"Some people shovel. Some people don't. Hickens shovel."
~Clyde W. Hicken
Bonnie's dad passed away on July 12, 2006. He was 93 at his death and had a good life. I had been retired almost 10 years at the time of his death and had enjoyed spending a lot of time with Clyde during his final years. He was a great father to Clyde R. and Bonnie, and became like a second father to me. Both Clyde and Lenore, Bonnie's mother, were known for their wit, and their uninhibited way of talking. I've was with Clyde many times in a clothing store when he would walk up to a total stranger who was looking at a hat to buy and say, “You should buy two of those.” The stranger would inevitably say, “Why?” And Clyde would say, “One to shit in, and the other to cover it up!” On a dark night he would say, “It's blacker than the inside of a cow!” He picked up one of his favorite comments from Lenore's dad. If they had company at the house and it was getting late, Clyde would always say, “Well, I'm home. I wish the rest of you were!” I was surprised, and honored, when Clyde R. asked me to be one of the speakers at Clyde’s funeral. I think of Clyde often and spend some solitary time on the anniversary of the day he left us to remember the good times I spent with him.
As you can see in the photos below, Clyde had a great smile and a sparkle in his eye. The baby in the first photo is Jenny. In the last photo Clyde is on my Honda trail bike. I wish I had a photo of us the time he rode sissy with me on the Harley along the Coast Highway when we lived in Solana Beach.
