Remembering Grandpa.....

William L. Consier is my favorite veteran. He was a very sweet man. He was also our maternal grandfather. He was born in Quebec, Canada and is of French/Scotch descent. I have fond memories of Grandpa. He was orphaned and lived with relatives after his parents died. Grandpa did not get along with his relatives. He was very stubborn and an independent thinker. At a young age Grandpa moved to the United States. He shined shoes in New York City and attended the opera whenever he could. Grandpa worked his way across the United States. Eventually he fought in WWI. He was injured and was sent to a Canadian hospital to recover. He met his wife, Honor, at that hospital. They married and had one child,a daughter named Norma. The family moved to Detroit michigan. Grandpa ran a lunch canteen outside the Ford Motor Plant.

Grandpa was a family man. His wife called him Billy. He adored her. On Sunday mornings, when they were older, he would bring toast and tea to her bed. His one flaw; he was very very careful with his money. One could say he was true to his scotch heritage.

When Ellen and I were young and our family was living in Overland Park, Grandpa loved to hold us on his lap and sing to us. He sang war songs like In the Navy, A Long Way to Tipperary, Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition etc. He also liked to sing the traditional songs of Scotland. We listened to I Love A Lassie,Bonnie Banks o Loch Lomond and other ballads. One favorite was a drinking song called A Wee Deoch-an' Doris. Grandpa would sing the chorus.:

Just a wee deoch an' doris
Just a wee drap, that's a'
Just a wee deoch an' doris
Afore ye gang awa'
There's a wee wifey waitin'
In a wee but an ben
If ye can say "It's a braw, bricht.
Moonlicht nicht,"
Then yer a'right, ye ken.

Grandpa would also sing Come Josephine in my Flying Machine. I can still hear him singing it in my head. A few years ago I was going through a rough patch. I dreamt that Grandpa flew a WWI plane close to where I was standing. He actually dipped the plane so that I could see him. Then he winked at me. That dream made me feel happy. I felt that we are not alone or forgotten.

There were times when Grandpa got older that I lost patience with him. I hope he forgives me. He did not deserve my rude behavior. I wish all his great- grandchildren and great great grandchildren could have known him. They would have known a fine man.