Dora Marie Call Bingham (daughter of Charlie)
November 11, 2024
When Grandpa was using canes to help him walk, he liked to try and grab us around the ankles with them.
Later on when he used a wheelchair, he would sit out in the front yard in the sunshine. Many times people would pass by and see him and stop and visit with him. Many people came to him for advice and counsel.
He really liked to eat watermelon.
We often wondered why his breath didn’t smell very good. We learned that he liked to eat onions with his bread and milk before going to bed. Grandma would soak them in water, perhaps so that they wouldn’t smell so bad on his breath. If we were at his house during the night, we would always give him a kiss and I could smell the onions on his breath.
He would listen to the evening news before going to bed.
He kept butterscotch candy in his table drawer. He would give us a candy when we went to visit.
Grandpa was a Democrat and we didn’t ever talk bad about President Truman.
At Halloween time they would keep their dog tied up so that we could visit them in our costumes. He always pretended that he was afraid of us.
Grandpa had a loud voice. We could often hear him when he sneezed.
Arnold was the person who was to take him to church. If Arnold didn’t pick him up as soon as Grandpa thought he should, he would start yelling, “Arnold, Arnold!” If Arnold didn’t come as soon as he should, Grandpa would wheel himself out to the street and catch a ride to church with someone else. When he got to church, some of the men would lift him and his wheelchair up on the stage next to the pulpit so that he could hear the messages and speakers.
Grandpa couldn’t see, hear, or walk very well, but boy did he have a memory. He loved to recite poems. Our favorite was Socrates Snooks, The Blacksmith, and the Bachelors (I think that was the name). The week before he died, he gave a patriarchal blessing.
After Grandma died, we moved over to his house to take care of him. Grandma died in October and Grandpa died on January 2nd, 1958.
I remember his last Christmas. We had decorated a tree and opened the parlor doors so that we could see the tree. Grandpa wheeled his chair into the parlor so that he could see all the decorations.
He was well respected and loved by many. When he turned 90 years old, he got sick and wasn’t expected to live much longer. The family came to tell him goodbye. Eran got leave from the Army (serving in Panama), so that he could be there. To everybody’s surprise he got well. For about a year I slept over there so that if they needed help, I could go get Dad. I never had to do that.
I have fond memories of the only grandmother that I ever knew and Grandpa. Dad’s mother, Dora Pratt Call, died when he was about 3 years old, maybe 5. Grandma was the only mother he knew. Grandma raised Dad and Waldo besides her own family. She raised the child of Grandpa’s second wife, her child, and her grandchild. In my mind Grandma was a saint to do all that she did.