Chapter 14

ALL THINGS ARE FULL OF LABOUR

(From early June 1966 until the 1^st week of January 1967)

Mrs. Taylor agreed to let me again rent the same room in her house when I returned to Auburn in September. But I think I moved all my things out of that room for her to use it for her guests during the summer. So back to Vernon I go in my 55 Chevy, unload my college things into my room in Daddy’s house, again lodge at Daddy’s place the days I am in Vernon, and again start roofing for Mr. Mars.

Between last September (when I left the roofing job at Ft. Walton Beach) and now (June 1966) Mr. Mars and Mr. Esker had bought a much larger spraying machine (than the paint sprayer) to spray the black gum coating onto roofs. They had also bought a new pickup truck and installed the machine (gasoline engine and compressor) in the front of the truck bed. Now they were much better equipped to do roofing with spraying equipment for the black gum coating and the separate, smaller spraying unit for the aluminum paint. This saved many man-hours of labor. I liked this improvement in the working methods.

Regrettably, Mr. Esker’s health had been failing and now he is no longer able to work. I think by now (June) the doctors have told him that he has cancer.

From his house in Birmingham, Mr. Mars called me at Daddy’s. “I want you to drive to my house in Birmingham for us to work roofs in this area.” I wrote down the directions he gave me to his house, packed work clothes for a week or so and drove to Birmingham arriving there on US Hwy 78. Interstate highways had not yet been constructed thru Birmingham proper. Following Mr. Mars’ directions, when I reached 1^st Avenue North, I turned northeast onto it, went to East Lake, turned as he had instructed me to go on to Huffman, looked for Orlando Circle where he lived, turned onto it, looked for and found his house number. I was most relieved to have arrived because that was the 1^st time for me to do such navigating in such a large city.

January 1965 when I dropped my sister off at a doctor’s office in Birmingham, that place was close to the main highway and not so difficult to find. This June day I arrive at Mr. Mars’ house, starts a period of time when this barefoot, horse plow, farm boy will learn much about navigating in large cities. I need that lesson. (Truly the Lord knows just what we need, thank God!) By the way, I had no idea that in 10 years, I would be finding my way alone around in Tokyo, Japan (at one time said to be the most populous city in the world).

Mr. Mars told me to park my car in his backyard. I put my bag of work clothes into the truck. He left in his car and I followed him driving the truck to a roofing job site and we went to work that day.

No longer am I roofing close enough to Vernon to sleep at Daddy’s house. Mr. Mars would get me a motel room to lodge in and he would drive home to his house the few times we were close enough for him to commute to the roofing site from his house. But much of the time, we were too far for him to drive home each day. At those times we both lodged together in one motel room, eating 3 daily meals in cafés and restaurants. He paid all that expense and paid me my wages.

Such lodging was most pleasant to me (high class for this country boy). After getting plenty dirty doing roofing work all day, I especially liked taking a nice long hot shower in the motel room, then eating out. Most refreshing! The limited bathing facilities at Daddy’s house were not so refreshing to come home to after hot, dirty roofing.

Now, constantly moving about becomes somewhat of an exciting adventure for me. I see various places and meet various human souls for the 1^st time. I enjoy that! We do roofs in the city of Anniston and then several in the Birmingham area. For most jobs, Mr. Mars would look for 1 to 3 transient workers in the area of the job and hire them. I have now become the straw boss. Mr. Mars and I would instruct the new temporary workers on how to do the work. I begin to often supervise them as I work hard right alongside them.

This pattern develops. Often we work 6 days a week, sometimes quitting a little early on Saturdays. Mr. Mars usually drives his car to each work location to have use of it while I use the truck and its equipment as I work the roofing crew. Driving the truck, I would follow him in his car back to his house on Saturday afternoon, then get into my car and drive to Vernon, arriving as late as 8 PM or so.

Often I stopped at the Laundromat in Vernon to wash and dry my extremely dirty work clothes and then went on to Daddy’s house, getting to bed late and plenty tired. I would attend Daddy’s church Sunday morning and night, eat lunch with my family at his house, and often lie in the porch swing Sunday afternoon, trying to recover from much fatigue.

