Charlie used
Flash to wash his hands…..
My Dad,
Charlie was born in 1901 and died in 1998. At the age of twenty he left
Canada to pursue a better life for himself in the United States. He came to a
new place where nothing was guaranteed…or expected. He didn’t speak the
language as he only knew French. He knew he would have to work hard to earn a
living. And work hard he did.
Charlie used
Flash to wash his hands….
He married
late in life to my wonderful Mother…Betty. When I was born Charlie was all of forty-six
years old. I joined my sisters Louise and Claire. Early in my life I soon
realized that Charlie worked very hard…every day. I watched him get out of his
truck in the driveway and take his dirty bib overalls off in the shed. He then
went right to the hallway bathroom and looked into the mirror. He saw the dirt
and soot and grease on his face.
He then
reached for the can of Flash on the cupboard and twisted the top off. For the
next few minutes the used that gritty paste to scrub his hands clean. In that
moment all his hard work that day was washed down the drain. I saw all of it go
away yet I never heard him...complain about it.
Charlie used
Flash to wash his hands.
Both Charlie
and Betty did all they could to provide what they could for me and my sisters. We all knew that
whatever we wanted above what we needed we had to work for…ourselves. I
might not at times been happy with all of that but I knew that in order to
succeed I needed to work hard. And that we did.
During one
of my final years in high school, I needed a summer job. Charlie at time in his
life was the maintenance manager at a local brass and iron foundry. I was
fortunate to get a job there and it paid well. Now there was a reason it paid
well. Summer months working in a brass and iron foundry are the closest thing
to hell that a human being can experience.
At the end
of each day I rode home with Charlie in his pickup truck. I was sopping wet
from sweat and filthy. Charlie looked at me and smiled. The lessons I learned
that summer in the foundry were never forgotten. Hard work taught me to
appreciate the fact that you earn what…you work for.
Charlie and
I used his Flash to was our hands.
Now Flash is
long forgotten by many and never known by so many. This great country was built
by men and women who used Flash to wash...their hands. Now at this very point in
time, I believe we must never wash our hands of our country. Our hands need to
come together and work to build the future…together. it may be hard and we may get...our hands dirty.
