While the memories
of my dad are abundant it is hard to decide which ones to actually sit down and
write! Eventually I guess we'll get them all down on paper if only for
ourselves.
Back when I was a baby still in diapers, dad, mom & me along with Uncle
Floyd and Aunt Alta were out at the movies in downtown Wichita Falls. Well, dad
had just bought himself a brand new suede jacket and was soooo proud of it.
Sometime during the end of the movie I had told mom I needed to go to the
bathroom, guess 'we' were potty training, well, mom didn't wanna miss the ending
and I reckon I was makin such a fuss that dad reached over to hold me till the
show was over. This wasn't a wise thing for him to do, seems I had more on my
mind than just a little dampness! That poor new jacket was covered in whatever
it was mom had fed me earlier! Aunt Alta said not only did I make a mess but the
smell of it just about ran everyone out of the theater! To make matters worse
mom handed dad a diaper to clean himself up with…well the theater was dark of
course and little did they realize this cloth diaper had already been 'soiled'!
Of course I was too little to actually remember any of this myself but
throughout the years Aunt Alta has sure had a lot of fun telling me of this
story. Wonder what the movie was? J
Now on to my first true memory of my dad….back on April 29/30, 1965 it was
just me, mom and dad. On this particular night mom was big and fat and was
laying on the couch. I was petting her, rubbing her tummy/back just all over
while we were watching Johnny Carson. Mom was in so much pain I just couldn't
figure out why my daddy wasn't in there to take care of her and make my mommy
all better! I thought he was so mean to her! Well, dad finally made it in there
and then we took off for what I thought was just a ride. Turns out they were taken
me to Aunt Alta's and Uncle Floyd's house while they went on to the
hospital. I just remember crying a lot when we got to their house cause I didn't
wanna leave my mommy and daddy. Aunt Alta went with them and said Brandon was
nearly born in the car but they did make it in time! Later I found out dad was
in the shower getting ready to take mom to the hospital to have Brandon. I
had just turned 3 at the time but this night is so vivid in my head that I don't
think I'll ever forget it! In fact I seem to remember exactly where the couch
and tv were…the couch was under the window and the tv directly across from
it...right mom?
In 1969 dad bought a brand new yellow Ford Mustang which looked just like a Mach
I complete with the scoop on the hood! How he loved this car and had worked so
hard for it. Little ole me started complaining about how I didn't have room in
the back seat for my legs (I was growing taller by leaps and bounds back then,
or so I thought) and how I hated that car and could dad please get something
bigger. Dad ended up selling his pride and joy just for me. I'm not even
sure now what he got in place of it but how I'd like to have that little yellow
Mustang back! He always wanted it back too.
During the time dad did have his Mustang mom had gone to the grocery store and
it was just dad and me at home. I guess Brandon had gone with her because I
don't remember him being there this one day. Dad was out playing softball with
me and a few of my friends out in the backyard behind the garage…there were
also some horseshoe stobs out there. Dad was pitching to me and I hit the
ball (miracle in itself) so I started running bases and somehow or another fell
smack down into one of those stobs nearly slicing my leg into! Dad quickly ran
and got me and carried me to the back porch. He was trying to calm me down,
actually I think he was trying to calm himself down, and kept apologizing for
having that horseshoe stob out there that was so sharp. I was ok, trying to be
strong in front of everyone telling them I was fine when I looked down at the
cut on my inner thigh and saw all the blood! Boy, did I lose it! There was blood
everywhere and the cut was about 5" long and deep. While we were sitting on
the steps trying to get it all cleaned up with my friends helping too, mom drove
up. I think she ran to see what was going on and poor Ann was trying so
hard to explain to her what had happened (Ann, an old friend, stuttered a lot and it even got
worse when she was upset) and dad was keeping the rag over it to slow the
bleeding down and to keep the skin together. Mother of course called Aunt Alta
to see if they should take me to the emergency room for stitches and when she
said no just to butterfly it mom told dad to drive Ann and the other girls home
since they were so upset. They only lived a few blocks away and we
normally just walked to one another's house but not today. Dad was back in no
time doing whatever he could to make me feel better. I still have that scar
today on my left leg, it's smaller and doesn't have the big hump in it like it
used to but all I have to do is look down at it and remember what fun I had
getting it with my dad out there with us girls playing ball!