I would leave from Daddy’s about 5 AM Monday, headed for Birmingham. I usually stopped to eat breakfast at a roadside café in Jasper, and then on to Mr. Mars’ house. I would park my car in Mr. Mars’ backyard, get into the truck and follow his car to our present job site. It was an adventure, going to many places and meeting various people. It was also a long fatiguing week. Thank God for the strength and vitality of youth.

Previously, I told you of using my census-taking paycheck to finance my 1^st term at Auburn. When I returned to Vernon after that 1^st winter quarter for spring break, I went to the bank and asked for a $200 loan for college. Mr. Bragg told me to have Daddy sign with me and then I got the loan. I repaid that loan as I worked last summer, and then saved money for college. But I used that entire savings during the fall term.

So after Christmas, I went to the bank in Millport and got a $200 loan to be repaid by mid-July (likely). Then on spring break, I got a $200 loan from the bank in Vernon to finance my spring term this year (likely to be repaid by mid-August). After repaying both loans on time this summer, I saw I would not have enough money for this fall quarter at Auburn U. I did not want to start borrowing money from the bank again this early in the year (September, fall quarter).

Each summer (or period) that I worked for Mr. Mars, there were a good number of days when he had no work for me. Also, I could not work on rainy days. Thus no pay for such days. It made it hard to save enough for college. That greatly disappointed me at the time. I desperately wanted to get on with college. What I did not understand was that the Lord (in His Perfect Way) was putting delays in my college education to keep me from the deadly battlefields in Viet Nam.

Late this summer, Mr. Mars is getting a lot of roofing jobs in Tuskegee near Auburn, so I work in Tuskegee several different weeks. We stay in a quaint old hotel in downtown Tuskegee. I enjoy lodging in that atmosphere. The owner is friendly and talks with us much. I learn that his daughter is one of the girls I serve in the dining hall at Auburn U. I know her well, a quite stunning young lady.

On the jobs in Tuskegee, I often end up supervising a work crew of up to 5 other men. They were all older than I. It was a valuable maturing experience for me to have a small work crew under my supervision, supervising men much older than I.

Shortly before the fall quarter starts at Auburn U., I drive to the campus from nearby Tuskegee, go to the Navy ROTC office and tell the Marine major that I am not financially able to attend college this fall and thus will have to drop out of Navy ROTC now. (I am very fatalistic in my thinking. I thought they would definitely kick me out of Navy ROTC because I am missing so many quarters of school.)

To make a short story shorter, the major soon told me that we all could work together with these extenuating circumstances and that I may continue in Navy ROTC when I come back in Winter Quarter, January 1967. They desperately need many young Marine officers as cannon fodder in Viet Nam. Thank God this additional delay in my university studies helps delay my progression toward becoming a battle-ready Marine and helps to prevent me from going to Viet Nam. Thank Thee, Lord Jesus!

I go to the dining hall and tell them I’ll be absent for the fall term, but sure would like a job when I come back for winter term. They assured me that I would step right into my job in January. (Young Soul, being a good worker will do much for you!) I also stop by Mrs. Taylor’s house to break the regretful news that I won’t be in school this fall. She symphases with me, and makes me so happy by telling me she will hold my room for me till I come in January. Thank God for this kind grandmother.

Mr. Esker dies from cancer along about early September. The Mars family of 3 drives from Birmingham to attend the funeral at Vernon. When the autumn quarter starts at Auburn in late September, Mr. and Mrs. Mars’ daughter starts there as a freshman student. But I keep roofing.

Again, that hollow feeling wells up in my heart. I want to be in school in the fall. I felt desperate not being on campus. I thought on the fact that I greatly enjoyed the fall term last year but would miss this one. Will I ever actually graduate from the university? My heart ached as I watched Miss Mars leave home for Auburn U. for the fall quarter, but I daily I continue to head out in the truck to do dirty roofing work instead. It made me feel low.

Soon after their daughter left for Auburn, early one Monday morning I drove from Daddy’s house to the Mars’ home. When I arrived, Mrs. Mars had already gone to her office job for the day. Mr. Mars was there alone. He had no roofing work that day, so together he and I did a thorough job of cleaning all the roofing equipment and putting all the tools in good order in the truck bed. As we did that work in his backyard, he spoke up.

