“Make him quit, Momma.” Words such as these characterize much of my memory of my little sister during our growing years of the 1930’s. Margaret had lots of playmates in our early years, while I had to leave the neighborhood to find boys to play with. As we grew up I had casual friends among the boys, but only Bill Cornn became a close friend. Margaret on the other hand, had a circle of friends whom I perceived to be close friends. 

Studying was never one of my favorite activities. I was always happy to be passed to the next grade at the end of the school year. I was surprised to learn that my little sister was passed not to the next grade, but that she skipped a grade entirely. That made me more envious of her—to have a sister smarter than I. I suspect that envy was one reason I felt compelled to annoy her now and then. 

I had always wanted a brother to play with. Other boys had brothers. What did I have? A little sister who didn’t need my protection. By and by I gave up the idea of a brother. I’d just have to make do with a sister. We did get along together most of the time. 

A month after my twelfth birthday my parents presented me with a brother. He was a big baby, about eleven pounds worth. Here was my brother, but he was about ten years late. I wasn’t as thrilled as others were. What games could I play with a baby? I had longed for a boy we could play ball, explore the woods, swim in the river, who needed a big brother to look out for him. What this kid needed was a nursemaid and later a babysitter. 

My brother was named James Marion Jessee after our two grandfathers. You can guess what famous outlaw inspired Jimmy’s nickname. Jimmy soon grew into a handsome toddler with blond, curly hair. As the toddler grew, so did his hair, with no diminishing of the curls. He was indeed a handsome young lad. Yes—even a pretty one. Certainly his mother concurred in this opinion for he sported his long curly tresses until he was old enough to start school. Momma seemed to grieve over his first boy-style haircut. I often wondered if she secretly wished that he had been born a girl. 

By the time that Jimmy started school I was off to college, and I saw little of him from then on—only on my short visits home from college. I was pretty much too preoccupied with my own concerns to notice what Jimmy was up to. Margaret filled me in on her activities, friends, etc., and what she knew of my classmates. 

Two years after my graduation from high school, Margaret followed. She enrolled in Eastern Kentucky State Teachers College with the idea of teaching school upon graduation, which she did. In a few years she met and married Ray Givens, of Middlesboro, Kentucky. They subsequently moved to Oak Ridge, Tennessee. There they both worked in the atomic energy industry until their retirement. Ray worked in one or more of the plants while Margaret worked in the publication arena.

The Givens’ had two children, Jana, who eventually got tired of being called “Janna” and changed her name to Jayna, and Rick. Jana, the firstborn, came along about ten years after my family was complete. I told Margaret that I had no envy of her future in raising teenagers in her old age. But it seems that they managed all right. It seems that a good deal of their upbringing happened on Norris Lake. Ray almost always owned a boat of one kind or another, which the family used often. Norris Lake was nearby to their home and convenient on weekends. Fishing was a favorite sport. 

Meanwhile, I finished my college career at the University of Kentucky with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree. I was immediately hired as a student engineer by Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company. I had three work assignments at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. My fourth and final student assignment took me to Lima, Ohio. All student engineers were encouraged to get off the student course in favor of regular employee status. This, of course, negated the student deferment and subjected us to the draft. World War II had yet a year and a half to last. Before I was really settled into my new job, Uncle Sam said that my number was up. So ended my brief foray into the industrial world. Following basic training at Camp Crowder, Missouri, I was shipped off to Signal Corps training at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. Even before I learned Morse code, a physical examination revealed that a lump on my throat was a benign tumor on my thyroid gland. An army surgeon removed it and I was discharged from the army. More than forty years passed before I learned that the surgeon took half my thyroid gland with the tumor. 

After serving eight months in the army I made my way back to Lima to resume my chosen career as an engineer. There I met Mary Werff, a comely young woman whom I courted for a year. We were married and raised a family of four children. 

