Grinning through trials

Harold Mack - 1936

This happy boy is my dad, Harold Arthur McCracken, in 1936, at age 9. Are those new overalls? The buttons still gleam. His grin tells me that life was good for him at this moment, but life in general in the Mack (McCracken) home was difficult. His father, Demar, was suffering from advanced skin cancer. 

Demar Mack

My father has clear memories of the trips to Salt Lake City for his father's painful cancer treatments. He can remember his father's dependence upon pain medications that became less and less effective as the cancer progressed. Demar's frequent cries to his wife Lucille for more medication still ring in my dad's ears. Lucille in her compassion would often succumb to her husband 's demands for medication beyond the doctor's recommendations, to relieve his pain.

And yet, there is a smile on little Harold's face. He has continued with optimistic cheer throughout his life, in spite of trials and hardship. He learned while young the benefits of counting blessings and looking on the bright side of life. 

During this time period Demar, Lucille, Harold, and Ramona lived in the front 1/3 of the old lumberyard building in Tetonia which had been divided into apartments. This is the building as it looks today (2015). Dad tells me that it hasn't changed significantly from the way it looked when it was his home.

My Grandfather, Demar, passed away in 1938, just a couple weeks shy of his 41st birthday.