More on Historic Leaders

Every four months or so my brother and sister in law pay us a visit from New England. We always look forward to seeing them and Dad loves having new people in the house to talk to. I always try and plan a few day trips to see the sights of the surrounding areas. Dad is always invited along but declines with one excuse or another. When we went to the aquarium he said "I seen enough fish when I was in the army." This of course leads into long stories of his time in England.

Today we are going to "The Little White House" where FDR once lived. Dad agrees to go along. When we arrive we go through the museum part of the tour first. There is a massive time line on the wall with various photographs indicating important events in US history. My brother, sister in law and I stand and read some of the events out loud that interest us and point out interesting pictures. Dad is wandering aimlessly around the room, looking out the window and up at the ceiling. We call him over but he ignores us. There is a large pillar in the room with names listed of contributors of the museum. Dad stops and begins to read the names out loud. I go over and tell him "Dad those are the people that contributed money to the museum. Come and look at this time line on the wall, you should remember some of these events." He looks at me and walks away. He goes over to the time line and says nothing. Within minutes he approaches me and says "Yeah, I remember this guy, ha ha ha yup! He's the one that had the affair with his sec - a - tary, but he didn't want no one to know about it." Of all the things FDR was remembered for, this is what he has retained. Which unfortunately makes sense, keeping in mind that one of my father's favorite topics is sex. I look at him and respond, "Well that's nice Dad, lets go in the other room and look at some of the old cars."

Eventually we make our way down the path to the "Little White House". It is a beautiful summer day. When we enter we find that there is a woman in the house available to answer questions. Since we are the only four people in the house at the moment, we get all of her attention. She has the most adorable southern accent and is quite friendly. If I didn't know any better I would have said she knew FDR personally. What a wonderful tour. Once we make it through we head back up the path to the servants quarters and it is clear that Dad is getting tired out. We look through the servants quarters quickly. While there Dad tries to sit on one of the couches with a big sign - "DO NOT SIT". My sister in law, who is quick on her toes is able to avert the catastrophe. We get out side and sit down for a few minutes. We all pose for a few pictures. I ask Dad if he enjoyed the "Little White House" and if he thought it was interesting. He states "Well I think SHE was eatin too much before we got there, she's a fat one!" He is of course referring to the woman in the Little White House who answered all our questions. I look at him and wonder why his mind works the way it does. In general he has nothing kind to say and is always the first to say something negative.

Days after my brother and sister in law leave for New England, Dad is sitting at the kitchen table and blurts out "They had a wax statue of that guy over in England." I have no idea what he is referring to. "What guy Dad?" "You know that Roosevelt. Yeah at Madame Mauren's House of Wax. I don't know if that was her name. Whatever, anyways I was there and they have the guy that you are suppose to give your money to and then a fake one of him. You are suppose to figure out which one is real. Naturally I tried to give my money to the wax guy. But Roosevelt was there, but he was made of wax, and Betsey Cross too! They even had Ri - sen - hour."