|
By: Jim Fitzpatrick |
|
Email: jim@nunica.com |
|
Local Farmer in Polkton Township writes for the Coopersville Observer. |
|
Along Brandy Creek By Jim Fitzpatrick
The Coopersville Observer January 28, 2008- - No. 90 |
|
Tommy was the hired man on the place. He was a quiet fellow, didn't often have a lot to say if there were more than one or two others in his presence. He lived in a small room at the far end of the cement block storage shed, along the north side of the driveway. There weren't many of the neighbors who had a clue as to where he had come form or when he had arrived in the area. Seems like he had just plain always been here. There was a mysterious air about old Tom that most accepted without question. If your were a young boy or girl living nearby and needed a job for the summer, he was the man to see. There were endless rows of vegetables that needed hoeing, acres of string beans that required picking, cabbage and cauliflower plants that had to be transplanted early in July. The summers were hot, the days were long. You had to go some to keep up with Tom and his crew of young folks. And, he was always right out there in the middle of it all; working with you from early morning til late in the afternoon. Six days a week it was too.
The years went by and ol' Tom’s gray hair grew grayer and thinner. He walked even more bent over than ever. You could never help but wonder who he really was; where he had arrived form, in what way did he spend his life before coming to the farm. How had this man passed his days as a young boy? Some of us had spent more time than others out there in the hot sun with him; we ventured a question or two now and again when the time seemed right. He was always polite; but, answered those questions with as little response as possible. No doubt his past was questionable in lots of ways; however, that is neither here nor there, for Tommy came into the lives of so many of us and instilled fond memories that we carry with us today.
This old, old man, in time; passed to the great beyond. Over the years some would question, Tommy? who is he anyway, what’s his last name? Turns out his name wasn't Tom at all. His mom and dad gave him his first name as Marvin to go along with the last name of Thomas. Marvin Thomas, yep, that’s who Tommy really was -- as far as anyone knows for sure. |
