 On The Line -- Issue 644 -- July 20, 2007  Online News and Views of Life in San Benito County with Herman Wrede Published by HollisterOnline.com -- Copyright 1995-2008 HollisterOnline.com
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On The Line -- Issue 644 -- July 20, 2007 Online News and Views of Life in San Benito County with Herman Wrede Published by HollisterOnline.com -- Copyright 1995-2008 HollisterOnline.com
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Jim Adams is my oldest friend and I was happy to get a call from him a few days ago, doubly happy, in fact, because he reported wonderful progress from a near-fatal accident in March.
He had rented a trailer to transport a number of woodworking tools to an institution near Toledo where he was going to donate them for the benefit of the students. The workers at the trailer company attached the trailer to his car and loaded the tools inside. A few miles down the highway the trailer veered and the sudden shift in weight sent Jim's car into the next lane, directly in the path of an automobile that had four people in it. The vehicles shot off the road and Jim's car overturned. "I heard a number of people yelling as I regained consciousness," he recounted. "Then I became aware that something was wrong with my neck. When a rescue crew arrived and used the Jaws of Life to get through the wreckage, I kept yelling, ?Don't touch my neck!'" He was transported to the hospital where it was determined that his neck was broken. Marilyn, his wife, notified me on the following day and I called him at the hospital. After we talked for awhile I suggested tat we postpone our reunion, which had been scheduled for the following month. He agreed but said, "Let's plan it for the fall," and we both laughed. It had been scheduled for the previous April but when a number of unforeseen business appointments suddenly came up, I suggested that we make it in October. On October Jim developed pneumonia and it was evident it was going to hang on well into the reunion, so we put it off until April. As we ended our last conversation, I said, "Take better care of yourself, especially for out reunion in November," and we laughed again. My older brother, Larry, and Jim's older brother, Bob, were close friends before Jim and I were born. Jim's mother brought him over to my house in March of 1934 to show him off to my mother when he was two months old and I was four months. Both women sometimes laughed at my original fascination with him. He was probably the first person I had ever seen who was smaller than I was. My mother recounted that I couldn't keep my eyes off his red hair and that from the security of her lap I reached out to touch it several times, and that each time I did, he smiled from the security of his mother's lap. As our younger brothers came -- twins Edward and Frederick and John for me, and a John for Jim -- we all were almost constantly in each other's company, camping in the summer, shoveling walks and making snowmen in the summer. Jim was a year behind me t school because of his January birthday. Just after the Christmas break in January 1950, he told me he was going to quit school on his 16th birthday and work for his brother Bob in contracting. I talked myself blue in the face to dissuade him but he was adamant. So he went into the working world, made pretty good money and got married at 18 and became a father the following year. He and his wife had six girls and one son, so Jim was hard pressed to make a decent living for his brood. He got jobs in the automobile industry, eventually earning seven patents for processes he developed, and went from one high-paying job to another. His progress in each was impeded by the lack of a college diploma (none of his employers were aware that he was a high school dropout) so after his children were grown and out in the world, he went back to contracting. Then about 25 years ago during a particularly bitter winter, he mentioned to his wife, Marilyn, that he didn't know how long he could face the weather. She immediately told him to go to college and get a degree so he could get an executive position. She discounted his concern about earning enough money to support them in the meantime, and she countered that her salary as a registered nurse could sustain them. So Jim enrolled in the University of Toledo. During an elective course in medieval architecture, the instructor spoke on how Chartres Cathedral must have been built. Jim pointed out that he was no expert but said that his background in contracting gave him a practical viewpoint in solving problems and how he would have done it. The instructor was highly interested and engaged him in further conversations. One day the instructor told him that if he cared to, he could get him a grant to spend a summer in France to get a better perspective. That trip changed Jim's life. He earned his bachelor's degree in record time, then enrolled in a master's course. He decided then that he would need to learn more about chemistry to achieve his goals, and went to England where he earned a doctor of philosophy degree. Back in the United States he specialized in the restoration of historic buildings, and for his everyday career taught chemistry at the University of Toledo. Just about the time he retired from teaching, with many projects of restoring historic homes for the United States government on his schedule, he was made a member of the Royal Academy of England. I accompanied Jim on two restoration jobs in Lexington, Ky., and in Annapolis, Md. It was gratifying to learn how his colleagues and members of educational institutions regarded his knowledge and skill.. None knew that he was a high school dropout and, of course, I didn't enlighten them. One evening at his home after dinner we were reminiscing about our youth and I reminded him how I had argued for him to stay in school. He agreed that his life might have been very different if he had listened to me. Now, with the death of the last of my four brothers last August, there is no man I love more than Jim who is my bother in every sense but family. Neither of us is superstitious but we both hope that the fourth scheduling of the coming reunion will at last be successful. We still have much reminiscing to do and not the time for it that we once had. |
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