10/28
Tonight I went with Daddy to visit Grandma, she wasn’t home so we drove around Daddy's old stomp in grounds, or as he would call it his "Turf". Daddy is a great story teller and as we drive up and down the streets I can almost hear the flutter of playing cards clothes pinned to the spokes of his tires and see him ducking in and out of ally ways on his bicycle. As we drove past Ernie's house I was reminded of the story when he and Vaughn had tied their front door shut to the tree outside, opened all their car doors and turned the radio up as loud as it would go, then stood by and laughed as they watched Willard, Ernie's Father, try very unsuccessfully to get out of the house, from what I gather he didn't think it was so funny. Then we drove up the street and he showed me Vaughn's house and pointed out the very corner where he learned one of the greatest lessons of his life. He was about six years old and had just met his best buddy Vaughn who was at the end of the street throwing handfuls of rocks at cars. He told Daddy it was "a lot of fun" and he should try it. Now this is where you might think the lesson Daddy actually learned was really about peer pressure, and what not to do when someone tells you to throw rocks at cars, but if that is what you are thinking, you are wrong, but Daddy was "dared" to throw the rocks and in our youth, we all at one time, understood the childhood definition of a "dare" and the code behind breaking it, so Daddy took a handful of rocks and threw it. Besides the obvious damage you can imagine would be caused by the events that ensued it only adds to the story to know that the next car driving up the road happened to be, as Daddy recalls it, a Bright Red convertible. The owner of this convertible was not pleased. Daddy says he was stunned when the car came screeching to a stop and the next thing he knew he was being walked down the lane towards his house by the nap of his neck, where he knew his Father would be waiting for him, and with that thought the reality of the lesson he would actually learn began settling in, " Next Time I am Gunna Run?" You see My Grandfather was what you may call a creative disciplinary. My memory of him is fun, fishing and Chinese checkers but when Daddy talks about growing up that was not always the case. So despite his best efforts to convince himself that telling this man any other house on the street was his, soon enough he was home and immediately sent to his room. He could hear the man detailing what happened and soon Grandpa was in his room asking him to get his favorite toy. Daddy knew something was not right so he trusted his instincts, ignored his beloved Shoveler and pointed to a TONKA truck that he knew was indestructible. Grandpa took Daddy outside and made him pick up a rock as heavy as he could lift and drop it on his Tonka truck, thus sinking in the greatest and most creative lesson of all, the pain involved in the destruction of ones own property, only TONKA lived up to it's name and that truck just would not smash. Grandpa's obsession became less about teaching Daddy a lesson and more about challenging that toys warranty, when that didn't work Grandpa turned to Law Enforcement. After several threats of being arrested and thrown in jail from officer Holdaway, who lived across the street and was obviously not that intimidating to a six year old the lesson, in Daddy's mind, had finally come full circle, not only next time would he run, but he realized that really all he had to do, was at least run faster than Vaughn! The cuffs were off, poor grandpa I Guess it just wasn't in the cards for him that day or maybe it was and it just took Daddy 57 years to get it, either way throwing rocks is still bad and much like TONKA Daddy is still indestrucible
Tonight I went with Daddy to visit Grandma, she wasn’t home so we drove around Daddy's old stomp in grounds, or as he would call it his "Turf". Daddy is a great story teller and as we drive up and down the streets I can almost hear the flutter of playing cards clothes pinned to the spokes of his tires and see him ducking in and out of ally ways on his bicycle. As we drove past Ernie's house I was reminded of the story when he and Vaughn had tied their front door shut to the tree outside, opened all their car doors and turned the radio up as loud as it would go, then stood by and laughed as they watched Willard, Ernie's Father, try very unsuccessfully to get out of the house, from what I gather he didn't think it was so funny. Then we drove up the street and he showed me Vaughn's house and pointed out the very corner where he learned one of the greatest lessons of his life. He was about six years old and had just met his best buddy Vaughn who was at the end of the street throwing handfuls of rocks at cars. He told Daddy it was "a lot of fun" and he should try it. Now this is where you might think the lesson Daddy actually learned was really about peer pressure, and what not to do when someone tells you to throw rocks at cars, but if that is what you are thinking, you are wrong, but Daddy was "dared" to throw the rocks and in our youth, we all at one time, understood the childhood definition of a "dare" and the code behind breaking it, so Daddy took a handful of rocks and threw it. Besides the obvious damage you can imagine would be caused by the events that ensued it only adds to the story to know that the next car driving up the road happened to be, as Daddy recalls it, a Bright Red convertible. The owner of this convertible was not pleased. Daddy says he was stunned when the car came screeching to a stop and the next thing he knew he was being walked down the lane towards his house by the nap of his neck, where he knew his Father would be waiting for him, and with that thought the reality of the lesson he would actually learn began settling in, " Next Time I am Gunna Run?" You see My Grandfather was what you may call a creative disciplinary. My memory of him is fun, fishing and Chinese checkers but when Daddy talks about growing up that was not always the case. So despite his best efforts to convince himself that telling this man any other house on the street was his, soon enough he was home and immediately sent to his room. He could hear the man detailing what happened and soon Grandpa was in his room asking him to get his favorite toy. Daddy knew something was not right so he trusted his instincts, ignored his beloved Shoveler and pointed to a TONKA truck that he knew was indestructible. Grandpa took Daddy outside and made him pick up a rock as heavy as he could lift and drop it on his Tonka truck, thus sinking in the greatest and most creative lesson of all, the pain involved in the destruction of ones own property, only TONKA lived up to it's name and that truck just would not smash. Grandpa's obsession became less about teaching Daddy a lesson and more about challenging that toys warranty, when that didn't work Grandpa turned to Law Enforcement. After several threats of being arrested and thrown in jail from officer Holdaway, who lived across the street and was obviously not that intimidating to a six year old the lesson, in Daddy's mind, had finally come full circle, not only next time would he run, but he realized that really all he had to do, was at least run faster than Vaughn! The cuffs were off, poor grandpa I Guess it just wasn't in the cards for him that day or maybe it was and it just took Daddy 57 years to get it, either way throwing rocks is still bad and much like TONKA Daddy is still indestrucible
I have also have heard a story from your dad a time or two. My first thought was if we published all his postal "mishaps", we could've had a New York Times Best Seller and ALL retired a looong time ago. We still laugh today...
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