Allen thought Portia was lazy because she sometimes hid to do her school work and gave her chores short shift. For example, she would hide a book in the back of her jeans under her shirt when she went after the cows. When she got the cows started towards home, she would get off Boy, tie him to a tree and study. When the cows had made it nearly to the barn, Portia would jump on Boy and race to catch up. A few years before Allen died, he told Portia that he had been wrong about thinking she was lazy as a kid. He told her that he understood that she had not been lazy, she had had to do both her farm work and the book work she loved. He had not realized back then that her book work would have any value and would even help support him in his old age.
Allen and Virginia were both very smart although limited in formal schooling. Portia remembers watching Allen do very complicated arithmetic to calculate cow feed ratios in his head. She also liked to read him her algebra problems. Frequently he could tell her the answer although he could not show her how to solve the problem on paper. Virginia helped us with our homework, somehow got or made the things we needed for school, and, most importantly, made us believe that we could do anything we wanted to do, whether girls normally did them or not.
Allen was generous with his neighbors and relatives. His Granny Midgett had taught him to do a good deed every day. He probably did more. He was always first to help if a neighbor needed it. Once he even built a house for a family with no father and whose house had burned down. He took no compensation. Relatives were always welcome. Sometimes for months at a time relatives with big families would move in when they were having problems. Some of Virginia’s family also lived with us at times. For example, Don, Virginia’s nephew lived with us for a couple of years when he was in high school.
Allen was a stern, impatient father. He was quick with extensive profanity and equally quick with a razor strap or milker hose. Portia, was afraid of him and tried to live out of his reach. Although rough, Allen also had a gentle side which we both cherished. As Allen grew older his gentle side came out more and more. We were grateful.
© 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003 Portia Isaacson Bass and Veta Leigh. All rights reserved.