Oscar's House: Reflections of an Old School Childhood

By Victoria Riley

I was a child in 1970s Montana raised by a father who was age 47 when I was born. He was adopted and joined the military at 18. He traveled the world with the Airforce and when he returned he realized "people are people" and told his children, "Treat people the way you want them to treat you." He set out to raise his children with morals and to be principled even though as a young man he hadn't always been. It wasn't until he got married and became a father, that he began wanting to be an upright person. His house was organized; rules, learning lessons, laughter and anger at his subjects at times, but, he maintained that he knew how to live this life and if we listened to him and gave our parents, teachers, neighbors and each other respect half the battle would be won. He believed that the old school way of rearing children was the right way. I doubted his words until I had children of my own now and I understand he was right. And in this book I will tell you why.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Mar 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781649791016

Victoria Riley

Victoria Riley is a wife, mother and published author of two books. She was born and raised in Montana and now lives in Minnesota. She often found words from her father throughout her travels, and reflected on exactly what he meant by them? It wouldn’t be until later in her life the meaning of these as well as others would present themselves as true and as if they were prophecies written aforetime for all to benefit. As a product of her roots, Victoria gives us a unique perspective and insight into a characterizing generation and compares that generation today, leaving us to ponder those ideals, morals, and values that defined what would be called Oscar’s House.

Book preview

About the Author

Victoria Riley is a wife, mother and published author of two books. She was born and raised in Montana and now lives in Minnesota. She often found words from her father throughout her travels, and reflected on exactly what he meant by them? It wouldn’t be until later in her life the meaning of these as well as others would present themselves as true and as if they were prophecies written aforetime for all to benefit. As a product of her roots, Victoria gives us a unique perspective and insight into a characterizing generation and compares that generation today, leaving us to ponder those ideals, morals, and values that defined what would be called Oscar’s House.

Dedication

Dedicated to my father, because you gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person. You believed in me. I have loved you always and eternity is how long I will love you.

Copyright Information ©

Victoria Riley 2022

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The story, experiences, and words are the author’s alone.

Ordering Information

Quantity sales: Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address below.

Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data

Riley, Victoria

Oscar’s House

ISBN 9781649791009 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781649791016 (ePub e-book)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022901196

www.austinmacauley.com/us

First Published 2022

Austin Macauley Publishers LLC

40 Wall Street, 33rd Floor, Suite 3302

New York, NY 10005

USA

[e-mail]

[phone]

Acknowledgment

I would like to thank Austin Macauley Publishers for reading my original transcript and finding it worthy to make me a 2nd time author. What a privilege to be working with such a reputable, upstanding publisher.

A special thanks to the women of WOW – southwest led by Connie Anderson. I was always both humbled and motivated by the women writers who had a story to tell. I have learned to put my words on paper because of having lunch with such fine women every month.

A double thanks to my family Alvin, Marcus, Isabella, Alexandra, and Spencer Grace, I have a story to tell because you have graced my life with love, emotion, realness and loved me with incredible certitude. There are no words nor description grand enough to tell you of the love I have for you.

Chapter 1

Oscar’s House – Reflections of

an Old School Childhood

My father was born in 1917. He was adopted and raised by his adoptive mother along with any other older relatives that were nearby to teach him right from wrong. His natural mother had died giving birth to him. My father had an enduring sense of family and of what it took to create a strong one; a close one. He had old homespun values that he learned from sitting in his mother’s kitchen and listening to the elder, wiser women in his life. Their words filled him, and he kept those words dear to him.

My father spoke of how life had been in the old days—how different, and in some instances, how much better. Often in my childhood, I heard him say, I’m from the ‘Old School,’ and he said it with pride as if his being born 47 years before me gave him more credence, respectability, and honor. I jeered him silently, but eventually, I would see that he was right.

I do not remember my father ever mentioning his father. My father’s name was Oscar Brown, and he did not take on his adoptive family’s surname, which was Philips. He kept his birth mother’s married name—Brown. Maybe that is why I have found it difficult to trace his lineage any further back than 1917. No doubt, my father knew how easily the name Brown could have been banished from his history. I believe that because of this, he lived his life more fully and then passed his last name down to his sons.

The stories of my father’s life covered only sixty-four years but included miles of travel, seeing and meeting every nationality of people, good and bad, old and young. After he was in midlife, he had a special affinity for the older generation. He believed in their words, their beliefs, their knowledge, and guidance. Because of my father and because of my being born at the end of 1964, I know that being taught from the Old School was being taught from the right school. What follows are some of my reasons.

Chapter 2

The Social and Personal

Benefits of Work

The idea that to make a man work you’ve got to hold gold in front of his eyes is a growth, not an axiom. We’ve done that for so long that we’ve forgotten there’s any other way.

~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

My father worked from the time that he was a very young boy, he would tell us. He swept and cleaned the floors of bar rooms, worked for the neighborhood grocer, and did whatever work that was asked of him by his mother’s family or by neighbors for a small fee. Then, when he was an adult, he went into the military and spent years of intense work with men—men who were like him and who had a strong, almost innate, work ethic.

My father did not leave the military when he might have because he was still quite young. In his forties, he found himself married a second time and with five children. He was stationed in Glasgow, Montana, and when he was not at the air base, he worked at the local grocery store as a second job.

My mother invested herself at home, tending to us babies. We ranged at that time from ages seven down to newborn. My father stayed late at his jobs until the work was finished so that he could ask for more hours and readily pick up any available extra pay time. He not only had his family with my mother, who was his second wife, but he also had a daughter from his first marriage.

There was a time after I reached my teen years that I made excuses to not try my best in school or grab for chances to work a better job or try out for a school activity. I believed that the deck was stacked against a girl of color in small town Great Falls and succeeding at anything worthwhile would have to wait until I moved away. Reflecting on my dad’s life, I saw that he pushed past those type of feelings and joined the air force, believing that he could do good there and have a purpose. He rejected the feelings of inadequacy and sought out to gain in life through hard work.

I was so sad that he was adopted, although by default it was not a purposeful exchange until I understood his mother died at birth. She did not readily hand him over due to her young age or poverty or an angry father demanding she do so. His mother had no choice in the matter or even who he would be raised by. My dad must have known this, been told