And I bear record that I saw the things which my father saw . . .

And I bear record that I saw the things which my father saw . . .

First Nephi. Chapter Fourteen. Verse 29.

My father never saw much, working in a bar all day,

Except a bunch of barflies who sometimes refused to pay.

No exalted visions that I know of came to him;

The last thing he would ever do is sing a solemn hymn.

But he brought home a paycheck ev’ry week for forty years,

Which is more than I could do with all my pious tears.

My father may have had his faults and never prophesied;

But by his lights he always did the right thing, or he tried.

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A FB pm from my nephew Rob about this poem:

SiffyandTor Torkildson Tork was not the best family man, those of us in his family, can attest. But, as you mention, he managed to keep the money coming in for a base stability. What you may not know, as you were never a barfly, is the hundreds of people who came to the bar to share their hardships with Tork, borrow money when times were tough, and the saint-like status he had at Arones. I lived it and witnessed it. There were over a thousand people at his funeral to attest to this "Buddha Bar Bartender" who helped so many on the edge. They still talk about his generosity down on East Hennepin. I loved him and often hated him. Rob