Some Traditions Never Change-Happy 75th Birthday, Eugene

The Chicago Cubs are Eugene’s favorite baseball team. It seems extremely ironically or perhaps coincidental, in light of the fact that they lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 7 to 6 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh the same day he was born, leaving an impressionable & scarred memory for life…

I’m guessing it was a warm sunny day when Eugene was brought into the world, it had to have been. The greenhouse factor would not have gone into effect nor would it affect overall weather patterns for the next 60 years or so.

The stock market had crashed months earlier, sending the entire United States economy into a tailspin. Still, Eugene was well-protected by his parents Samuel & Regina. They weren’t about to sell their little adorable & oh-so precious Eugene for a bite to eat.

Eugene’s parents were like most parents of that era. They worked hard at making ends meet, even in times of desperate measure, even as major companies were collapsing & factories were shoving their employees out of work & into the unemployment lines.

Brother, Can You Spare A Dime, was a popular tune as well as theme for the era that became known as The Depression. Also, in the 1930s, lawlessness was in full force, ban robberies were considered commonplace, as well as bank robbers were considered heroes by common-folk everywhere.

John Dillinger was enemy number one for a time, Oklahoma’s Pretty Boy Floyd was a friend to farmers & then there were Bonnie & Clyde, who on Eugene’s fourth birthday were shot & killed during a police ambush in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.

A few months later in a Chicago alleyway, next to the Biograph Theater, Dillinger was gunned down by FBI agents who were tipped off by Ann Sage, AKA “The Woman In Red,” who was Dillenger’s companion to the theater.

In 1941, when Eugene was a little over 11½ years old, war was declared by his president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt who said the bombing of Pearl Harbor would be a day that would forever live in infamy. It was the subject matter surrounding WW2 that would fascinate Eugene over the course of his lifetime.

As Eugene grew up and attended high school on the northwest side of Chicago, his thoughts turned to the elements. He chose to pursue a career of that involved the modern sciences.

A story told by a then-teenage Eugene (can you imagine Eugene as a teenager?) was as funny then as it is now. In the old days, long before the advent of animal activism high school students used to dissect animals, and particularly in Eugene’s case, it was cats.

So the story goes, one night he brought home a dead cat to store in his parent’s refrigerator & then take it back to school with him the next morning. He had hoped no one would see it, but his luck ran out on him the next morning as his mother couldn’t sleep, went into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of milk, opened the refrigerator door, saw the cat & let loose a blood-curdling scream that could be heard by virtually everyone in their apartment building.

Another teenage Eugene story is, in 1943, Eugene tried to sign up for WW2 by going to his local Navy recruiting office. There they fed him doughnuts & milk, while personnel called his father Samuel, who picked Eugene up & didn't let him out of his sight & the apartment for weeks after that.

As Eugene graduated from high school & entered college, he set his sights on becoming a pharmacist and what a fine one he became! Though he worked at various drugstores & agencies, Eugene excelled at each and every place with vim, vigor and stamina. Most of all, it was his knowledge & his work ethic that brought him to great wisdom & joy.

Eugene met his wife Sheila at college, married her & like most folks had children, five in all. Sure Eugene had his shares of ups and downs over the years, but he always managed to come out ahead of the game. Eugene is retired now & he enjoys that. And why not? He deserves it after all the hard work he’s provided and given over the many years.

Eugene turns 75 years old today. He’ll probably have a quiet birthday with his wife Sheila, receive cards & phone-calls of from his friends & other well-wishers, but most of all, from his five grown children.

The Chicago Cubs are still a losing team, you’d think they would try to win a game for Eugene on his birthday. Surprisingly they did! They beat the Houston Astros 4 to 1 at home in Wrigley Field. Perhaps it was a dream, but Eugene, is still faithful to his beloved Cubbies. Alas, some traditions never change.

Happy birthday, dear Dad, happy 75th birthday, to you...