Elder Ivan Ijames - My Dad - A testimony by son Calvin Ijames
ELDER IVAN IJAMES – MY DAD By Calvin Ijames 7/22/88
DAD – THE ANCIENT MAN
The year of 1942 is remembered by many people for many things. World War II was the talk of the day, but the son of Elder Ivan Ijames remembers friends and relatives coming to his home on the fourth day of January in that year to celebrate his dad’s birthday. At the age of eight when ten was far away and sixteen didn’t seem like it would ever come – Calvin heard someone say his dad was thirty. In response to that depressing news Calvin asked: “WHO WOULD EVER WANT TO BE THAT OLD?”
DAD – THE MAN WITH FORESIGHT
While Calvin was a small boy he remembers riding on a trailer load of logs which was pulled by the tractor his father was operating. The disappointment came when his dad stopped and asked Calvin to get off the trailer and walk behind. Calvin thought it was so cruel for him to be walking while his dad was riding. When the trailer crossed the next rough spot just a few feet away, all the logs came off the trailer. The wisdom of a thoughtful father spared Calvin from a serious tragedy.
DAD – THE MAN WITH COMPASSION FOR FAMILY AND FRIENDS
Calvin has never forgotten the tender hands of his mother and the sincere prayers of his father when he became seriously ill with what appeared to be an appendicitis attack. It was no small matter for Calvin’s father to seek for medical help in the middle of a rainy night, but compassion for his son led him to make that decision.
There was no hospital in our town, and no telephones in the rural area where we lived more than 40 years ago. Our 1932 model Chevrolet did well to transport us safely during daylight hours and it was hardly expected to make a long trip in the middle of a rainy night. Any speed above 25 miles per hour was too fast for the headlights, the tires, and windshield wipers. Indeed it was a difficult decision, but compassion for a sick son and a depressed wife led Calvin’s father to say: “Get him ready mom, I’ll take him to the hospital.”
The plans for a trip to Statesville were altered a few minutes later because the dead battery said “No” when Elder Ijames solicited the car’s help. This complicated the matter for the compassionate father, but it didn’t change his determination to get medical help for his sick son. In the middle of that rainy night he got a favorable response from the mule he asked to take him two and one half miles on muddy roads where no night light were shining to Grandpa J. A. Ijames’ house. The God of heaven saw his efforts and heard his prayers along that wet journey. Calvin was asleep without any pain when he returned with Grandpa Ijames’ car about an hour later.
The compassion Elder Ijames had for mankind reached more than members of his family. Several times during Calvin’s boyhood he heard his father say: “We need to finish cultivating our crop this week so that we can cultivate the crop of our sick neighbor next week.” Cultivating a crop in those days was more than sitting on a tractor a few hours plowing out the weeds around plants in two or four rows each trip across the field. It meant walking behind a man and mule cultivator which was pulled across the field two times for every row. Cultivating a sick neighbor’s crop required several days of hard work. Elder Ijames taught Calvin the Christian’s compassion for needy citizens more than 40 years ago, and the influence of that training remains until this day.
DAD – THE MOTIVATOR
When Calvin was around ten years old – his father said: “The only child in most families are hardly worth a dime. If you grow up to be spoiled and no good – I don’t intend for it to be my fault.” From that tender age to manhood Elder Ijames replaced Calvin’s gifts of dollars, quarters, dimes, and nickels with opportunities to earn the money he needed.
Working daily on the family farm with jobs like cutting wood, milking cows, and picking cotton – was Calvin’s contribution for room and board. Money for personal items including clothes and school supplies came from Calvin’s work away from the family farm. Opportunities were arranged by Elder Ijames for Calvin to split wood, feed chickens, and mow lawns. The operator’s feet were the only machines to ride when mowing lawns in those days, and his muscles were the only motors available to turn the mower’s blades. It was hard work for a boy who weighed less than 100 pounds, but the salary of ten cents per hour made it worthwhile.
