Maddy's Grandpa Mac

Today's guest blogger is my beautiful granddaughter, Madison Ann Thomas, age 12. Obviously she isn't 12 in this photo. This is a photo of Grandpa Mac holding her as a baby. Maddy was writing about a grandparent for a school assignment, and what follows is her remembrance of her great-grandfather Jack Preston McPherson, who passed away this year.

When my Grandpa Mac would tell a story he would say, “Come over here and let me tell you a windy.” So I’m about to tell a ‘windy’ about my Grandpa Mac. My Grandpa Mac was born in Bugscuffle, Arkansas. As a young boy he loved hunting and fishing, but he had to quit school in the eighth grade so that he could go to work for his family. The reason he had to do this was because he grew up in the Great Depression. My Grandpa Mac had to go away to find work, and was gone for many years. When he came back to Arkansas, as a young man, he saw a girl who had moved in next door to him, and said to himself, “I’m going to marry her some day.” Soon after they were married, and since there were still no jobs in Arkansas, my Grandpa Mac joined the army. He fought in World War II and the Korean War. He stayed in the army so long that they wanted him to fight in Vietnam, too. But he retired instead. Soon after that he moved to Oklahoma to be closer to his son and daughter and their kids. He had a huge garden there that grew all kinds of veggies. He also had a giant workshop where he did a lot of wood work. He built desks, tables, and wooden cars to name a few of what he built. My Grandpa Mac lived there for many years until he had health problems and had to move to Texas to be close to a VA Hospital. He lived here for many years until he died on January 20, 2009. We all miss him very much, his name was Jack Preston McPherson.