Sitting here thinking back to all that we shared together and as the tears roll
down I feel I should at least mention a few more quickly.
Back when dad was driving a truck, Brandon and I would have to go hose down the
evaporative cooler while dad slept on the couch trying to rest up for another
load. Bran and I always fought as to who had to go out there and do it because
of all the stickers around it and the bumble bee's Bran was deathly afraid of.
I can remember dad looking so worn out when he came in off of these sometimes
week long trips. One of us always went out there though and got it done so our daddy could rest
up and then maybe do something fun with us before he went out again. How I'd
give anything to go spray that air conditioner down for him just once more!
Mom, you'll hate this one but dad and I sure had fun and a lot of laughs later
on in life about it! Remember when you were ironing and dad was gonna play
bartender and make a 'Harvey Wallbanger'!?! Dad had gotten a bottle of
Galleo on one of his many trips in the truck. I don't even remember how old I
was but I was young…anyways, dad didn't know how to make this drink so he kept
on mixing different concoctions up and I would always get to sample them to see
how they tasted…some were really good and others we had to pour out. As
time rolled on we both got a little tipsy, at least I did, and we started
dancing around the living room acting silly and before we knew it we had danced
right into the ironing board and knocked the whole thing over! Boy, was mom mad
at us!
Then there was the cattle trip to Gunnison, Colorado - by way of Gunnison Pass,
one of the most dangerous routes in Colorado - as we were to find out later! We all four loaded
up for that one but as memory serves their were only two of us who was awake for
most of it, me and dad! Mom and Brandon were usually asleep and when they weren't
us kids sat on the doghouse or in the sleeper. Well, somewhere miles away from
the Rockies we stopped in some town and dad and I got out and bought some
doughnuts for the sleeping beauties. They woke up long enough to go to stretch
their legs, go to the bathroom and inhale a few sweets, they were back down as
soon as we had gone about 2 miles down the road - as usual. Dad and I kept talking about how long it would be before we finally got to the
mountains, they looked so close but hours went by before we finally got into
them. As soon as we started making some of those hairpin turns and barely moving
at all the sleepy heads woke up just in time to look out and see where we were.
Once they realized we were in the mountains they didn't go back to sleep.
Vann Roach who dad was driving for didn't normally make trips up in the
mountains so the trucks weren't equipped with the right stuff for this dangerous
journey. I'm not sure now if it was a hiwaypatrol or DOT man that pulled dad
over but nevertheless, dad got his rear end chewed off for having his family
with him and not having a jake brake. Well, dad wouldn't have taken us along if
he knew beforehand how dangerous this little trip was gonna be but we were
already there and had to continue on. This officer made dad and the rest of us
walk over to the side of the mountain and showed us all the trucks, cars etc
that had ran off the edge of the mountain. It wasn't a pretty sight and I'm not
sure how many survivors there were from them. We made it slowly back down the
hill to our destination and had to stop several times along the way to let the
smoking brakes cool off…the 'officer' followed us along the way. At one of our
stops there was water running down into a barrel from the melting snow and ice,
it sure was tasty! So, on our journey back across the mountain I was in the
passenger seat looking straight down onto all the wrecked vehicles and into the
trees that were growing out of the side of the mountain while the other two
passengers slept their way through it all. Dad was so worried about getting us safely back onto flatter ground but tried not to
let it show and joked all the way back down the 'hill'. This was mine and Brandon's first trip to
Colorado and possibly mom's too…it's one I surely won't forget!
I've rattled on especially on this last story so I best let ya'll move on to
other things for now.
But before I go…
Paula, remember when ya told me about the time when you were babysitting us kids
and how I sat in your rocking chair crying 'I want my daddy'? Well, I'm not so
little now in that rocking chair but I still want my daddy! I'm just thankful to
have had such a wonderful dad and wished I could go back and change all the
rotten things I put him and mother through while growing up! Not all kids can
say they had as loving a father as we did that gave his all to making his family happy. Boy, am I glad I
did! If I can only be half a parent as he was I've got it made!
1-4-3
Jamie