So I went to Aston Park
Nursing & Assisted Living Facility the other evening. My Aunt Hester is a
resident there. She has Alzheimer’s. She
was in her mid-forties when I was born. She was a beautiful woman when she was
younger. I always got excited when my Grandma Ruby would tell me that she was
coming in for a few days. I loved Aunt Hester, she was one of my favorites. She
drove this big black Ford LTD Limited. We called them land yachts they were so
big.
Well when I was about 8
yrs old. My family was having a big get together at my Aunt Shirley’s house one
Sunday. Well the whole family was there and there is a lot of us. I got lucky,
I come from a big family. Lots of brothers, sisters, and cousins. So loads of
playmates when I was growing up. Well
any ways, let me get on with the story. We had go-carts, motorcycles,
dune-buggies and such growing. Up well this particular Sunday that I am talking
about. I had begged Aunt Hester to let me take her for a ride on the go-cart
since she flat out refused to ride on the motorcycle. Well she finally agreed.
That was her first mistake. She got on and off we went. We were riding all over
the farm and heading back to Aunt Shirley’s and we had to go across a bridge to
avoid the creek. Well my Uncle Toogie Red (Nickname) his real name is Ronnie.
He came across the bridge about the same I did, in his dune-buggy. Well instead
of stopping and giving him room to pass I hit the gas and the bridge wasn’t big
enough for the both of us, so off the bridge Aunt Hester and I went. That is
right folks right into the creek. Well Aunt Shirley’s house sets on a hill
above the meadow and everyone in the family saw what happened and come a
running down the drive to see if we were dead. Lucky for us, we landed on a
ledge about a foot above the creek. Aunt Hester had like 3 inches of room
before she would have been in the creek.
Uncle Toogie was setting on the bridge looking down at us to make sure
we were both alright.
My Dad just about beat me
half to death. Needless to say Aunt Hester and I were both a live and a little
shaken up. But we were alive and not harmed. I couldn’t set for a week after
Dad got finished beating me. I lived to tell about it years later..lol
Growing up my nearest
non-relative neighbor lived about 5 miles from my house. Like I said I come
from a large family. And growing up in a small mountain town, you were related
to everyone or nearly related to everyone. It definitely made school
interesting. Mom always told me that if I got in trouble at school, then I
would get a whooping when I got home. Yeah having relatives that worked in the
school system sucked. Because when I did get in trouble Mom was always waiting
on the front porch when I got home from school with a hickory. Now for you
uneducated folks, a hickory is a limb from a tree. Mom would use the hickory to
dish out punishment for my misbehavior at school. Now Mom had two kinds of
hickorys that she liked. The ones that when she swung it and it connected with
the flesh of your bare legs, it would bounce back and hit you again before she
got in another swing. And she liked the hickorys that when she swung they would
wrap around your bare legs two or three times. Then Mom would pull back and the
hickory would tighten up on your legs real good. That is when the pain would
set in. Because Mom would jerk that hickory back real fast and as it was
unwrapping itself from around your legs it would peel the flesh off the bone
and leave these big welts in the flesh where the hickory had been. And all the
time she was doing this, she would be saying that this was hurting her more
than you. LETS ME STOP RIGHT HERE AND SAY THAT IS THE BIGGEST LOAD OF CRAP I
EVER HEARD. She was not the one getting beat.
Now I didn’t get many whooping’s
when I was growing up, BUT when I did, Mom left instilled in my mind that I didn’t
want another one for a while. Now on this particular day, it was in the summer
time, and I was like 4 years old. My Aunt Alma had asked me to pull weeds in
her garden. Aunt Alma show me the difference between the plants she was raising
and the weeds that were trying to overtake her vegetables. I had been pulling
weeds for like 20 minutes, when my Mom sees me in Aunt Alma’s garden, yells at
me to get to the house right this minute. So I stop what I am doing and go to
the house. I had no reason to think I was in trouble, because I had not done
anything wrong. BOY WAS I MISTAKEN. I walked through the door at the house and
my Mom started beating on me. I had no idea what I had done. I was screaming
begging for mercy. Begging for my LIFE.
Mom was killing me. Well at that same moment Aunt Alma came out and saw
me missing from her garden and got worried.
So she headed to Moms to make sure something hadn’t happened to me. That
is when Aunt Alma heard me begging for my LIFE. Mom was still beating on me.
Aunt Alma came through the door at the house demanding to know what I was being
beat half to death for. Mom said, I saw him in your garden pulling up your
plants.
Well the look for sure
horror went across Aunt Alma’s face. She looked at Mom and said, Debra Jean, if
you ever lay a hand on your son again without first given him a reason to why
he is getting a whooping or without hearing his side of the story. Aunt Alma
said, I will personally bend you over my knee and whoop you. The look on Moms
face was priceless. Aunt Alma informed
Mom that she had asked me to pull weeds out of her garden. But Mom never again
gave me a whooping without explaining why I was getting the whooping or hearing
my side of the story, if I had a side to tell.
Uncle Vic had a farm at
the head of Big Snowbird. We used to go up there and work on his farm during
the summer. It is amazing how much work went into farming. That is how you
survived and made your living. Uncle Vic raised cattle on the farm. And he had
this big Black Angus bull. He was a big monster of a bull. Well we were setting
in the dinner at lunch one afternoon, having lunch no one was saying much. We
were busy wolfing down our food. Farming is hard work. So it makes you hungry.
Well we were setting there eating and Uncle Vic looks around at all of us
setting there, and says you know I really hate that bull. Well we were waiting
for the reason when finally Terry looks at him and says Uncle Vic why you hate
the bull. Uncle Vic without cracking a
smile says, that bull out yonder, his balls are bigger than mine. Well we all
looked at each other and busted out to laughing. Now that is funny. No matter
how you look at it. LOL.
Now for some of you who
actually read this I’m sure that my ramblings sounds sort of crazy. And maybe
even dull and boring. But unless you have ever lived in a small town or lived
on a farm, you don’t know what it is like. You find ways to entertain yourself.
We didn’t have internet when I was growing up, or Netflix, Facebook or any of
those things that we have allowed to worm their way into our lives and eat up
our time. I remember when the first video game system came out in 1981. Atari
game system was advertised in the Sears Christmas issue wish book. That was something that we didn’t have any
idea what to expect. But my cousins got one that year from Santa Claus. And we
spent hours playing Atari games. Video game systems have come a long way since
then.
We would catch fire flys
or lightening bugs. We played hide and seek. Or bat mitten over the power ling
that ran from the power pole to the house.
Or we would explore the woods behind the house.
Well I will stop for now.
I’ll ramble on some more again later. Until then enjoy.
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