THE BUSH FAMILY
ASAHEL BUSH III
Asahel Bush III, only son of the family, was known
as A.N. True to the family tradition, he was somewhat eccentric. I should
explain here that among people of my parents' generation, there was an
understanding regarding being eccentric. To them it meant behaving differently
from the norm, and not minding in the least what others thought about it.
One could be eccentric and still function well in society; in fact one's
persona could be enhanced by this characteristic. It added a fillip, a
piquant element.
Clothes were important to A.N., to the extent that he
owned a truly impressive collection of beautiful suits, custom-tailored
by the best clothiers in New York.
These suits hung in his bedroom closet at the Bush
house, and he spent a good deal of time taking care of them. He would take
each one in turn and brush it carefully- - -no moths here- - -then hang
it exactly right on its hanger back in the closet.
But was this an odd pastime? Be was a collector;
suits were his special interest. Many collector's cherish and care far
bric-a-brac, art works, plants, all of which require some loving attention.
Now A.N. running around the track alone
at neighboring Willamette University after midnight? That did seem odd.
When news of this activity spread among the townspeople
they began saying, not that A.N. was merely eccentric, but that he, was
slightly crazy. After all, this was the son of Salem's leading family,
and as such was expected to behave well and be a credit to the town; a
man everyone could look up to with admiration and respect, to say nothing
of the kind of trust he should inspire as their banker.
My father found out about all of this and asked
A.N. to come to his office for a visit.
(If I may be excused for taking this liberty, I
think the conversation went something like this:)
DOCTOR: Well, A.N., I'll come right to the point,
I hear you have been trotting around the Willamette track in the middle
of the night.
A.N: Doctor, sometimes I just cannot sleep, I become
so wide awake and restless I simply can't stand it. So I get up and go
for a run.
DOCTOR: And does this help?
A.N: Usually, yes. Is there anything wrong with
it? Because if there is, I plan to continue doing it anyway.
DOCTOR: Wrong? Of course not. Whatever works to
help you sleep is what you should do.
A.N; Well then? Why am I here?
DOCTOR: Because people are gossiping. In fact they
are saying you must be crazy to be doing this.
A.N: Well people be damned I say.
DOCTOR: How would it be if I let it be known that
I prescribed running when you have trouble sleeping? I think that would
calm people down. Everybody would settle back and say 'So what if he runs
out there after midnight?' Pretty soon they will be telling one another
it's probably a good thing.
And so A.N. continued running at night and sleeping
better because of it and being considered eccentric but perfectly sane.
NEXT: EUGENIA BUSH
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