“Tonight, you will sleep in that bedroom in there,” he remarked to me motioning toward their guest bedroom. Their nest emptied out when their daughter left for college. (Likely it helped their loneliness a little to have me there, tho they never spoke of such. They were happy folks.) After 5 PM, Mrs. Mars comes home from work and cooks our supper. After we sup together, we 3 sit before the TV an hour or more. Then I bed down in their guest bedroom for the first of many times, thank God!

Thus wise the Mars family “adopts” me, and later clearly tells me I’m their adopted son. That made me happy! Mr. Mars has 3 grown sons from a previous marriage. All 3 sons are now married and in their own homes. His present wife is a fine Christian lady. Later I will attend Huffman Baptist Church sometimes with them. It’s a most rich life with the Mars family. From that 1^st night I slept in their house, any time our work is close enough to commute from his house, I no longer stay in a motel room. I stay in their house as a son and eat Mrs. Mars’ breakfast and supper as a family member. It was truly a blessing!

Around October, we did some roofing in eastern Tennessee where Mr. Mars had previously lived for many years. The lovely mountains and valleys there fascinated me and I enjoyed the adventure of “exploring” that area for the 1^st time. One morning as we 2 were about to leave Mr. Mars’ house to work in southeastern Tennessee, he instructed me like this. “I will not take my car this time. I’ll drive the truck and you’ll ride with me. I bought a car for a man who lives where we are going, trying to help the poor man. He is not making any car payments as he is supposed to be doing. Looks like I’ll have to repossess the car. If so, I will drive it back to Birmingham and you’ll drive the truck back.”

So we went in the truck and did a few days of roofing work. Then one evening about 7 or 8 PM, we drove to the man’s house. We purposely went late to be sure to catch him at home. (That poor man had no phone. So, Mr. Mars couldn’t call him before hand.) But no one was at home when we arrived. Mr. Mars inquired with a neighbor. “This time of night, they should come back any time now.” Almost immediately the whole family drove up in Mr. Mars’ 1962 light tan Ford Falcon, man, wife, and about 4 small children. Mr. Mars had known them many years. They all exchanged joyful greetings. Mr. Mars was such a kind gentleman, greeting each child also and talking some with both man and wife. Both the man and wife were meek, jolly, poor mountain folks.

Soon Mr. Mars had to bring up his distasteful business matter. That gentleman was most kind and gentle to this poor family. “Well, what are you going to do about the car? You have had it for several months now and haven’t paid anything on it.”

The man silently hung his head in a shamed and embarrassed manner that appeared quite genuine. I do not know if he had a paying job at the time. I think he had trouble keeping a job and managing money and such. I felt sorry for him and his family. They were a young couple with 4 small children. I wondered how many more babies would arrive in this poor house during the wife’s childbearing years.

Generous Mr. Mars had turned this car over to them with no money down, so the family would have some transportation, asking the man to make small, periodical payments, as he was able. He had made none. After some strained silence, Mr. Mars gently broke the sad news to the couple. “Well, I’m going to take the car to my house and let it set there a while. See if you can get financially able to buy it. And if you do so, you let me know.” The man nodded his head sadly.

Just a few minutes ago, that car had roared home to that poor simple house, stuffed full of its family of six souls, happily carrying on together inside the car as simple people can naturally do, and as was their habit. But arriving home this night, things suddenly change for them. It’s a heartbreaking sight to me to see them remove all their belongings from the car (children’s small toys and such) and suddenly be left with no family transportation.

The next day I drove the truck back to Birmingham, following Mr. Mars driving that little tan Falcon. He and I cleaned it up together in his back yard, washing the outside and cleaning the interior. What a job that cleaning was, as both inside and out, the car was filthy, the kid’s grime on much of the interior. My heart ached for that poor family of 6, now without a vehicle.

Along about now, Miss Mars comes home to Birmingham from Auburn for the weekend. I am staying the night there when she arrives Friday evening, full of talk of her new university life, at my university. That made me homesick for campus life at Auburn. I so much wanted to be in that fun university life also.

