Today was our Poppas birthday, Carl Lee Smart, a man who loved people, never met a stranger and had a contagious laugh. He could drink the hottest coffee and down a doughnut in less than a minute. He was sent to France, during WWI, served in the Cavalry, horse and all. I had heard that during that war, women were sent to where the soldiers were stationed and made hot coffee and doughnuts for the troops. (Doughboys) Sometimes they actually used helmets, filled with cooking oil to deep fry the doughnuts. I think his passion for hot coffee and a doughnut stayed with him, even into his 90s. Carl Lee Smart, Moms Father was an adventurous grandfather, a great storyteller and had a passion for history. Books surrounded his chair, he would sit with us for hours and impart all of his adventures, lessons learned and with the same fervor as the day they happened. Antiques of all kinds, coins, glassware, peculiar carvings and old toys could be found in their home. They never really had much in the way of money and never owned their own home, but where ever Poppa and Nana lived, it was home. Poppa loved old watches and had a Chinese watch repairman in Washington state, across the Columbia River from Astoria, Oregon where our grandparents lived. Poppa did not speak a word of Chinese and the watch repairman did not speak English. At six years old I went with Poppa, (Brother Scott too) to see the Watchman. With amazement I watched them work out the language barrier with nods of the heads, hand movements and diagraming on a piece of paper. A week later the watch was fixed. Poppa was from Blum/Cleburne, TX, worked the farm, cattle and the stockades before the war. He was from a family of 9. As his grandkids we knew he had strength but it became even more evident when, our Nana, his wife of 54 years was diagnosed with Alzheimers. Poppa, at 84, said, I will take care of her. He stayed with her as long as he could, the disease was taking her away from him. She would wander, get lost and Poppa at 92 had to allow, his wife to be placed in a facility. It would be later, in another facility that he chose to move in with her, in lieu of living with Mom or our Uncle Dwight Smart. His bravery, facing that disease and a wife who no longer knew him was so inspiring. Poppa was Texan, very stubborn and did not want to be away from his wife. On Nov. 29th, 1991 Poppa passed away. Nana passed 5 weeks later, January 6, 1992, just down the hall. Poppa loved life, people, his family, friends and pretty much everybody. When he started talking you knew a great story was unfolding. Appreciation of people, cultures, history, foods, language, art, the mysterious were just some of the things he passed onto us grandkids. Poppas plan was to live in 3 centuries, born 1895 he wanted to see the year 2000. Claiming to be a tri-centurian ! I have no doubt he would have made it, but the exhaustion with caring for his wife, missing her, was just too much. Love you Poppa, tell Nana Hi from us all !
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 07:40:21 +0000
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