Big Rapids, MI, circa 1946

      More Letters From Paradise
       Big Rapids, MI ca. 1946
      What I remember most about those years so long ago, is the deep silence of a summer night. Smoking with my friend, Richard, and only the red glowing tips of our cigarettes betraying our presence.   It was dark in the shelter of the courthouse, with only the shell and powder can from the battleship, Maine, to keep us company.
      The most important stop on a Halloween night was the home of the wealthy oilman, Top Taggart. The butler would come to the door carrying a silver tray covered with dimes.  He would hand one dime to each kid.  But,  after a while,  and an exchange of costumes, the house was attacked again.
      It was called Phelps Free Library, and today it is a museum, featuring the collection of Jake Lightfoot.  When I knew him, he was an old man and janitor in the Taggart Building downtown.
As a small boy I had the grandiose idea that I would build a backyard barbeque.  My red wagon was used to haul loads of bricks rescued from a demolished building.  Several trips were made to my building site.  I then needed cement, and that was when  I met Jake.  He took kindly to my project, and gave me a bucket of cement.  As I got to know him better, he would talk to me about the Spanish American War.  Unfortunately,  all I have managed to remember is that he told me their heavy blue shirts were very hot to wear.  He also said that the bacon became rancid in the heat. He never mentioned if he had killed a Spaniard or not.   The brick barbeque turned out looking like a cake whose frosting squished out between the bricks. Years later, I stil remember Jake, and his kindness to a small boy.

              Aloha
              Grant