What Memories do you have of your Father
(his name, birth date, birthplace, parents, and so on)?
Here is where we will find a gap in my life. I actually know very little about my father. What I do know as personal experiences are mostly after I became an adult and went searching for him.
I do vaguely remember family things when I was very young. Things like Christmas Morning, Thanksgiving dinner, always having a sit down dinner, his electronics for the Air force, and him in his uniform. I remember him listening to Johnny Cash records. He would sit in the "front room" with a chair positioned for the best sound from the record player and loving to hear Johnny Cash. I remember him chasing my mom down the hallway and giving her a kiss. I remember his swatting her with a towel in fun. I remember him building my Mom a rock garden in the back yard because she loved gardening. I remember his deep machine gun laugh. Those are good memories for me.
But from elementary school age forward, I grew up without my Dad. He was gone -
(remarried in 1969 to Gillian Diane James 1 Jan 1941, born in India, India, raised in England)
most of my life with no contact. I really don't know what drove him to leave us, he would never say. My sisters and I have discussed the infamous "why" but we will never really know. Each one of us has a different experience with him, so each one of us has our own opinion, and that's okay too. He was absent most of my childhood, and was what they call now a "deadbeat dad". Very little money came from him.... and it was court ordered. But nothing else - ever. I was 18 when I moved to SLC Utah and began to wonder where my father was. I found him through the military, and he and Gill were living in Queen Creek, Arizona. We chatted for months on the phone, then he asked me to come visit. Meeting him at the Airport for the first time was quite an experience. Imagine, walking up to a man sitting in a corner, and saying "Hi I'm Bobbi Twining, are you Robert Twining, my Dad? You have to live it to understand it. The visit was pleasant, and I enjoyed hearing about him and his life.
He asked me to move to AZ, and I did. We had a good solid relationship for a couple of years. None of my sisters nor my mom knew about it.- he asked me not to tell them where he was. I got married (he and Gill came to my wedding) and he knew and loved my two oldest children. Daddy moved to Young Arizona where he completely built his home, lived off the land and seemed to be very happy. My husband loved visiting him because he was an outdoors man, a hard working man, and enjoyed learning things from him. After a while Daddy told me that it was okay for me to tell my sisters where he was. My younger sister Judy, moved in with me and went for a visit a couple of times, and then Joanne came to AZ to visit him. Joanne ended up moving to Young. Then suddenly one day, he left. Packed up his belonging, walked away from his property, and never said a word to me about it all. I found out about it when my husband and I drove to Young for a visit. His house was empty. I have my thoughts as to what happened. Its all speculation and heresay so its not worth mentioning. A year or so later he wrote to me and said that he had to leave urgently and he could not tell me where he was. If I wanted to write to him, I could write via a relative of my husbands who was his neighbor in Young. I never did write. I supposed my feelings had been hurt. It seemed we were back to square one again. After finding him and having a good relationship, and having him walk away I was a little crushed. A couple of years later he called me and told me he was in Idaho. I went for a visit. It was nice but not the same as our relationship had changed. We corresponded back and forth a couple of times. But, years passed and he became ill. Louella, Judy and I visited him. He passed away shortly thereafter. He was cremated, and is buried in his backyard garden in his home in Idaho. Here I am 60 years old and it still hurts a little, but I have come to grips with it. He is my father, my blood, and I must accept it and I am glad to have a few happy memories with him. I forgive you Daddy and I love you!
My Dad was pretty talented. He worked well with his hands, and was really very smart. He was an electronic engineer for the Air Force and after retiring there, he also retired from Boeing Aircraft in Surprise Arizona. When in Queen Creek and Young, he ran a little woodcraft business making wooden toys for children. He knew a lot about gardening and how to be self sustaining. He gave me his hands and feet. I wish I had known him better but luckily, we will meet again someday.
Robert Lewis Twining,
25 Dec 1931 to 2 Nov 2004,
Binghamton, Broome, New York.
His Father was:
Glenn Joseph Twining
22 June 1904 - 23 Nov 1965
Richford, Tioga, New York
Glenn grew up as a farmer and later was a military man. He retired from the US Navy and then worked as a civilian in New York shipyards. I am not sure of his job but he met with a lot of the military leaders. He had a large part in creating a specific type of aircraft carrier. Growing up, as times were hard, he bounced back between his mother and his grandparents. Later as a married man, he often lived separated from his wife due to work. Jo lived in Pennsylvania, and he lived in New York. It was not a great distance and in those times, it was done frequently for work. I remember seeing him only once or twice. He had the most beautiful blue eyes and a very soft voice. He came to Texas for a visit. Other than that, I don't remember seeing him.
His mother was
Rowena Josephine "Jo" Ainey
7 July 1911-7 Feb 1987
New Milford, Susquehanna, Pennsylvania
Jo was a beautiful woman growing up as seen in the below pictures. She was always very stylish, even as an older lady. I don't know if she ever worked but I think she was a homemaker and possibly incapable of working. There is speculation from other relatives of possible mental issues and alcoholism. I remember her coming for a visit to TX and staying at Aunt Lola's house, but as a youngster that is all my memory consists of. In her old age, she moved to Young and lived in a trailer with Gill's mother for a few years. I visited her in Young a couple of times. She told me some family stories and gave me some family pictures. I enjoyed the couple of hours I spent with her as an adult. She traveled to Colorado to visit her youngest child Nicky where she passed away. She was cremated and is buried in Denver Colorado.
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