For several years, He often went very hungry, at a time when he needed to eat in order to grow. He remembers eating oft-boiled bone broth made of one potato if they were lucky. Once a year they might split an orange for a special treat. Somehow he survived, but he was never the same care-free child he was before the Depression. He grew up quickly. From that time forward, everything he did was influenced by those early hardships. He was gone and out the door at 17 years old, working on huge ships, delivering cargo all over the world as a merchant marine.
As his 90th grew closer, I knew I wanted to do something special for him, something that was different from the normal birthday cake and dinner get-togethers we have with the family. Those events are always nice, but this called for something a bit different.