Feeling sentimental

[sioleabha]

This is kind of long-winded and photo-heavy, but I'm feeling sentimental, and I almost exclusively post on photo forums these days, plus I figured you guys would appreciate the vintage photos.

Some of you know that in a couple of weeks I'll be giving birth to a baby boy, Diarmuid Sanford Potter. Diarmuid is a Gaelic name, like all of our other kids. Sanford is for my grandfather, Sanford L. Carr (aka Coach Carr), who passed away less than a month before I found out I was pregnant. He was the finest man I ever knew.



Papa was born in Merkel, TX in 1929. Papa was a tall man his whole life, and according to my great-aunt Sue, he was 11 pounds at birth and all skin and bones -- the longest baby they'd ever seen. He was raised on a farm, taught the value of hard work and an appreciation for earning his way in life. He could drive a truck by the time he was 12, and could ride a horse before he could walk. Thanks to him, so could I.



My great-grandfather was big on education, and was very proud of Papa for finishing high school in an area where many boys left school to work on the farm. He then went on to UofH on a football scholarship. Papa was always worried that my poor, homeschooled children would be deprived of the opportunity to earn football scholarships. ;)



My grandparents met at UofH. (My grandmother was from San Antonio.) Papa told me that he had never dated a girl twice until he met Granny (who went by the nickname Penny because of her copper-colored hair.) It only took one date for him to know she was the girl he was going to marry. I believe he proposed on the first date, though I think they had a few more dates after that. This photo was taken by a student in the UofH photography department, for whom Granny was a frequent model.



They married in Corpus Christi on July 28, 1951.



Papa also played football for the Navy, where he served from 1953-56. (Unfortunately I don't seem to have any photos scanned from after 1956. I need to get some scanned from when I was a baby, and from his coaching days at Lamar. I never had a chance to practice my own photography on him, because by then he was too sick.)

He was offered a career playing professional football, but he didn't think the offer was enough to raise a family on, so he and my grandmother settled down as teachers in Houston. After teaching at Pershing and Hogg middle schools, and Sam Houston HS, he ended up at Mirabeau B. Lamar HS. He started there in 1965, and was head coach from 1966-1984. When I was little he used to take me to the football games, where I'd dress in a little Redskins cheerleading outfit and sit with the cheerleaders or hang out with the players in the locker room. (I was only 2 at the time.)

Unfortunately my grandparents were unable to have children, which is just a tragedy of the worst sort. My grandmother had something like 8 miscarriages / stillbirths, and one baby who lived only a day. In the 60s they adopted a troubled young boy who later became my father. They deserved better, and that's all I'll say about that.

Amusingly, Papa met my mother before my father did. My mother attended Lamar, and Papa once caught her smoking in the bathroom.

As I get closer to the birth of this baby, I miss him more and more. He was such an awesome man, active in his church and the community. My whole life it seemed like I had the most popular and well-liked grandfather in the world -- everybody knew Coach Carr. When he died, I was grateful that all of my children got a chance to say goodbye to him, and that he got to see our youngest one last time. I didn't know there was another coming, and I really wish he could meet him. He'd probably ask me when we're going to "do something about that," and frankly I'd be happy to hear it.

Here's one last photo, Papa and my brother at my wedding in 2002:



Love you, Papa!

[PhotosbyHollyWood]

thanks for sharing... it is nice to see things from our past...

and special trips like the one you took can bring all that pride back to the surface for a somewhat BITTERSWEET reunion...

Enjoy your trip down memory lane

[sioleabha]

Ok, I'm not sure why my watermark is showing up on those photos, which I obviously did not take. I posted from my husband's laptop and it didn't show up there, but here it does.

If you see a watermark, please ignore it. I did not take any of these photos, not even the last one.

[idnurse41]

Michelle what a fantastic tribute for your family and it's generations. That's a great collection you have. Thanks for sharing.
Pam

[Howard Barlow]

Well done, Michelle, thanks for posting it.

[Dobick]

I totally enjoyed this introduction to your "Papa"

Thank you for the post!

[iCe]

What a nice tribute and how fortunate you are to have those images.

The watermark is probably coming from the hosting site.

[123canon]

totally awesome! thanks for sharing that. we all have a lot to learn from those who came before us and hopefully a lot to teach those who come behind. my dad died at 58 and so my son never got to know him. this breaks my heart because i know the kind of man he was. thanks again for giving us a peak

[sioleabha]

Thanks, y'all. He was such a well-beloved man by everyone. I'm honestly surprised no one has come into this thread and said, "Hey, I knew him!" I hardly ever go anywhere that I don't meet someone who knows / knew my grandparents: the owners of the Firehouse Bar here in Houston played football for Papa; my next door neighbor worked at Bayou Bend with Granny; the parents of my daughter's best friend from the homeschool group used to attend their church.

There's a story about a trip my grandparents took with some friends with whom they used to travel often. They were in, I think North Carolina, and one of their friends said jokingly, "Well, it sure is nice to visit someplace where I'm not going to hear anyone calling, 'Hey, Coach Carr!'" He barely got the words out of his mouth before one of Papa's former football players called from across the street, "Hey, Coach Carr!"