{"id":445,"date":"2016-07-22T00:21:26","date_gmt":"2016-07-22T04:21:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/?p=445"},"modified":"2016-07-22T00:52:56","modified_gmt":"2016-07-22T04:52:56","slug":"doing-a-job-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/?p=445","title":{"rendered":"DOING A JOB RIGHT"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ben Gibbons Jr about age 9<\/p><\/div>\n

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Ben and Mel Gibbons soon after their wedding<\/p><\/div>\n

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Ben Gibbons Jr at 80 years old<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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My latest book, HALLEY, awarded 2015 Jefferson Cup Honor for Historical Fiction, awarded the Moonbeam Silver Medal for Young Adult Fiction,\u00a0 and awarded the 2016 Frank Yerby Award for Fiction.\u00a0 Available at: NewSouth Books:\u00a0www.newsouthbooks.com\/halley and Amazo<\/strong><\/p>\n

I loved my late father-in-law.\u00a0 And I think it was mutual.\u00a0 Right from our introduction in 1964, he seemed to believe I was exactly the girl for his older son.\u00a0 He became all I ever wanted in a father–supportive, dependable, and kind.\u00a0 His sterling qualities did not come out of nowhere.\u00a0 He came from a respected, hard-working farm family.\u00a0 However, for whatever reason, his parents were not the most affectionate people in the world.\u00a0 One time Ben Gibbons Senior assigned twelve-year-old Ben Jr to dig a row of fence holes for a new pasture.\u00a0 On inspecting the finished job, Ben Sr. said, \u201cOne of the posts is out of line.\u00a0 Fill \u2018em all in, and dig a new row. That\u2019ll teach you to do a job right.\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

All that extra work because one post–one out of maybe thirty–was out of line.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Ben and Ella Gibbons had sent their three older children off to boarding school, but for some reason never revealed, they decided Ben Junior would attend public school at Holtville, in Elmore County.\u00a0 The Gibbons lived just over the county line in Autauga, so the nearest school bus stop was three miles down Highway 111 at Shoal Creek Crossroads.\u00a0 Young Ben had to get up early enough to help with milking, feeding farm animals, and other chores before heading out to the bus stop.\u00a0 If the weather was stormy, he ran.\u00a0 Since he owned no coat, but only a sweater and a raincoat, he ran to keep warm during bitter cold weather.\u00a0 The principal of Holtville School at that time later told us how it wrenched his heart to see such a fine young man arriving at school half frozen.\u00a0 Finally, Mr. Bell could bear it no longer.\u00a0 He paid a visit to the Gibbons home and pointed out the need for a coat.\u00a0 Ella Gibbons kept silent, but her husband spoke for them both, \u201cLife is hard–the boy might as well find that out early.\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Daddy and two of his siblings all told me at different times that they never recalled their mother embracing them.\u00a0 There must be more to that story–something that would explain, if not excuse, such coldness. If so, I never heard it. Maybe, in Daddy\u2019s case, it was because he was chosen to be Ben Jr, even though he wasn\u2019t the oldest son. When Daddy mentioned that lack of affection, my heart ached for him.\u00a0 It still does.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When Ben Jr became a teenager, farm responsibilities only grew heavier, and his parents allowed him only Sunday afternoons for fun things.\u00a0 His cousin Bub, who lived across the field on a neighboring farm, had more lenient parents.\u00a0 As a teenager, Bub went to dances at Blackwell Fish Camp on Saturday nights and often invited Ben Jr. to go with him.\u00a0 In his later years, Bub recalled that Daddy might have gone dancing once or twice, but that\u2019s about all.\u00a0 \u201cUncle Ben and Aunt Ella didn\u2019t see much point in fun,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cBesides, to them, dancing was the work of the devil.\u201d Daddy had to sneak off and lie to do things like that, and he knew his parents would eventually find out.\u00a0 It just wasn\u2019t worth it.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When, after high school, Daddy decided to go to Auburn University , it must have seemed like a glorious escape.\u00a0 Even though he worked at whatever jobs he could find, he had some free time too.\u00a0 In an uncharacteristic burst of generosity, his parents told him they would send him $10 per month toward his education as long as they were pleased with his behavior and his grades. At Auburn he blossomed.\u00a0 He made lifelong friends–including\u00a0 J.C. Phillips.\u00a0 \u201cPhillips,\u201d as Daddy always called him, introduced Daddy to Mel Atkins, an Auburn girl who was the best friend of Phillips\u2019 girlfriend and future wife, \u201cBabe\u201d\u00a0 Pace.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Daddy must have thought he\u2019d died and gone to heaven when he met the fun-loving Atkins and Pace families.\u00a0 They loved to eat and they loved to laugh. And they knew quality when they saw it.\u00a0 Daddy was witty and intelligent and good looking and they took him right in.\u00a0 I\u2019ve joked that Daddy would have married Mel Gibbons just to get into that fun circle.\u00a0 But, of course, there was more to it–he had found a pretty girl who appreciated him and let him know it.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Ben and Mel married a few months before he graduated, but kept it secret from Ben\u2019s parents.\u00a0 Ben Gibbon Sr. would have canceled the promised $10 a month.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Ben and Mel had many struggles in their early years of marriage.\u00a0 Once, in the early fifties, Daddy became so sick that his weight dropped to 135–a skeletal weight for a large boned man well over six feet tall.\u00a0 He was unable to work for a while, then finally a doctor found his problem–a tumor on his parathyroid gland–which could have been fatal without surgery.\u00a0 Ben Sr left Pine Flat to visit his son in the hospital in Mobile.\u00a0 During the brief stay he gave his son a hundred dollar bill.\u00a0 \u201cYou can repay it when you go back to work.\u00a0 I want it returned just the way I\u2019m giving it to you–a one hundred dollar bill.\u00a0 Don\u2019t send me any five-dollar-at-a-time payments.\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It was the old man\u2019s last chance to say with his actions, \u201cI love you, son,\u201d and he blew it.\u00a0 Knowing my late father-in-law, Ben Sr would have gotten the money back regardless.\u00a0 Daddy never could stand owing money.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Daddy learned the hard way never to let pass opportunities to show his love to his own children and grandchildren. He showed it to others too, including me\u00a0\u00a0 I have always tried to measure up to his example.\u00a0 So did many, many of his students through 43 years of teaching.\u00a0 Daddy has been dead for seventeen years, but the love he showed for others lives on.\u00a0 It will live as long as anyone privileged to know him is here on earth.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Rest in peace, Daddy.\u00a0 There\u2019s never been a better father. You did indeed learn to do your job right.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My latest book, HALLEY, awarded 2015 Jefferson Cup Honor for Historical Fiction, awarded the Moonbeam Silver Medal for Young Adult Fiction,\u00a0 and awarded the 2016 Frank Yerby Award for Fiction.\u00a0 Available at: NewSouth Books:\u00a0www.newsouthbooks.com\/halley and Amazo I loved my late … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=445"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":452,"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445\/revisions\/452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}