History or Legends

Tomorrow morning Eldon and Diana Neves are going to fly to Africa to serve on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They will be serving in Sierra Leon. It will be a very different world from their ranch in Utah. Eldon is the other grandfather of my tiny granddaughter Lily Katherine Neves. Eldon usually wears boots, a hat for shade and a graying moustache. Lily has adored her grandpa and his moustache. He would get down on the floor to talk to her and she would immediately reach out to touch his moustache.

A week ago he shaved his moustache off, in preparation for serving as a missionary. The first time that Lily saw him she was a little frightened because she did not know who he was. Even after seeing him several times without his facial hair, she still reached out looking for his moustache today when she said good-bye.

My little granddaughter's attachment to her other grandfather reminded me of a story that Muriel/Mom used to tell about her grandfather Will Harkness. Will was a tall handsome man who served for awhile as a sheriff. He reminds me a lot of Eldon Neves.
If I remember the story correctly, Will Harkness had lots of brown hair but as sometimes occurs he had a contrasting moustache. One day Will decided that he was going to have his red moustache dyed brown to match his hair. When he got home from the barbershop with his brown moustache, instead of running to meet their dad, his children fled in terror. They cried and wanted to know where their real father was. The next day Will returned to the barbershop to have his facial hair returned to its original color.

Several years ago, I had a chance to visit with Muriel's brother Archie. He was the last surviving sibling of her family. Since it had been years since Mom had told me about the moustache, I asked him about his memories and he told me he didn't recognize the story. I have a feeling though that my vague memory of this story of Will Harkness is true. His tiny dark haired wife always said that he was the most handsome man in the world.