Great Grandpa Vernon’s cradle

Over 40 years ago, I asked my children’s Grandpa Vernon to make a cradle for my babies.  He could do anything and everything.  

In 1917, when Grandpa Vernon was four years old, his father was lost at sea. His father was the captain of a fishing boat that was returning from Alaska. No one ever knew what happened to this experienced fisherman who was piloting his boat through the Straits of Juan de Fuca to his home on Lopez Island.  All that is known is that the crew found him missing.  His body was never found…he was presumed to have been washed out to sea, into the Pacific Ocean.

Little four-year-old Vernon had a two-year-old brother and an older brother and sister at the time of his father’s death.  His mother brought her children to live with her father-in-law for a few years.  

Then she moved with her four children to Anacortes, an island on the edge of the San Juan Islands.  In Anacortes, she supported her children by taking in washing.  They raised chickens and sheep, and had fruit trees and a vegetable garden.  She and her children spent hours caring for their animals, butchering, harvesting, and canning so they would have food through the winter.

To make enough money to provide a home and enough food her four children, she also took mothers into her home and cared for them after the birth of their babies.  At the end of a pregnancy, mothers who lived in the San Juan Islands would come by boat to Anacortes to safely have their babies in the only hospital in the area.  Grandpa Vernon’s mother fed and cared for these new mothers and their babies for ten or more days….until the doctor felt it was save for them to return to their home.  If they went back to the remote island where they lived too soon, and a problem arose, there was a great risk that the mother and/or child would die.  

Grandpa Vernon’s older brother and sister quit school after the eighth grade and went to work to help support their mother, little Vernon, and his younger brother.  Because of this, Vernon was the first child in the family to graduate from High School….just about when the 1929 Great Depression hit our country.

Despite loosing his father and all the hardships that he and family endured, no one in his family was ever angry or bitter.  This was just considered part of life.  

In fact, Grandpa Vernon has the most amazing, wonderful, and humorous memories of growing up in Anacortes and the San Juan Islands.  Our favorite pastime was to sit with him and quietly listen to his stories of his life…not just as a child, but his whole life.

In the 1930’s he was a third mate on merchant ships that traveled to Alaska and the Orient.  Although he had always loved the sea, he wanted to be at home with his wife and children.  So he applied to the Seattle Police Department and was a street officer for over 30 years.  This was the time when there was corruption in the police department, but he didn’t join the officers who “bought “ their lucrative beats or joined the scams that got them promoted.  

So the family was never rich.  He took extra jobs and became a skilled electrician, plumber, carpenter, and clock and cabinet maker.  He was always honorable, kind, and gentle.  He lived a good life.  He lived to be just a few months shy of 100 years.

He always treated me like a special daughter.  He was a father to me.  I not only called him Dad, but he was a loving father for me always.  I admired and loved him very much….so did all his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Here are some photos of this amazing husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather.

In his 60’s, when I first met him…. 

With his granddaughter, Rachelle, and great granddaughter, Ida.  He made this rocking horse for my babies.  I painted it, and added the face, mane, tail, and bridle.  His great grandchildren are still riding this bright yellow horse!

With Owen in the log cabin that his Grandpa Vernon built and loved so much.  It is at Holmes Harbor on Whidbey Island….just a few miles from the farm where I raised my children.

His granddaughter, Candice as a child, wanted to have me take her picture in front of the photo of her Grandfather Vernon.

With his granddaughter, Alison….Christmas at my farm on Saratoga Road.

With Candice's daughters (his great-granddaughters), Marina and Stella…trick or treating at his cabin on Halloween.

With his grandson, Owen, opening Christmas presents at my home in Greenbank on Whidbey Island.

In the spring of 2013, Dan and I saying our final goodbye.  I told him what he had always meant to me and how much I loved him….

Owen’s middle name is Vernon, in honor of his Grandfather Vernon.  Owen and Mila named their son Vernon after this remarkable man.  

He now has many great grandchildren, including all of Dan's and my grandchildren—Marina, Stella, Ian, Adam,  Ida, Alden, Wilder, Soren, Sebastian, Aryana, Easton, Hannah, Vernon, and Robert.  He didn't live to see and hold some of these grandchildren, but he would have opened his heart to each of them and loved each of them deeply.

Family was the most important thing in the world to Grandpa Vernon.

Here is Robert in the cradle that I had asked this remarkable man to make for my babies, his grandchildren, and now his great grandchildren….

We love seeing Robert in the cradle that I asked Robert's Great Grandfather Vernon to make for my babies.  I can still remember all the times that I nursed Robert's father, Owen, and as he fell asleep gently tucked him into this same cradle.  It is even more special now with the handmade mattress and bedding that Mila sewed…each stitch with adoring love for her babies.

We are sure that Grandpa Vernon is happy to see another of our family babies sleeping peacefully in the cradle that he so lovingly made over 40 years ago.