My father was born 116 years ago today. [View all]

He lived in Georgia his whole life, which was not that long. He worked as a meat cutter (butcher) and cook in local restaurants. He died June 26, 1960 before his 51st birthday...and before my 11th. I only remember him in episodes and in stories. One story I learned at my mother's funeral was from a woman who said "You could tell Caswell how many people you wanted to feed, he would tell you how big a roast you needed and how to cook it." I remember the year when his boss came to the house before Christmas with his bonus. This was the owner of the local grocery store where he worked as the butcher. I am pretty sure it was 1959 and I saw the first $100 bill I had ever seen. It was an incredible bonus for the time. Years later, I was able to tell the owner's on how much that story meant to me.