Back to brother, Jimmy.  I know very little about his life as a school boy. I have the impression from my parents that Jimmy was a kid filled by wanderlust. He showed up at my house in Lima for a short stay. Shortly thereafter, at age 15, he married a girl of his age from Covington, Kentucky. In 1953 or ’54 Jimmy brought his family, Peggy, I believe, and two daughters for a visit with us in Lima. About all I remember about the visit is that it was pleasant and that his daughters, Carrol Ann and Bobbie (Barbra) were about the ages of my daughters, Catherine and Susanna. They played together in the backyard on a summer day. Jimmy moved his family to California where they had another child, Mike. On a business trip in 1959 to Los Angeles, I stayed over to visit them. Jimmy was not home and Peggy didn’t know where he was. While there I got word that our mother had died. I cut short my visit and went to her funeral. Jimmy never showed. I never heard from him after that for many years.

It is my belief that Jimmy and Dad had some disagreement, probably about money, though I don’t know. I do know that many years passed without any of the family hearing from him. It was not until after Dad’s estate was settled that it was possible to find him. I suppose the banking system found him. 

Margaret got in touch with our brother and later she and Ray paid him and his third wife, Dorothy, a visit at their Northridge, California home. Soon after, we began to correspond by greeting card. Meanwhile I had married my third wife, Dorothy Phillips. 

My Dorothy and I were on a trip to New England when we got word from Margaret that Jim and Dorothy were touring North Carolina, looking for a retirement home, and world stop in Oak Ridge for a visit. We were invited to join the visit. We cut short our vacation trip and headed home via Oak Ridge.

Meeting my brother for the first time in some forty years was somewhat awkward, but entirely welcome and congenial. Our Dorothys became friends quickly. His became Dorothy-I and mine, Dorothy-II—to avoid confusion, of course. Dorothy I was the first of the two to become a Jessee. Jim was a distinguished looking man, lightly bearded, about 6’4’’ tall and outweighing me by at least 60 pounds. His curls were long gone, of course, replaced by a shiny pate. He spoke well and made a good impression, apparently recovered from a wild midlife which I credit mostly to Dorothy-I. Dorothy-I was a good-looking woman of slight build and good personality a few years younger than Jim. On this occasion we all talked and brought each other up to date on our present lives. It was a grand reunion which ended too soon for us all. 

Ray and Margaret had joined Dorothy and me on resort vacations in the North Carolina mountains and at a beach resort in Georgia (At Tybee Island, Georgia, we provided them a room with twin beds. As if used by newlyweds, one bed was never used.) Ray was always anxious to get back home. Nevertheless, we had a good time on our outings. We had planned another resort vacation, but this one was different. Jim and Dorothy-I were to be there. They flew in from California and the rest of us went in Ray’s van from Oak Ridge. We met at a beautiful resort in Flagstaff, Arizona for our reunion. We had a week to see the sights and get better acquainted. We did the usual tourist things: toured the Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, Sedona (Dorothy-I’s favorite), etc. Ray rode a mule down the canyon slope and back. We had only one casualty on our tours. While walking a trail having very sharp volcanic ash and stones, Jim stumbled over a rock and fell forward, suffering some bad scratches and skin punctures. Both my siblings had developed diabetes and as a result, Jim had little or no feeling in his feet. That made the trail treacherous for him. Fortunately, the injury was not serious. Nevertheless Dorothy-I was quite concerned for him for awhile. 

Jim’s son Mike, of Salt Lake City, joined us at our villa on two or three days with his wife and daughter. We all talked and laughed together. We had a good time learning about each other. Jim had studied and practiced engineering over the years. Dorothy worked for a university. In a conversation one day my brother said to me that I had been his hero, or words to that effect. I was dumbfounded. I had never thought of myself as having had any influence on him, much less anything deserving such high praise. His confession truly surprised me.  I could muster only a simple “Thank you”. I can’t remember more of the conversation. 

We all had a great week. We got along like a good family and all agreed that it was a worthwhile experience. On reflection, I shouldn’t have been surprised at Jim’s attitude toward me. After all I was his big brother, and even though we had scant contact while he was growing up, he still saw me as some kind of example. 

Jim and Dorothy moved to Fredericksburg, Texas to make their retirement home. I think they made a garden for their enjoyment. They lived there for two or three years before Jim had a massive heart attack while walking their dog. Dorothy made a memorial for Jim in their garden, I believe. It became apparent to me that Jim and Dorothy really loved each other. 

Margaret and I still survive. We learned to appreciate our brother. I had very much looked forward to more reunions with him, but now that will have to wait.