Guy Lyon
By Howard Lyon
My Grandfather will always have a special place in my heart. He was the sort of person who would always go out of his way to help another. He not only raised me from the time I was a baby, but also had Noel, Frank jr., Cubby, Betty Jean, (a daughter of his sister Mable) and other children come to live in his home, where they were fed, clothed, and supplied with medical help if needed. In my case he cared for me for eighteen years, as my father never gave my Grandmother and Grandfather a plug nickel for raising me.
Grampa was a very skilled mechanic, who was a master carpenter, plumber, electrician, and a real craftsman working sheet metal. In fact he spent the last ten years of his life working at General Motors Truck & Coach Division, in the experimental lab working on prototype bodies to be used on future trucks.
As a young man he had served an apprenticeship in a sheet metal shop, and was a tin bender expert.
Gramps liked to surprise us kids with unexpected presents. He knew of my love for hunting, so he would buy me magazines like Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, or other material related to out-of-doors life. He would buy Noel and I new flash lights so we could hunt night crawlers at night, or toss a box of shot gun shells on my bed and tell me to keep up the good hunting. Now I want every one to know that this occurred during the depression. Money was scarce, so these little love gifts meant a lot.
When we resided in East Detroit, Gramps & Gram would take other less fortunate kids in the neighborhood up to spend a few weeks at the cottage. It was a rare treat for these children, who hardly ever left the city.
I also remember Grampa’s three P breakfasts just like Noel & Carmen, but one of his specialties was chip beef on toast, which after joining the Air Force I found out was called S.O.S.
Grampa always treated Grandma with respect and love He never left for work with out giving Gram a kiss. He didn’t attend church, but made certain that we always got there. If you missed mass because you stayed at some other kids house for the night you knew you were going to get chewed out.
I had pneumonia three times during my childhood. The third time I was seven years old, and had it so bad that they gave me the last rites of the Catholic church, it looked like I was going to cash in my chips. Grampa found a surgeon who was using a new technique to conquer this dread disease. He would make an incision in the back, take out a piece of rib, and place a tube into the lung. Every time the lung expanded, the fluid would drain into a dressing. This was an expensive operation, and my Grandparents picked up the tab. I remember it took a long time to discharge the debt.
I spent most of my early life living with this man but to this day he remains an enigma to me. I always wanted to tell him I loved him, and wanted to hear the same from him. It seems like neither of us could utter these simple words. What a terrible shame!
