These are pictures of my mom and dad when they were in their early 20's. Dad always wore long sleeve shirts because he was a "tube bender" and worked over hot flames (he made neon signs). He also always wore a shirt with a pocket-- always. He carried pens and pencils and a pack of cigarettes in that pocket. He smoked like a train until Levi was a baby then he quit cold turkey. Never smoked again. Thank God! It was a answer to prayer! I hated taking Levi to their house when Dad smoked 'cause he would wreek of smoke (and so would we of course) . Dad also use to drink and quit that when Joe was a small child. We use to find liquor bottles in the tank of the toilet or in-between the towels in the bathroom when we were kids. I was so suprised when I got older to find out people kept alcohol in plain sight in cabinets in their homes! It's sad that none of us ever learned the tube bending technique. Dad could make anything out of glass. He made two beautiful doves for our church-- they had been broken by hail before the tornado and were waiting to be repaired but you know the rest of the story. I don't have anything neon that Dad made but I think Relena has a neon cactus. I miss my Dad-- he was a good guy and had a good sense of humor and would do anything for anyone if they needed help. He had alot of common sense. My Mom used to complain about his smoking (everyday) and when he quit I told the people at our church there had been a miracle and a wonder with Mom and Dad-- the miracle was Dad quit smoking and the wonder was it took Mom three days to notice! Dad was a WW2 Vet. He is buried here in Greensburg.
