Roy Messer Pearson Sr.

The picture of "Kirby" and the label on the back of it makes me wonder if this is the motorcycle mentioned by Roy Pearson Jr. on the back of that photo is the one under his father in this one. It seems a given that Roy Pearson Sr. was not the rider of this bike on the day this shot was taken as his shoes would be rather innapropriate. My Father (Bradford Pearson) spoke very fondly of his Grandfather and the time he spent at his garndparents house in Ballardvale (Andover) and though my Grandfather (Roy Jr) I remember as rather proper and stoic, I think of my Great Gradfather as more salt of the earth by the way my Father described him. But then, it really is rather hard for children to judge their parents isn't it? Parents tend to be on thier best behavior around the children and so the children really tend not to have a clear idea of who thier parents really were as viewed by thier contemporaries. I think about this a lot as I watch my Mother age and the children of my friends grow up around me. Was Roy Messer Pearson Sr as an adult person independent of his decendants, a live off the land farmer/biker dude or was he a dapper dan at heart? I like to think, much like the rest of us when we really dig deep, he was probably at heart a little bit of both.