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Uncle Charlie's Molly and Dolly and the Dignity of Work
I’m not sure why Uncle Charlie gave a name to each of the saw horses but it sure brought a big
smile to his face as he watched my reaction. “Molly and Dolly” I said. “Why names on a couple
of saw horses?” As was often the case there was no verbal response, just Uncle Charlie’s
great smile. When there was work to be done, joy and satisfaction were his helpers.
Charlie had left school and the family farm in Saskatchewan at age 15. Over the years he did
many different kinds of work and if a job required a set of skills then he learnt them.
Charlie could have been almost anything that he wanted to be but the lack of schooling
and the desire to be on the move held him back. He liked construction work best of all
his jobs. “At the end of the day” he told me once, “you can see what you have accomplished”.
He took great pride in his work and never cut corners.
Uncle Charlie played a role in my life as I was growing up. It was to Uncle Charlie that
I was sent by my mother when I needed to be “straightened out”. He was the one who let
me drive his truck when I was only 13 years old and when I was older and with a license he
let me borrow the truck to go on dates. It was into Uncle Charlie’s care that I was put for
a summer when at 16 I decided to quit school. Uncle Charlie was insulating a large cold
storage building that summer for a winery. The job given to me by Uncle Charlie (to teach
me a lesson I realize now) was to tar the large sheets of insulating styrofoam before
Charlie attached them to one of the walls of the storage building. By the end of the
summer my jeans and shirt were so covered in dried tar that they could stand up by
themselves! I hated the job and told Charlie. He looked at me and said, “Georgie,
every job has value and you can be proud of what you do if you try your hardest”.
A lot of words from Charlie but ones I have never forgotten. By the end of summer
I knew what hard labour was and I knew I wanted something better for my future.
Charlie only smiled when I was enthusiastically back at school that September.
Eight years later I graduated from university as a teacher and Charlie was there
in the audience with that great smile. I could see the pride in his face and I
loved this man because he had made such a big difference in the direction for my life.
My wife and I bought some cottage property one summer and Charlie was soon on the phone to
find out what I was going to build. “Well Charlie I think I need a large garage first,
almost a barn actually”. “Good” he said “I like building barns” and I could hear the
glee in his voice and could picture the smile. It gave me such a feeling of well being.
“It will have to be next spring Charlie because of the financing”. “Ok” he said “I will
make up the plans”. Like I said Charlie didn’t have much formal education but he was
the epitome of the self made man who learns from experience and applies it well.
Charlie laid out the plans for me early one spring afternoon. It was a beautiful looking garage
not as big as a barn but big enough. He had all the elevations drawn and the measurements for
every section. Listed on the side of the drawings were all the materials we would need right
down to the number of ½ penny nails. When we finished the building there was hardly a nail or
a board left over. Charlie had figured it out perfectly.
Early one spring morning Charlie arrived with his tools and his smile. “Let’s get started”
he says before I hardly had a chance to welcome him. “Ok Charlie I’ll get my hammer and
the plans”. “Don’t need the plans Georgie”. I was still Georgie after 25 years of being
an adult. “Sure we do Charlie”. The big smile formed again on his face as he slowly
raised his hand and with one of his thick sinewy fingers he pointed at his temple.
“It’s all here” and it was. He never once looked at the plans during the building
of the garage. “First”, he says, we need a couple of saw horses”. With that he grabbed
his saw and with in minutes of some sawing and nailing there stood Molly and Dolly ready
to work. When we finished the roof he did a little jig up there and sang out “look at me,
turning 80 next week and I can still build a barn!” I had tears in my eyes. Oh yes, I found
out during our many conversations that summer that Charlie had been in charge of a team of
horses many years before at a logging site out west. The horses were called Molly and Dolly.
Uncle Charlie is gone now. My son helps me with projects around our cottage and every time we start
one and the saw horses come out I think of Charlie. I look again at Molly and Dolly and I say with
a bit of a catch in my voice, “OK Uncle Charlie what are we going to build today?” I know that his
smile and guidance and values are there to pass on to my son. Thanks Charlie for the lessons.
George A Brooks is a retired elementary school teacher. After retiring
he and his wife Susan moved from the Niagara area of Ontario to northern Ontario where
they have a four season home on Ahmic Lake. They enjoy the outdoors and are very involved
in community in which they live. They are both elders at the local Presbyterian Church where
George is often called on to read the scripture lessons and write plays for the Sunday school
children to perform. George writes children’s stories, memoir and fictional stories.
George and Susan have two adult children and two grand children .Travel, hiking and
outdoor activities round out their lives.
In March of 2009 George placed first in a writing contest sponsored by the Arts Council of Muskoka
called "Writing Out Loud". If you Google George Brooks and scan to Almaguin News "George Brooks
Brings Tusker Alive" you will learn more about the author.One of his memoir stories is being published
in January 2010 by Spiral Press in a collection called "Stories of Prayers and Faith".
Email: George A Brooks
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