finding a buried treasure. We saved it and used it to go to dinner on my birthday-- the only meal we didn't make ourselves for the entire month. Ten dollars went a long ways back then; what a treat that was.
I also have to tell you, that hatchet/ax got a ton of use. We used it to hammer in the stakes, and then to remove them. Many campsites had plenty of wood to burn, but when we camped at a primitive site in the Hoh Rainforest, we never could have made a fire without it. We had to split logs many times to get to any dry parts which we could use for kindling. We then had to surround the fire with graduated larger pieces in order to dry them out. We stayed at that site for a week and had fires every night. We couldn't have done it without Elliott's thoughtfulness.
I just wanted to share that delightful memory of kindness and thoughtfulness- and Elliott's thinking ahead about what we could use on our big adventure. Thanks, Elliott!
Love,
Hilary
HILARY BEARMON
"Though I wish for a miracle to turn this all around, I know that isn't likely; I am not that naive. I am so glad you are all there to give comfort and treasure this this precious and cherished time. If you can, please share this memory with Elliott and your family. I am sure you have millions of stories, but this is a special one for Janet and me.
Janet and I were in the front yard, attempting to set up a little, green pup tent for the first time. (We were leaving the next day for a month long camping trip. Mind you, we had never camped). Elliot came come to investigate. There were a bunch of yellow plastic stakes and we were pushing them into the ground at the corners of the tent and fly. We got them in several inches, which seemed fine to us. (That France Ave ground was so nice and soft). Elliott told us he had an idea and returned to your house. He came back with several eight track tapes and a small ax
(Well, we called it an ax, I now know it was a hatchet because it also had the hammer part on it). We thanked him and appreciated his thoughtfulness. We knew we would enjoy the music (especially Barbara Streisand and B.J. Thomas), but weren't sure we would actually ever need the hatchet. He wrapped it up so the blade was covered and we packed it away.
I can't recall how far into the trip we were, but wherever it was, it had rock hard ground and there was no way those stakes were going in, even when we tried standing on them....then we remembered the ax. We got it out, unwrapped it, and there, taped and wrapped around the handle was a ten dollar bill and a note, wishing us a great adventure. To me, THAT sums up your dad Life is all about the adventure. If it isn't in front of you, go find it. I love that about him.
That ten dollars was like finding a buried treasure. We saved it and used it to go to dinner on my birthday-- the only meal we didn't make ourselves for the entire month. Ten dollars went a long ways back then; what a treat that was.
I also have to tell you, that hatchet/ax got a ton of use. We used it to hammer in the stakes, and then to remove them. Many campsites had plenty of wood to burn, but when we camped at a primitive site in the Hoh Rainforest, we never could have made a fire without it. We had to split logs many times to get to any dry parts which we could use for kindling. We then had to surround the fire with graduated larger pieces in order to dry them out. We stayed at that site for a week and had fires every night. We couldn't have done it without Elliott's thoughtfulness.
I just wanted to share that delightful memory of kindness and thoughtfulness- and Elliott's thinking ahead about what we could use on our big adventure. Thanks, Elliott!
Love,
Hilary