It’s a Wonder He Made it to His 75th Birthday

As I write these stories, I must qualify their accuracy with the note that Dave is 10 years older than me. He left for college when he was 18 and I was 8. I can recall him prior to that, but I think most of my memories must be from the period when he would return from college (Missouri School of Mines).

Robert (Bob) Kester

The person you know as the healthy eating husband-father-grandfather hasn’t always been so. Prior to the Surgeon General discovering that all things tasting good were bad for one’s health, Dave ate them all to excess. He used so much salt, dad (Daddy Bill) would get on him at meal time (maybe he was thinking about the cost, rather than anything else). Dave’s food would look like it had been snowed upon.

Once when Dave came home from college, it was in the evening and I was home alone (parents would be reported to social services in this day and time). I’m not sure if this was the spring when his route home included an unplanned detour to New Orleans. Anyway, he was hungry and looked in the fridge for a bite to eat. Using the culinary skills that everyone now enjoys, Dave trimmed the fat off of some steaks that were in the refrigerator. He then proceeded to fry the fat, put it between two slices of bread, and eat a fat sandwich. It probably had Mayo and salt on it, but to that, I cannot attest.