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PICTURES Walt and sisters with Nancy Thanksgiving 1951, one view Thanksgiving 1951, 2nd view Isabeau and grandparents Annabelle's first communion |
Recently my brother Gene remembered the unique birthday of our younger brother Walter. Gene's reflection appears below. It happens that my wife Nancy had written about Walt in late 2002, and her comprehensive account is here too. Both articles appear in the May-June 2004 Muse. Gene Murdock Here's a thought that just came to me as I looked at the calendar - Sunday, the fourth of April, would be brother Walter's 64th birthday. Walt was born in 1940, and had the distinction of turning 4 on 4/4/44. This immediately came to mind as I saw that this year his date falls on 04/04/04. For those of you who didn't know, Walt was killed in a bicycle accident in 1955 at the age of 15. He was apparently spinning the front wheel of his bicycle when the fork collapsed and sent him flying over the handlebars, landing on his head. I never really knew Walt, he being only about eleven when I left for the Air Force, but I do recall seeing him a couple of times before I left for Germany in 1953. Happy Birthday, Walt! Nancy Murdock [Ed. Note: The below was written for a special project a couple of years ago. My friend Paula Franklin was working on her Master's degree in art (already having her doctorate in pyschology). She asked our poetry group if any of us had had someone close die before age 30. She wanted to do manipulated computer art that included photos and painting. I gave her a list, and she chose to do a piece that included both our grandson Ben, who died at age 16, and Walter, who died at age 15. Before she came to interview us, she asked me to gather some photos and write about Walter's place in the family, Walter's relationship with them all, and the effect of his death on the family. To view Dr. Franklin's work, go to www.charm.net/~franklin, and choose Gallery. It takes a while to load, but there are three Murdock pictures.] Walter Eldon Murdock, born 4/4/40, was close to his sister Barbara in age. They came along several years after the first four. They were both babies when they moved to Hubbardston. Mom Murdock would push them up the hill from their house in a big tan baby carriage. Like most of his siblings, Walt had very dark brown hair and brown eyes. He tended not to say much, but Barbara, the only one of the eight with blue eyes, was a talker. She was sick a lot and therefore got more attention than her brother. Margie and Arthur were born fairly close together after another gap of several years. In the picture where four of us are sitting on the grass, Bob and I were having a picture taking session with his grandfather's camera. Grandpa Murdock, who had formerly tried a career in photography, had a truly remarkable camera. It had a view finder the size of the finished print. All of the pictures came out perfectly, with sharp detail. After Grandpa had taken a few shots of the two of us, he left us the camera to take some more. Later he took us into his part of the house to develop and print the shots. It was a nice, lazy Sunday afternoon. I was either 17 or 18, and we were either going steady or engaged. While we were doing our photos, three of his younger siblings asked to have their pictures taken, too, and Bob said "sure." I thought the kids should first wash up, comb their hair, and dress in their best clothes for such an auspicious photo, but Bob took them as they were. Margie was a little cranky, but we wanted to keep her from wandering in to get in her mother's way, so I picked her up. As the oldest of seven, I'd had plenty of experience in holding younger kids. There wasn't anything else going on, so Walt and Barb were thrilled to be in on this fun. Margie, born 12/3/45, had recently cut her own hair. Walt was about 9, and Barbara was about 10. Walt gave his usual big smile, as did Barb. My family lived about two miles from them, so we didn't visit back and forth all that much, but we saw them at school, church, Grange, and anything else that was happening in town. Walter was my brother Doug's age, and Barb was in my sister Polly's grade. Lennie, a year older than I, was in my grade and one of my best friends. Walter was never, to my knowledge, a troublesome child. He tended to behave quite well, and outside of a certain daring with his bike, he never had any teenage troubles in town. He wasn't as intelligent as most of his siblings, but that didn't place him in the dull category. Both Bob and Barbara skipped a grade in school. Barb was a whiz at jigsaw puzzles, also. She could put one together faster than I could get the outer edge complete. I believe both Gene and Lennie also graduated from high school with honors. Walter was an easy student to teach, but not brilliant. I took the pictures of Thanksgiving 1951. These snapshots don't show quite the whole gathering, which also included Dotty's husband Sulo and the youngest sibling, Arthur. Gene had joined the Air Force shortly after graduation from high school. From left starting with Walter, the first picture has Bob Schlicke (Lennie's husband), Margie, Lennie (posing with a huge turkey leg, which she put back after the shot), Aunt Erma, Barb, Dotty, and her daughter Wanda (I think). The other has Bob, Aunt Helen, Mom, Dad with Dottie's daughter Sally (I think) on his lap, Walt, and Barb. As can be seen, Walter was enjoying himself immensely. The Murdock family gatherings were always fun and low-keyed. The drink of choice was milk. When Walter died, it left a big hole that has never been forgotten. The gatherings went on, and we all continued to enjoy life, but we were always cognizant of the missing person. Barb in particular would mention him. Mom was always a little sad under her happiness when he was mentioned. When she later had dementia and was in a nursing home, she would name all eight of her children in order and look proud. No mention was ever made of Walter's death in that context. I really don't recall much about Walter's funeral. What I do remember is that all the kids in town around his age were present. After the funeral, they became an honor guard and walked in front of all the vehicles from the church to the cemetery, approximately 1½ miles away. Sulo drove Bob and me in his truck, and he downshifted to avoid any accident on the downhill trek. I seem to remember that the town policeman and his deputy halted all traffic in both directions. In 1998 Gene's wife died from cancer, and he asked me to do a memorial service for Chris in Hubbardston, our home town. After visiting with guests and going to the pond near the Murdock house to sprinkle ashes, he took us all out to dinner. Afterward, I bullied them all into letting me take a group picture. They lined up by age. All of the living ones were there (which is why I insisted on the picture), but I thought of Walter and his empty place in the line. I believe Barbara said she wished she'd brought a picture of Walter to hold in his place. |
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