Jack Pelham

In the middle of a remodeling project today, I (accidentally) broke a water line, creating a gusher flowing from the wall of the bathroom underneath the sink.  Naturally, this provided fun for the whole family as we engineered a way to route the gushing water outside before it flooded the entire floor.

Somewhere in the course of the emergency management, or perhaps the aftermath thereof, Kay asked me, “How do you know how to do all this stuff?”  I asked for clarification and she mentioned carpentry, plumbing, and electrical circuits.  The answer was simple:  Dad taught me.

It sparked a conversation, as do most things in our ever-thinking family, and I recalled that even as far back as high school (where I learned most of what Dad taught me on such matters), I noticed that my peers at school had little idea how to do any of it.  Whatever their dads may have taught them, it seems that carpentry, plumbing, and circuits were not on the list.

My Dad is not nearly as active as he used to be—depending on how you look at it.  While he doesn’t get his tools out very often anymore, his son and grandson do.  Today, James used the reciprocating saw to cut some scrap lumber to manageable size.  And yesterday, he removed some wall boards with a power screwdriver.  He can change a plug on a power cord and change out a wall switch.  He has learned all these things and more from his Dad (that’s me) because I learned them from my Dad.

So my Dad, Jack-of-all-trades that he is, has replicated himself twice in my line—so far.  And that’s what a Dad can do.