I am putting a lot of miles on my 55 Chevy and driving it a little faster on these long, weekly commutes between Vernon and B’ham than its 6-cylinder engine was made to endure. It began burning oil, causing me to wonder how much longer the engine would last. Jimmy (the barber in Vernon) has his eye on my 55 Bel Air Chevy. His hobby is cars and he likes that popular model. For some months now, Jimmy urges me to sell it to him when he sees me in Vernon. He is quick to tell me that no doubt its engine is about worn out because it’s burning oil. One time in Vernon, he shows me a white 1957 Chevy station wagon with V8 engine. He owns it. He said he would trade it to me, an even deal for my car, with no exchange of money. Hesitantly, I made the deal. I was mistaken to do so.

Driving that car to Birmingham and back to Vernon weekly, the power of that V8 engine was nice to have. But about the 3^rd time I was driving to Mr. Mars’ house in it, with a pop of the engine this car quit on me in the edge of Birmingham. I was able to coast over onto the shoulder of busy US Hwy 78, walk to the closest pay phone and call Mr. Mars. He came in the truck with a stout rope and towed me to a car repair shop and junkyard he knew of in North Birmingham. The shop owner took a quick glance at the engine. “The starter fell off. Will likely need a new starter.” I asked him to please make the necessary repairs and rode on in the truck with Mr. Mars to his house.

Soon after we arrive at Mr. Mars’ house, the shop owner calls. “The car slung a piston rod thru the engine wall right behind the starter. That’s what knocked the starter off. This engine is ruined.” I told him I wanted to junk the car. He said he would give me $50 for it. I said I would stop by for that payment in a week or so. I did so. And in that roundabout way, I got $50 for my popular model 55 Bel Air Chevy that Jimmy would have gladly paid me $200 or so to buy it for cash money. Too bad!

That car’s engine blew up on me 3 or 4 weeks after Mr. Mars repossessed that 1962 Ford Falcon. “Richard, that man up in Tennessee will never buy this car. If you want this one, I’ll sell it to you for $400 and you can make payments to me when you are able.” Likely that was in early December 1966. I thanked him and accepted his most generous deal. The car stayed registered in Mr. Mars’ name. I took it as my own to use and a few days later stopped by the junkyard that took my car and received his $50 payment for my piece of junk.

This little Falcon was well made and in good condition. I liked its simplicity and easy handling. I was most thankful for it, much newer than any vehicle I had owned to date. I had no part in Mr. Mars repossessing it. He had been most lenient with that man. It hurt me to see that poor family lose this car. But the truth is that God timed all this perfectly to provide a car most suited to me thru a friend who generously (like a father) told me to make payments when I could. Thank Thee, Precious Lord. Please enable me to pay for the car and not be like the previous owner.

This summer, Mr. Mars had given me a Birmingham city street and highway map. I studied it to learn how to get around in that largest Alabama city. Mr. Mars now shows me that (as I come from and go back to Vernon) the car junkyard is on a less crowded shortcut to his house thru North B’ham. So I begin using that shortcut to and from Vernon, saving time by avoiding driving busy 1^st Avenue North thru downtown.

This year we work on roofs at Birmingham Southern College. There we hire a crane a short time. The crane operator’s assistant was a simple man. “If I had it to do over again, I would be a preacher. They only have to work a short time, a few hours 1 day a week, and it is such easy work and good pay.” Those were his remarks one day as he mused aloud on the job. My fellow preachers, likely you are amused at his honest and sincere opinion of your job, just as I was. Ha. Ha.

We did a little work on the roof of the house of the Commanding General of the Air National Guard Unit located at the Birmingham Airport. I think he was a one star general. I met him, his wife and college student son at their home as I worked on their roof. I greatly enjoyed such new encounters, meeting various souls in various walks of life journeying to their eternal abode.

One day a long-standing friend of Mr. Mars stopped by our roofing site in the Birmingham area and we 3 had lunch together in a restaurant. At lunch, that man ate an apple and raw sunflower seeds he had brought with him. He talked about his healthy eating habits and “Prevention” magazine. That is my 1^st memory of meeting someone who purposely ate like that for health reasons. The “impression” lodged firmly in my mind and “bent” me in that direction. Soon I start reading “Prevention” from time to time and eating more “healthy” to a slight degree. Growing up, our poor family simply ate what food we had available. At times it was scarce with little variety. But thankfully it was basically healthy veggies, fruits, dairy and poultry products, and meat we grew on our own farm.

