In honor of Father’s Day, I am posting this photo of my paternal grandfather, Daddy B.
He was, by all accounts, a true Southern gentleman. Born and raised in rural Georgia, he was an attorney in Atlanta for his entire career. He purchased the house my father still lives in, in 1937.
From all of the pictures of him as a young man to this one taken probably in the late 1950’s, he could only be described as “dapper.” I love the white tuxedo jacket. Guys today could take a lesson in style. I love how he appears to be holding court with adoring ladies (not my grandmother, may I add). He was a member of several social and service organizations and was apparently what would be called a “hail fellow well met.” (I don’t think that’s a Southern turn of phrase, but perhaps it is).
I never knew Daddy B myself. Born in 1890 he was in his 40’s when my father was born (and I was born when my father was in his late 30’s). The years didn’t line up for me to know him in his prime (he died when I was a toddler), and for that I am sorry.
But his younger son, (my father) likewise is a Southern gentleman, wears a suit well, rises in the presence of ladies, has a firm handshake, and a kind word. My grandfather was a teetotaler, my father nearly so. They were both attorneys. Apples not falling far from trees.
Hail to you, good Southern men. Hail.
