Don's Memories

My dad--Donald Metzker, grandson of Leta and son of Vivian--is now the oldest member of his family. He’s only 77, not that old really, and in very good health. He is also 12 years older than his brother Larry and 14 years older than his sister Linda. (Ironically, Larry is closer in age to my brother Jeff and Linda closer in age to me than to their own brother.) Don was born in 1939 and actually lived through four of Leta’s marriages: Robert Fields (1937-1946), Claud Bassett (1948-1952), the mysterious Curtis, and Richard Eckman (1960-1963). His memory, however, has not been very helpful in the construction of the story about his grandmother Leta. But I keep trying to jar his memory, and in doing so, I occasionally am surprised by some new piece of information. 

For example, when Leta was married to Claud Bassett (whose name she whited out in her Bible), Don remembered two things: 1) that Claud was present on occasion in 1948 when Ed and his father William (called “Pop”) Metzker built the house on Robindale Avenue in Oregon, Ohio, in which Ed, Vivian, Don, Larry, Linda, and after the death of Vivian, Ethel Metzker, would all live (Ed and Ethel until their deaths in 1996 and 2004, respectively); and 2) that at the end of the street where Leta and Claud lived together was a blind pony. Don’s face lit up when that memory returned. 

He also remembered that during the time his father Ed was serving as a contractor to the U.S. Air Force during World War II, he and his mother Vivian lived with Leta and her husband Robert Fields. On Friday nights, they would take him to a local bar where he could have “all the root beer I could drink."

When I asked him how close his family was to Vivian’s brother Dale’s family, he didn’t remember much. His next oldest cousin on that side of the family is Connie. She was born in April of 1943, making her only 3½ years younger. He doesn’t recall spending much time with her. What he does remember, however, is that when he was in high school (and driving), he would go to Dale’s home and lift weights. This would have been in the 1950s, when Dale’s only son Alan was only five or six years old. Uncle Dale was not a very large man, but Don reported that he was very strong. (Incidentally, this is more evidence for me that the size of one’s muscles does not necessarily indicate how strong a person is.)

Most recently, in speaking to my father, I learned more information about his father/my grandfather Ed’s family. As I have been writing the book, the Metzkers have been on the periphery, appearing on occasion when the story warrants it. Thus, I have been picking up information here and there about them as I’ve been going along. In the storytelling, questions have arisen. (For examples: How did my grandparents and their family spend holidays? Was there anything significant that my grandfather Ed’s sister Doris was 8½ years younger? How much time did my grandparents spend with each of their parents?) So I’ve found out a few things about the Metzkers.

My Great-Aunt Doris Metzker Meier, of course, went to the same high school as her brother (and the rest of our family up to the present.) What I learned doing research was that her future husband John Meier not only went to high school with her, but was also in the same graduating class. Sharing this with my father, I noted that meant Uncle John lived in Oregon, Ohio. Then my dad told me that the Meier’s owned a farm on Bury Road until he sold it and they moved to a farm in Bowling Green, Ohio.

I was stunned. As far as I knew, there was only one big farm on Bury Road. It was owned by the Ackerman family. One of the Ackermans—Glenn—was one of my junior high buddies (who also went to high school and graduated with me). In fact, he was in my drivers’ education car when we were high school sophomores. I believe that Glenn still lives on that same farm. I’m fairly tickled by this and hope to talk to Glenn about it some day. (The farm is very close to where my mother and stepfather still live.) 

Writing this book is a constant learning experience. Halleluiah!