Off and on during this autumn, regrettably there were a number of days Mr. Mars had no work for me. (I desired to be earning money for college.) I spent those days at Daddy’s house. Our neighbor, Check Wheeler, grew sorghum cane this year to make delicious sorghum syrup. He asked me to help him harvest the cane, which was quite a job. So I did, and Check paid me just a little. Still it was pleasant being out in the field with him, talking and working together out in God’s nature no more than half a mile from Daddy’s house. Of course, I lodged at Daddy’s during such times, spending several autumn days in my boyhood home with family.

Mr. Mars took any job available that we were capable of doing, desirous to obtain all the work he could. A quite prominent Jewish family who ran a family clothing store many years in downtown Birmingham hired us to renovate the interior of the old building’s full size attic under the store building’s flat roof. They used the spacious attic for storage and such. I immensely enjoyed this job!

Much of the time, I worked alone up in that quaint old attic (among manikins and such stored up there), nailing a new wood floor into the attic, doing some lumber repairs to the walls, and such renovating of their rustic old attic. It must have been early December and a chilly rain fell much of the 4 or 5 days I worked in that attic.

I would drive there from the Mars’ house each morning, climb up a stairs inside the store into the dark attic, switch on naked light bulbs in the attic ceiling, and go at it nailing floor boards in the quaint old attic atmosphere, warm, dry and “cozy-like”, this job not affected by the chilly rain falling outside. It was a great relief to do this inside work! I felt as snug as a bug in a rug.

I was working with lumber (so natural) instead of sticky black gum. This particular job was a thrilling adventure. It was interesting being around that family of Jews. Mr. Mars and the owner explained the job to me, showed me what to do and then I worked alone much, up in that store attic. Each evening, I would drive back to the Mars house in Huffman, get a good hot shower, eat Mrs. Mars’ delicious supper together with that couple and sit before the TV a while with them relaxing in cheerful conversation. I immensely enjoyed those few days working in that attic.

This period of almost 7 months straight in 1966 (working in many places for Mr. Mars and beginning to live in his house part-time) was a varied and exciting adventure for me. The various jobs and business I was involved in broadened my horizon greatly, giving me experience in the business world, even as a young straw boss of a work crew. When abiding with the Mars household, we talked and laughed together at the meal table and in the living room. I enjoyed that interacting much better than the prevailing stone silence that confronted me many years as I grew up in my boyhood home.

Christmas season arrives and I spend the holiday season mostly in the Vernon area and go on back to Auburn University the 1^st week in January. From the time I first met Mr. Mars, he was a great asset in my life. From early June this year (1966) to the end of this year, I spent much time with Mr. Mars during those 7 months. Mr. Mars was a talker; tho he seldom talked too much, nor was his talk vain.

During these 7 months, he and I spent many hours traveling together in the same vehicle (an ideal time to chat). I enjoyed listening to him tell of his earlier life, supervising tough (and mean) coal miners in eastern Tennessee, of working a stone quarry there cutting out pretty building stone, and of having his own trucking company. (Of course, he didn’t do all these at the same time.)

Mr. Mars was born in 1908, I think. He lived in eastern Tennessee as a young man before WWII where those coal miners and stone quarry workers were a tough breed of mountain men, each of them packing a pistol on their person. I heard lively, true stories of frontier style violence. Seven months with Mr. Mars this year, traveling to various places, becoming his “adopted” son, staying in his home and such were a great blessing to me. I believe God gave me the exact experiences I needed at that time in my young life.

I thank God for giving me a Daddy who was a most upright, hardworking Christian man. However, his silence toward me formed a void in my heart. I believe that is the reason that God gave me Mr. Mars at this formative time as I am reaching adulthood. Mr. Mars was somewhat like a father, and he talked much to me. God also gave me 2 of the greatest Navy Lieutenants ever, who instructed me at the start of my Navy ROTC training at Auburn, Lt. France and Lt. Coates. Each of these 3 men was a most needed, important, and timely help to me, a big “plus” factor in my life as I am maturing into an adult.

Thank Thee, My Precious Lord Jesus, for fulfilling my every need in Thy Perfect Way. Thank Thee for the latter 7 months of 1966 being full of labor with much valuable life experience, and rich in blessings and joy of the heart.

On to Chapter 15

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