My grandfather went by the name of Fay and not Murrell. Fay was my mom’s father. The funny thing was my grandfather and grandmother’s middle names were Fay and Faye, and they both went by them instead of their first name. My grandparents had gotten a divorce when my mom was young and I never really met him until after he had died and on the day of his visitation. I can remember when my mom, grandmother and I drove to Danville, Indiana for his visitation and funeral. My grandfather died about a year after my brother so it was hard for me to handle just because I had just lost Geoff. At the time I couldn’t understand why I was standing there crying for a man that I had never met, but had heard different things about.

My mom told me that he was a great musician and that he played with the big bands. He was very musically talented and could pick up about any instrument and learn to play it within a matter of minutes. He was also a cook. He used to work as a cook in a little diner in Danville. She told me how he used to make her “monkey bread” which was french toast and how much she enjoyed watching him make it. I have recently seen where there was a Housman’s Meat Market in Danville, Indiana and there is a picture of the family that worked there. My grandfather’s picture is in there but I do not remember my mom talking about that. There were some habits that he had that were not real flattering to him but it was who he was. I was told that he loved to gamble. A matter of fact before my mom died she told me that my father named her after a horse that he had bet on that won. The horses name was Marcella – I never knew that is how they came up with my mom’s first name.

After my grandparents got a divorce my grandfather never remarried. When he died he was living in Connecticut in a home and was working as a cook at a restaurant. When I found this out I had such a sad feeling to think that this poor man had lived his life, not being in touch with his only child and being alone at the end of his life. My heart broke for him. There were times when he tried to get in touch with my mom, especially when she was younger, but for reasons beyond their control he could not see her.

So for the grandfather that I never really met or knew, I wanted to give you the honor to tell others about you now. I would have loved to have met you and known you just because of some of the wonderful stories mom told me about you. I know that you were a special person in her life and you were the only one that she called dad. I wish that the two of you could have had more of a life together and had been able to spend time together.

Nancy Rodgers