He was my father's younger brother who my father traveled with to Tahiti and the Tuomoto Archipelago with his first wife in 1939. The chartered a yacht in Vancouver, Canada and then sailed it south first to Seattle where they lived and then to Los Angeles and Catalina Island. From Catalina Island they sailed for 40 days out of sight of any land to get to Tahiti. There was no air service to Tahiti then only a Great white Steamship that visited Tahiti once every month. They stayed on Tahiti and the surrounding islands until World War II they knew was coming for sure. Then they took the steamship to Honolulu, Hawaii and then took another ship back to Seattle just before the war started.
Then my father and his older brother became Electricians building Liberty Ships the rest of the war. They were already Journeymen electrician trained by their father in his business (all three brothers). So, the two oldest brothers worked building Liberty ships the rest of the war there in Seattle.
Tommy owned his own plane and there is a story that is likely true knowing my family about Tommy's first time piloting a plane.
Tommy was standing watching a man land his bi-plane (two wings upper and lower then in the 1930s) and Tommy talked to the man after he landed. I believe it was a two seater open cockpit so the man asked Tommy if he wanted to fly his plane. Tommy said, "Yes" and the man and he climbed into his plane.
But, Tommy didn't tell him he had never piloted a plane before. So, Tommy took off the plane with the owner in the other seat and then did a perfect 3 point landing. The owner said, "Wow! That was the best 3 point landing I've ever seen in my life."
Tommy smiled and said, "That was the first time I ever flew a plane!"
That was Tommy and maybe all you need to know about him. He was a natural at anything mechanical.
When the three brothers got jobs driving dump trucks building the Grand Coulee Dam Tommy was the one who took out the driver's seat and put in a board instead. Why? Because they weren't paid by the hour but rather by the load. So, Tommy could do more loads than anyone else because he took the seat out and replaced it with a board to sit on.
People who tried to repeat his loads per day crashed their dump trucks. No one could haul more loads or make more money than Tommy building the Grand Coulee Dam there in Washington on the Columbia River.
All these things tell you that Tommy was quite a risk taker to begin with. But, when he bought his own private plane likely because his two older brothers had been gunners on a marine Hellcat biplane in the United States Marine Reserves there in Seattle from 1934 until 1937. Eventually, Uncle Tommy was gone and all the family was sad because of this.
The family never recovered from the loss of Tommy because he was incredibly handsome and Blonde and a body builder and gymnist and as my father said, "The nicest person in the family".
So, his loss was greatly felt and the family never really recovered from his loss.
My parents both loved Tommy and thought of naming me Tommy but instead that became my middle name and not my first name.
So, I never met Uncle Tommy because he was gone in 1942 at the beginning of the war.
And I was born in 1948. But, in 1969 I was fighting suicide because of difficult things happening in my life then.
IT was then that Uncle Tommy came to me when I was at my worst and helped save my life. He came and wrote through me and told me what I needed to do to stay alive. I think now he saw how his risk taking destroyed his family and didn't want the same thing to happen to me because I was needed by my family to stay alive for them. He was greatly needed too but then he was gone.
So, Tommy came and wrote through me and kept me alive when I had no hope of going on then.
Later, in 1985 long after I had my life back by 1974 and was okay Tommy came to me one last time when my father was dying. I was working at a CDF Fire Lookout and Tommy came to me and I said to him: "Uncle Tommy. I haven't seen you in years." And he didn't say anything as he walked through the fire lookout. But, somehow I knew that he had come for Dad and was telling me Dad was going to die that day.
So, because I had a telephone there at the fire lookout once I was off duty at night I called my Dad and I said to him: "DAD! Tommy is coming for you you need to look for him." Dad said, "I don't feel very well Freddie. I need to get off the phone." So, I said goodbye to my Dad for the very last time and Tommy went and got my Dad.
Mom called me 5 hours later and told me that Dad was gone. He had passed away in an ambulance on the way to the hospital out in Yucca Valley where he and I had built a home for them there on 2 1/2 acres of land from 1968 until 1980 on weekends. Dad Passed away in August of 1985 there in Yucca Valley.
So, Tommy and I were very close like my Dad and Mom and I were too. Mom passed away in 2008 about 12 years ago now.
A good friend of mine who helped save my life in 1969, Bobby Jean, who was a member of my parents church and a good friend of my Mom's passed away in her sleep yesterday. She was in her 90s I believe and one of the most amazingly gifted people I have ever met in my entire life.
She was the one who taught me to "Live with the angels" by bringing them down for me to see them.
I realized that day that I didn't need to kill myself because I could live here on earth with the angels and be in heaven with them here on earth instead.
So, ever since that day I have learned to live here on earth with thousands and thousands of angels. If you run your energy and consciousness right you can live here on earth with thousands and thousands of angels too!
By God's Grace
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