After Dad retired, Mom encouraged him to start painting again. She knew he liked creating portraits, wanting some of the grandchildren. Plus, she wanted him to keep busy at something she knew that he liked doing. Dad began getting back into the "groove" by creating charcoal sketches. On one occasion when I brought my family back to Quincy for a visit, Mom told me that Dad had forced her to sit for these pictures. She was not happy about that! Dad was a perfectionist, and made her sit still for long stretches of time. Note that she is not smiling here. Ha! I couldn't help but chuckle, because Dad had done the same thing to my older brother, Wal, and myself when cutting our hair. We were typical boys, and it was torture for us to sit still while he tried to create a masterpiece with the hair on our heads!