Father and Son
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<<Dad (Vati), where are you going (wohin gehst du)? I want to go with you (Ich mochte mit dir gehen)! Please take me with you (Nehmst du mich bitte mit dir)! Please (bitte)! >> <<Tja (yes- with reservation), son (Sohn), if only I could take you with me, I would, but Colorado is not the place for a three-year old and besides, Mutti (mom) and Anna would miss you. I promise that I’ll come back as soon as possible and I’ll have a wonderful surprise for you.>> <<But, Vati, I need you here! Mutti und (and) Anna need you here too! >> <<My son (Sohn), I promise that I’ll return as soon as possible and we’ll have much fun together again. Come and give me a big good-bye hug and kiss, and before you know it, I’ll be here again.>> Vater (father) was rarely home in those early years when I was growing up in Philadelphia, but Mutti und Anna und I were never alone because Tante (aunt) Gisele and Onkle (uncle) Heinrich were always there for us. Tante Gisele would take Anna and me on long walks in the nearby park, and Onkle Heinrich would bring us chocolates. Mutti would read stories and play with Anna and me and when Mutti was busy cooking or cleaning, Anna would teach me how to count and to say my ABC's. It was hard on us during those early years in Philadelphia without meinem Vater being there; and I can still remember the sadness in meine Mutter's eyes as he departed for the train station (Bahnhof) for his trips West. One day, however, that all changed. Vater came home in late spring and made a trip to Elizabeth. The next day he sat down with Anna and me and told us that we were going to go see our new home in New Jersey and that he and Mutti had planned a wonderful Aussfluge (days outing) there and later we’d go on to Elizabeth to visit Grossvater (grandfather) Rosenstiehle und Urgrossvater (great grandfather) Hausser as well. Anna and I screamed with delight. Vater said that he’d never again leave us alone again and that he’d be making carriages and wagons in Elizabeth and that I could help him there. It seemed that my prayers had finally been answered. I can still vividly remember that trip to Old Bridge and the first sight of the house that we’d soon call home. I remember the happiness of meine Mutter und Vater as Anna and I ran around in that large yard surrounding our new home enjoying the openness and fresh air of that wonderful Fruhlingstag (spring day). Mutter spread a blanket on the grass and we had a picnic right there in the open. Later, I'm told, we went on to Elizabeth to visit with unseren Grossvater Ben und Urgrossvater Hausser and then back to Philadelphia. My memory of the rest of that day is vague, but I remember and still feel the happiness of being with meinem Vater and the fact that we would all be together from that moment on, Vater, Mutter, Anna, und mich (and me). I don't remember the move from Philadelphia to Old Bridge, but I still remember the open fields and the long walks through them that Anna and I took and the flowers we picked for Mutti und Vater and the games we played together. Those were happy years. We were a close family. When Vater came home at night, Anna and I greeted him with hugs and kisses and when he left in the morning, he’d come into Anna and my bedrooms to kiss us good-bye. The years had passed quickly and I was soon in grammar school. During the school year, Anna and I walked the short distance to school together, sometimes taking shortcuts through the fields. We had made some good friends and we loved our teachers. During summer vacations and on Saturdays, Vater would take me with him to the carriage and wagon works in Elizabeth, where I’d watch him and the other workers make all kinds of carriages and wagons. Eventually, I was given the task of getting Vater hand tools when he needed them and then returning them to their proper place after he was finished. I enjoyed doing this because I learned the names and the uses for each tool. After I became familiar with the tools, he allowed me to sharpen dull cutting edges and later to do some small wood working tasks as well. Whenever the smithy or the other wood workers needed help, I was there to assist them or to even run errands for them. I was especially happy running errands to der Kneipe (the local pub) for food and other refreshments. One day Vater left the works and later returned with ein junger Hund (a young dog). <<Sohn, I have a present for you. He’ll be a good companion and a friend and if you’re kind to him, he’ll be kind to you. >> <<Vati, thank you, what’s his name? >> <<That’s up to you. He’s your dog and you can name him whatever you like. >> <<Oh, Vati, thank you. >> I had no idea what I’d call him and decided to wait and ask Anna, maybe she could think of a good name. As the day progressed, however, I noticed that my dog would lie down every time I stopped walking and would close his eyes until I moved again, and then he’d follow my movements until I stopped again. Then he’d close his eyes again. I thought to myself that he was a real loafer. All of a sudden I said to him, <<Dog, you’re a bum, do you know that? >> At that moment, I knew that I had his name. <<But you’re my bum, Bum, >> I said aloud. He looked at me with his loving brown eyes as I kneeled down to pet him and he licked my face. I knew at that moment that we had sealed a pact for a life long friendship. Bum was never far from my side.
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About the Book
FATHER AND SON
The author changes history in "MEINE VATERLANDER" from what happened to what could have happened, intertwining fiction with fact as he follows the course of nations and his grandfathers actual footsteps through the later part of the nineteenth and twentieth century. "FATHER" continues the "MEINE VATERLANDER" story line. "SON" continues the story line, but is a non-fictional account of a son and grandson.
"FATHER" is the story of Hermann’s son, Herman Carl. It is a 100 year story that covers the twentieth century and shows how a father and son shared their lives, their happiness and sadness, their hopes and fears, their dreams; and later, how Herman confronts his own emotions and feelings, and finally, his own mortality.
"SON" is the story of Herman’s son, Joseph Carl. It is a nonfiction story of a young man’s evolution as he moves from an agricultural environment, where family members are dependant on each other, to a rapidly changing society where the individual becomes dependant on one’s self. It is a story of a young man’s attempt to cope with an ever changing world and his successes and failures as he attempts to maintain that same close relationship with wife and children that he’d had with his grandfather and father.
About the Author
Joseph Carl Schick, a former management consultant and business owner, graduated in 1957 with a BS degree from Rutgers University. He and his wife Patricia lived in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey for thirty-eight years. They now divide their time between homes in Pennsylvania and Florida.