Great Memories of Her Dad

Pictured here is Mom's first cousin, Chris (Nason) O'Grady and her husband, Steve. They live in Florida. I haven't seen her since I was a kid, but don't she and her husband look like just the kind of people you'd enjoy knowing? Her father, Uncle Glen, was a brother to your great grandmother Muriel. I remember her parents, Uncle Glen and Aunt Murnie. Typical Nasons, I would say: warm and fun-loving.

Enjoy Chris's stories:

I remember my dad telling me about his family's evening entertainment when they were all very young. He said they had no electricity way back then in northern Maine [Early 1900s]. He said his dad would light the candles and kerosene lanterns. After supper, the family would sit around in a circle and listen to their dad read from the Bible. I was always impressed by my dad's vast knowledge of The Holy Book.

I also recall my dad speaking lovingly of his mother. He told me her maiden name had been Murphy. He said she was tiny and was a very beautiful woman with lovely red hair.

Another wonderful memory I have of my dad is how much he loved Christmas. I remember times when we went into the woods and Daddy would cut down a tree for us and drag it home through the snow--- Currier and Ives events for sure! I also recall being out at night with him to check the Christmas lights he had put on the shrubbery in the daylight. He took special care to view the lights at night and make sure they were spaced just right. The stars were so brilliant and I loved how the moonlight reflected off the snow. I hardly noticed the piercing cold or my runny nose! On one of those nights I saw beautiful but eerie lights dancing and glowing in the sky. My dad told me that was the aurora borealis. What a spectacular sight to see! That sighting was probably what sparked my life-long interest in astronomy.

I loved our old house in Fayette. I remember it was massive and had beautiful red wall paper with huge cabbage roses along the stairway. The lake at the end of our lawn was a sparkling jewel. It was a treasure where we boated, swam, fished, and skated. My dad would go out when he was sure the ice was solid and clear off a skating rink. Sometimes he would even build a bonfire for us at night where we would warm our hands and roast marshmallows. What great times those were!

Another great memory I have of my dad was when he would walk me to the little country store just a short way from our house. Sometimes he even gave me a piggy back ride. He would let me chose my favorite penny candy. He would also let me decide what flavor of ice cream I wanted. When we got home, he would cut the pint of ice cream in half. It was such a special treat to sit with my dad at the big kitchen table and eat my ice cream out of the box!

I remember when my dad was going to teach me how to drive. We lived in Las Vegas at the time. I remember Daddy driving me downtown in the heart of the city. The traffic was horrendous. He parked the car, got out, came around to my side and calmly said, "OK, Chrissy, slide over and drive us home". I was frozen with fear! No way was I going to get behind the wheel for the very first time and attempt driving in downtown Vegas. I waited until we returned to Maine and I learned on those great old country roads with almost no traffic. When I got older and thought about the Vegas experience, I marveled at the trust and confidence my dad must have had in me---far more than I had in myself!

Daddy never met a stranger. He definitely had the "gift of gab" and could talk to anyone on a wide variety of topics. He was kind and generous with whatever he had. My career was in radiologic technology. One of my places of employment in the 1990s was at a large medical clinic in Winter Haven, Florida. Whenever I had a patient with that distinctive New England accent, I would always inquire as to where they were from. I used conversation as a way to put my patients at ease and "connect" with them. One day I met a lady from Massachusetts who used to frequently vacation in Maine. We got to talking about where she and her husband liked to go. To the utter amazement of both of us, she and her husband had fished in the little lake by our old house in Fayette many years prior. She said they simply stopped by the lake and asked the man at the house if they could rent his boat to go fishing. She told me how nice he was and let them use his rowboat, but refused to accept any money. That man was my dad! What are the chances that lady and I would meet so many years later in Florida?!

 

My sons have fond memories of playing with Grampie and laughing so hard when he rode on their tricycles. I actually have a picture of him on a tricycle. Daddy had a great sense of fun and playfulness just like my Uncle Vernon. Daddy would call me on the phone and always ask, "Chrissy, how are the lads today"? He loved my two sons very much and they adored him. Daddy always liked having candy and nuts around to snack on. On time when Mother and Daddy babysat our boys, they couldn't wait to tell me their grandfather had eaten some of the potpourri I had in a dish in the living room---thinking it was candy!