|
Dillard Earle Carter (deceased)
Dillard was my real father. He died in 1981. His
aorta burst after a triple heart bypass operation. He is survived by
seven children (three from the first marriage and four from the second
marriage) and his wife Joyce (third marriage). Dillard was a member of
the Masons. He lived in Concord, CA.
I never knew Dillard. My mother left him right after
I was born. It wasn't until I saw this picture (in 9/99) that I knew
what my father looked like.
|
Joyce Carter (deceased)
Joyce was Dillard's fourth and last wife.
Joyce is seen here playing with Scott Carter's cat Simba.
|
Tuesday afternoon (9/14/1999) my older brother David
called me at work. "John, did you know we have a half-brother named
Scott?"
Bowl me over with a feather!
My father Dillard wasn't as prolific as I was given to believe. But he did
mix it up a bit with women. My mother was his first wife. Three children.
Then he married my mother's friend (who later become my Aunt when my mother
married her friend's brother) without realizing that his divorce wasn't final
- so that was annulled quick-time. Next he married Barbara May Dandliker.
They had four children, one of whom was Scott Edward Carter (born Earl Edward
Carter). Barbara had insisted that Dillard get a vasectomy, so he did. After
that divorce, he married a woman half his age as a good-will gesture to give
the child she was bearing (which wasn't his) a name. After the child was
born, they split. He then married Joyce Bertha Stanton (nee Denton) whom he
stayed with until he died in 1981. He lived in Concord, CA at the time of his
death. I knew he lived close by, but he kept his whereabouts secret from me
for all my life, for reasons I'll never know.
Scott tells me that since he became an adult that he had been looking for his
older sister and brothers. He knew about us from discussions he had with
other family members. It took nearly 25 years of searching. Scott lives about
60 miles from me. In a more or less desperate measure, he searched the
internet for names of family members he knew about. He came across David,
gave him a call, and that night he met with me, David, my older sister Polly,
and my mother. Scott brought his wife Gretchen with him. What a time we had
recollecting memories and sharing really weird stories.
In all, Scott seemed to be the most elated over finding us. For him it was
pretty much the end of a long, trying episode of his life. At 54 he can now
relax knowing that he can enjoy the rest of his life with family that is
close by and more than willing to be with him. For me, I find in Scott a
kindred spirit. Much of our interests and activities have been the same
throughout our lives. And for sure, the emotion I felt while listening to his
stories of Genealogy searches and the successes he has had in tracing our
family back four generations on our father's side and even farther back on
our father's mother's side, well, it nearly brought me to tears.