Two Sides of Bernard

I remember two sides of Daddy. One of my favorite memories of Daddy was around their wedding anniversary June 10 when he returned from a horseback ride to the north pasture he would bring Mother a huge bouquet of handpicked wild flowers. Cowboy roses were his favorite. He continued to order azaleas around this time when he was no longer able to ride horses. Another memory is when he shipped cattle to Kansas City by train from Waynoka he would either ride with his cows or in the caboose. One time when I was about 10 we picked him up on the return trip he brought me the little German dolls that are in my shadow box.
I thought long and hard on including this memory. But maybe some descendant will show signs of it, since it seems to be hereditary, and won`t be afraid to seek medical help as some of the recent generation have. It`s what is quietly referred to by family members as the Balk Curse. Several in the family have acknowledged they suffer from it. It`s an emotional form of mental illness. In Daddy it showed itself more after middle age. The symtoms were suspicion and often imagined wrongs done by others. Sometimes he wasn`t fun to live with but with Mother`s patience he and we were able to cope.
We said goodbye to Daddy May 27,2000 after he had lived 26 years as a paraplegic. Even tho we had a hard time understanding his speech in his last hours, he made it known he wanted to kiss us his usual not 0ne kiss but Two kisses.
May I close with a tribute written by Daddy`s Greatnephew 7 years after his death.
"I remember many times my dad (one of three nephews left fatherless at an early age) speaking of his having spent summers when an older child and teenager living and working with your parents, farming.
Your father was a good and a great man, there is little question that these many months and years of direct influence on my father molded him into the above reproach reputation of which he lived. Especially the results of the terrible moment that re-defined Bernard`s life, the short fall of which left him forevermore crippled. As you know-know far more than me, your father was a mighty man, a man`s man. Many looking at the changes in their lives would have opted to end it, many would have subscribed to a never ending pity party. Bernard Balk sat back and took study of what his life was to be and in the very most genuine character of the mighty man he was, he took it with a smile and lived his remaining days with his head held high.
The courage and determination in our clan of peoples, in so many instances, is purely remarkable."
Canter Mark A. Harman
Bristow, OKlahoma
Are there any questions?