Chasing the Sock: A Brief Biography of David A. Black
This is a sample biography — limited viewing only — names, dates, and locations have been changed to protect the privacy of our client.
Filled with coincidence, convergences and just plain chance, David has led a fascinating life.
Perhaps his most defining characteristic is optimism. Sometimes his optimism is grounded in fact, at other times it seems founded in wishful thinking. He sincerely believes in the good and the abilities of others, and much of his life experiences would attest to that. But, conversely, many disappointments have been rooted in misplaced faith in others.
On the subject of faith, David is a devout and faithful Christian. In fact, his Christian belief system is a large part of what he considers to be foundational in his life. But more on that later.
He is remarkably adaptable and unafraid of diving headfirst into new ventures and new ideas. Once committed to a plan, he can be counted on to champion it with complete enthusiasm. He internalizes and externalizes the things he commits to: An example of this is his complete adaptation from a Canadian to an American (specifically Southern or Texan, depending on the circumstances) accent. This is not an affectation; he truly immerses himself into whichever milieu he commits himself to, and consequently becomes, wholeheartedly and enthusiastically, a manifestation of his own choices.
Like many people, David is split into different halves of the same traits. While he is fundamentally persuasive and focused on others, he truly needs and values his personal time and space – even to the point of describing himself as being something of a hermit. He is energetic and happy, but at times can be tired and feels the weight of his age. He can be vain about his appearance, but is also fundamentally modest, preferring to showcase the positive aspects of others rather than spotlighting his own. Still, David isn’t always saintly and has been known to be an instigator.
Visionary, strategic, entrepreneurial, inquisitive, persuasive, trusted; all these descriptors fit the traits and characteristics of David.
Why “Chasing the Sock”?
When he was quite young, David’s father bought the family a black Labrador puppy they named “Rocky”. David recalls how much his father enjoyed watching the dog and the children chasing around the farm while the dog carried a sock. The dog would race everywhere, trying to evade the children racing after him, and after a vigorous running session, the dog and all the children would come back to the porch. They were tired, worn out, tongues lolling (well, at least the dog), and completely exhausted and utterly happy.
As the story of David’s life unfolds, it seems as though he has been enthusiastically and determinedly chasing a sock in one sense or another. He has chased after many goals, sometimes reaching them, at other times tantalizingly close, and occasionally failing to achieve his goals. But he always succeeded spectacularly or failed with equal panache. His “sock” has changed many times over the years, but it seems as though his enthusiasm for the chase has never abated.
Michael and Violet — David’s Parents
David’s parents were Michael Arnold Black (1907 Innisfail – 2004 XXX), a dairy farmer and Violet Nora Cooper (1920 XXX, Saskatchewan – 1960 XXX, Alberta).
David’s father Michael married Violet in October 1947. Relating the story of how his parents met, David tells of how Michael had a friend (or perhaps an uncle) who had planned on going to Calgary to “get a wife”. Micheal commented, “if you find one for me bring her back”. David doesn’t know exactly how this came to pass, but he somehow met Violet and brought her home. Interestingly and surprisingly, Violet was pregnant at the time by another man, and ended up having twins who were born in Calgary sometime after she was wedded to Michael.
Violet already had a nine-year-old son (one of David’s half siblings) and she decided to give up the twins for adoption. Returning to their farm that night, Violet cried inconsolably. The next morning, after milking the cows, they returned to Calgary to reclaim the twins. When entering the hospital, Michael and Violet saw a couple leaving with two babies. Once inside the hospital they were told the twins had already been placed in an adoptive home and that nothing further could be done. David said that this episode “bothered them forever”. Violet was never to see her twins again.
Later, in 1995, one of David’s sisters contacted the appropriate government agencies to discover if the twins could be located and learned that this could only happen if all parties wished it. It turned out that the twins had been seeking their biological family and the Black children were reunited with the twins. They also found another half-sister four years later.
Early Family Life
David was born on October X, 1954, in XXX, Alberta, Canada, a town not far from the family dairy farm in Carstairs.
Their home was an older one, possibly built in the 1920s, although it had a few additions by the time David was born. Looking out the window, one could see a line of spruce trees and a large kitchen-garden of about ¼ acre. In that garden David only remembers growing potatoes; they typically planted about 10 rows, building up the hills, weeding, and then finally digging them up, placing them on tarps and hauling them into the cellar. He and his brothers did most of the work, but he does recall his sisters also doing some hauling, and ultimately storing away a year’s worth of potatoes.
The family was a large one. David had two sisters, three half-sisters, two half-brothers, three brothers, including his twin and 1 stepsister. As one might imagine, the household was noisy and boisterous.
He remembers that the home had an old diesel furnace on the floor of the cellar. This furnace somehow created a draft, and the local doctor believed that this draft was the cause of David’s younger brother having had several bouts of pneumonia. The doctor told David’s father that unless he changed the furnace, and if the boy came down with another case of pneumonia there would be nothing that could be done.
So, the furnace was changed to propane, and perhaps oddly, there were no more episodes of pneumonia after that.
Sadly, David’s mother Violet died in her 39th year, only five months before David would have turned six. Sick for some time, Violet and Michael had been members…