Jerry’s daddy was released from the hospital today after spending about 5 days as their guest. NOT! He was certainly glad to get out of there. We picked up his medicines, took him to eat, went by Jerry’s boss’s home, got his hair cut, then visited with Robert our son for a while before taking him home. I think he really enjoyed the freedom from the confines of the hospital bed.
Dad told us some more stories from his growing up years…
We enjoy hearing Dad’s “stories” he tells us from his childhood, his youth and younger adult years. We found out today he had a nickname when he was a young man. Jerry said he had never heard this story before today. Some girls that liked Dad where he was working gave the nickname to him. I would like to know what in the world made them start calling by that name. Dad said he never told Mom that story so it would not upset her, so guess either it was when they were dating or after they had gotten married. I think I will start calling him that nickname when I see him; just to be funny with him and to see if we get any questions from Mom. LOL
He told about a boy where they lived when he was about 12 or 13 years old who was riding his bike past his daddy one afternoon. His daddy had gone out to the mail box to get the mail when this boy decided to spit on him as he rode past; for no reason other than he was just “plain ole mean” as Dad put it.
When his daddy got back to the house he asked Dad if he knew this kid and Dad said yes he did. So his daddy told him when he seen him the next day at school he had better beat this kid up or he was going to whip Dad. So next day, he beat this kid up.
When he got home he told his daddy he had beat him up as he had told him to do. His daddy looked at him and said, “You shouldn’t have done that.”
By this time his Dad had cooled off and was no longer mad about it. Guess he should have thought about his words before speaking them to his son, huh? Especially with a threat to whip him!
Dad loved to ride horses and he told us about a day him and a buddy was riding and they decided to do a trick like they had seen another guy do. His buddy did it first, and after seeing the out come of his doing the trick decided it best not to try it himself.
After getting the horse running at full speed, this guy would slide off to one side as he held onto the saddle horn, hit the ground with his feet, bouncing back up over the horse and doingthe same thing on the other side of the horse then bouncing back up into the saddle. Well when his friend tried it he hit the ground but did not bounce back up; he went a rolling in the dirt along side the running horse, end over end over end. Seeing how it turned out for his friend, Dad decided it best if he passed on trying it for himself. He said it looked kinda hard to do and not so fun.
He told us one the other day of the time Grandpa Harris, Mom’s daddy, got so mad at him and staid made for several days. They were just dating at the this incident happened. Mom had some Hoarhound candy (pronounced “whore-hound”) and she gave dad a piece of it to eat. He said he had never heard of or seen that kind of candy before, so he asked her what it was called. Grandpa got mad because he thought daddy was just trying to make her say the word “whore.” Boy have things changed in today’s world.
The ones of family memories are the neatest to hear.
Dad and Mom are so full of stories and we love to hear each of them tell their stories to us. Everytime we are together we hear at least one story. Usually several because something going on in our time will trigger a memory of a story of long ago in their past.
Dad has stories of his wrestling days, days and dark scarey nights sheep herding up in the high mountains all alone in a tent, picking cotton, potatoes, delivering milk, and working in the sawmills of Oregon, running irrigation ditches; not to mention the stories while in the Army. Mom has hers as well of helping to raise all her brothers and sisters, she came from a family of 11 children so you can imagine the stories, family picnics, vacations and loads of other family stories.
We all have stories, if you have lived, you have a story to tell with many tales.
