I saw my father’s house
in the country,
Adams County, Ohio.
He was born there
in his parents’ bed
after the harvest.
written in 1973
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Today is my father Rev. Fred Taylor Gaston’s (1914-2004) 105th birthday. This poem was inspired by a visit he and I took in 1973 to his childhood home in Adams County located on the Ohio River in southwest Ohio. The house had long been abandoned but we were able to walk around inside and hear echoes of his origin. In an upstairs bedroom he told me the story of his birth.
He was a man of deep thought and wide affections. He enjoyed befriending people different than himself. He included people of color, other nationalities, other religions, other walks of life. He sought out Jewish rabbis, Catholic priests, Hindu doctors from India, a Taoist psychologist from China, a Buddhist scholar from Japan. My favorite room in my childhood house was his study and library. A diversity of opinions rested in the books on the shelves and even though most were beyond my elementary understanding, I knew well informed thought was to be valued. I remember sitting with my father and uncle after Sunday dinner while they engaged in vigorous conversation about the fate of Western civilization and the destiny of the world. They were not optimistic but actively hopeful which is all I need to know as a child preparing to face life. I remember long drives with my father across the Montana prairie bombarding him with questions I have long ago forgotten. The lesson I learned was to value questions and be skeptical of answers that did not lead to more questions.
Happy birthday, Dad. Thanks for the legacy of mindful adventure.
The Poem:
The title ‘Genesis’ hints at the Garden of Eden, mythic birthplace of the human race. Adam(s) refers to humanity’s mythic first man as well as one of the originators of our republic, the second president John Adams. My father was born in his parents’ bed, the bed in which he was conceived. He was born after the harvest of tobacco and corn, a second harvest of sorts.