Calvin has never forgotten the time when his father arranged for him to get a 50% raise. Elder Ijames said it was worth five cents more on the hour when Calvin provided the mule and plow to cultivate the neighbor’s garden. There was no charge to Calvin from Elder Ijames for the mule and plow. The generous arrangement made by his father allowed Calvin to keep the whole fifteen cents for every hour of the skilled labor.
Training Calvin to be a responsible citizen included teaching him to put away one penny out of every dime he earned for the support of God’s work. A jar was kept in an appropriate place for his tithe.
Earning money from special jobs like picking blackberries and taking them on the Greyhound bus for sale in town – continued until Calvin was in High School.
Elder Ijames gave his consent for Calvin to be a school bus driver when he reached the age of sixteen, and that noble job paid $20.00 per month. The big money came when Calvin drove his bus and picked cotton on a neighbor’s farm. It wasn’t uncommon for him to drive his bus to school, walk one and one half miles from school to the Greyhound bus station, ride the 9:00 A.M. bus to the cotton field, pick 100 pounds of cotton, ride the 2:00 P.M. bus back to the station, walk the one and one half mile back to school, and drive the school bas back home. It was a big sacrifice, but the money was big too. One dollar for driving the school bus, plus three dollars for picking 100 pounds of cotton, less one half dollar for riding the Greyhound to and from the cotton field – gave Calvin a profit of three and one half dollars which was excellent wages for any teenage boy in 1950. It was difficult t for parents or teachers to complain when a student stayed out of school a few days for such a good reason.
This information is provided to give proper credit to Elder Ijames (the motivator) when compliments or complaints are registered about Calvin’s past, present, or future addiction to WORK.
DAD – THE MAN WITH HIGH REGARD FOR DISCIPLINE
It is reasonable to think that Elder Ivan Ijames inherited his regard for discipline from his father (Grandpa J. A. Ijames) who had the reputation of staying in control at home, in the classroom, and elsewhere. The formula both men used to have children and youth submit to authority was: “BE GENTLE AS YOU CAN, BUT FIRM AS YOU HAVE TO BE.” They knew how to be MEEK without being WEAK. Oral reprimands were satisfactory when they got satisfactory results, but the rod was used freely when the stubborn will wouldn’t submit to the mild discipline.
The most effective discipline Calvin remembers – came when he was sixteen years old. It wasn’t a mild oral reprimand or thunder from the rod, but it got positive attention and results.
A fellow teenager school bus driver slipped the governor key which controlled the speed of school buses from the bus garage, and had a duplicate key make at a locksmith shop. The same driver changed the speed of his bus from the maximum limit of 35 miles per hour to 50 or maybe 60 miles per hour. The temptation to put more peddle to the metal swept through the fleet of bus drivers, and Calvin was among those who used his friend’s key to get more speed from Davie County’s bus number 33.
One day Calvin’s father asked him two unexpected questions which put a damper on the thrill of driving at high speeds. The first question was: “What is the speed limit for school buses?” Calvin responded: “35 miles per hour.” The next question was: “How do you explain the fact that I didn’t catch up with you today when I was driving at the speed of 50 miles per hour?” There was no easy answer for that second question, and Calvin didn’t understand why his father didn’t press the issue, but he got a clear understanding of the matter the following day. Calvin was sent to the principal’s office shortly after he arrived at school the next morning, and the officer who was waiting to talk with the bus driver started the meeting with these words: “Mr. Johnson, we would have less trouble with our bus drivers if every boy’s father would cooperate with us like Calvin’s dad.” His next statement was: “Calvin, you may as well tell the truth about what you did to bus 33 because your dad wouldn’t make up a lie about you speeding.”
Calvin regards his father’s action relative to the speeding school bus as first-class discipline. That was the incident which left no doubt that his father would do whatever it took to have him submit to authority.
The motivator with foresight, compassion, and discipline – CALVIN’S FATHER – honored July 22, 1988.
William Calvin Ijames
May 7, 1998
I wrote this almost ten years ago to honor my dad for what I observed during my boyhood days. With God’s help I plan to meditate on this during the remainder of my life because it provides the best memories I have of him.
WILLIAM CALVIN IJAMES