About the Author
M. Franklin Parrish is a native Hoosier by origin, having been raised from childhood in Decatur, Indiana. The author grew up in a home originally built in 1850 and was owned by his Great Grandfather prior to the Civil War. Mr. Parrish is a graduate with high distinction and departmental honors in both Political Science and History from the Indiana University College of Arts and Sciences (1972), elected to the Gamma Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa (1972), and holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence Degree from the Indiana University School of Law (1975) in Bloomington, Indiana.
BROTHERS FOR LIFE
BROTHERS FOR LIFE is a true story of the hardships and momentous events that two brothers, Myles F. Parrish (my Father) and Richard K. Parrish (my Uncle), experienced together from early childhood and throughout their entire lives. It is a narrative of faith, hope, tenacity, and the willingness of two brothers to risk everything in their determination to overcome all adversities. Each brother was driven by some deeply embedded inner psyche to prove to himself, to his family, and to the community writ large, that he could not only survive but that he would also be “a victor in the midst of strife.”
Memorable Moments and Events
My most favorite event happened at 5:17 PM on May 19, 1951, when my Uncle in the delivery room at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana, forced the attending physicians to immediately perform a cesarean (c-section) on my Mother. He knew the umbilical cord was wrapped around my neck. Had they waited and not followed Dr. Parrish’s orders, I would have been born DEAD. I owe my life to him. That says it all.
There are a series of less dramatic moments: I always wondered what happened to the woman after she took off her full-length fur coat and was standing “stripped naked” in the Barbershop. Dad never finished that story.
I also remember when Richard (my cousin) and I found in the attic of their home on South Second Street a large banner welcoming people to the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles. Things were so bad at home that my Uncle at age 18 one hot summer night hopped on a Pennsylvania freight train and road the rails to California. He eventually brought that banner back to Decatur after being located cutting hair in Flagstaff, Arizona.
