My brother Abe was the rebel in the family. He hated farm work and let everyone know it from an early age. At the first chance he got, as soon as he graduated from high school, he left the farm and never looked back. He moved to Quoddy Village in Maine where he trained to become an airplane mechanic. At age 22, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps where he was sent to a base in North Africa.
After leaving the Army Air Corps, he made his way to California. He eventually got his pilot’s license and began to offer charter flights in small, private planes. He also started the Air-o-Crats flying club at Meadowlark Airport. He once gave me a ride and I loved it. I happened to be pregnant with Ella at the time. Later, Abe gave 6-year-old Ella a ride. Like mother, like daughter, Ella loved the experience. In addition to flying small planes, Abe was a designated FAA Examiner for 30 years.
Abe was married twice – the first to Florence who was from Norwich. Florence eventually divorced Abe because as Florence said, he was always at the airport. The second marriage was to Bette. They had two daughters, Joy and Bev, and remained married for 50 years until Bette’s death.
Before Abe left the farm though, he and I had a lot of fun together – especially in our teens. We were close in age and enjoyed many of the same things. We especially enjoyed square dancing and went to square dances together at The Do Drop Inn a couple of times a month. I would ride in the rumble seat of Abe’s old Ford, the wind making a tangled mess of my hair. But I loved the feeling. Once at our destination, I had some combing to do before getting out of the car.
Although Abe and I got along famously, Abe and Ike were like oil and water. Once, they got into a fist fight when our parents were out doing errands in the city. I tried to separate them, but they kept throwing punches. Each ended up with a black eye. When our parents returned, Abe and Ike pulled caps over their eyes to hide the damage. My parents weren’t fooled. My mother was furious. It didn’t help matters that my father thought the whole situation funny.