Sentimental Sunday... The Hero and Our First Orange Bus Trip

We were on a trip to Louisiana for the company.  The meetings were over late.  We did not relish driving back to Houston late at night, but it was needful.

Off we started, I was in the shot gun seat reading to the Hero.  This was our usual method of traveling.  He drove and I read.  Reason, he was auditory and I was visual.  We were traveling down a two lane road.  It became slow because we came upon a couple of trucks. We had a CB going and he began listening to their chatter.  Finally, he became tired watching their lights and decided to pass.  As he pulled out, the trucks started parting on the road, he slowed down wondering what was going on. Luckily he did, because he saw two glowing eyes ahead. The truckers started whooping and hollering "Did you see that? Black as night and huge!"  The Hero joined in with "thought it was going to be hamburgers tonight".  They all joked back and forth for a little.  A herd of Angus cattle were strewn across the road. Somehow the truckers and the Hero had managed to wind through them and none were hit, a miracle with them traveling down the road at 55+ mph.   We were shaken, but grateful that we came through unscathed.  This was a memorable night for the Hero. A story he told several times. 

Lesson grandchildren... Pay attention when you are driving, you never know what may be ahead especially late at night when you can not see well.  If you feel you should slow down, listen and do so, it could save your life and others.

Sentimental Sunday... The Hero, the Orange VW Bus saga begins

I really hope you won't get tired of the Orange VW bus. It was a fun time that the Hero and I had.  It was a learning curve for him and myself. I had never driven a floor stick shift before.  Especially one that stuck 3 foot up in the air almost between the two seats.
Moving right along.

The first task the Hero attacked was to turn the back seat into a "bed seat".  He took a sheet of plywood, cut it to the size of the back seat bottom and a matching piece for the back.  He then bought some hinges and attached them together to allow the back to be laid flat.  His hardest endeavor was to fasten the back up when it was supposed to be being used as a seat.  Some way he managed to find a piece that he attached to the back of the seat that a pole could be inserted in.  Then on the base of the back seat he found a pole on a hinge.  I am clueless where he found everything.  After a week, he had himself a bona fide seat that laid down into a bed that he had constructed all by himself.  Yes, he was doing the dance.  I was left to pad and upholster.  It was a bit warm as part of the bed was over the engine.
Next he turned his attention to making a table.  That was easier.  The holder in the floor and the bottom of the table was available at Van stores.  He just had to cut the table to size and attach.  His only problem was he would have to set the table out when we made down beds. That is for another story.
He bought blinds for the sides and back, but for the front windows, he had me make screens with Velcro to attach them.  He thought of everything.  This was his VAN, and he was the creator of it's personality.  I so wish I had a picture of him with it, but that time period appears to be missing in pictures, just present in my mind. 

Sentimental Sunday... The Hero Was a Young Entrepreneur

While I was still playing with paper dolls, my Hero was already figuring out how to make money. During the summer of his 8 and 9th years, he and his brother would make a lemonade stand.  It would last until mom recognized her glasses outside.  He branched out in his Junior High years.  His dad would bring home sugar cane from a farm near by and the Hero would stand on the side of the street with a sign... "For Sale" and sale his sugar cane stalks.  He would tell me this story every time we would go to Louisiana and see the sugar cane fields.  He was proud of understanding Free Enterprise at an early age.
Oh Grandchildren, I have a wealth of stories to tell you about your GranddadE and his ability to dream and endeavor to achieve.  He knew how to work and taught his children how to work.  He did not believe in sitting back and letting life come to you. He was out making life happen.
Let it be a lesson for you. Never give up trying to do better.

Sentimental Sunday The Hero Through His Mother's Eyes

I was visiting with the Hero's mother while she was in Rehabilitation Hospital.  We were discussing how hard it was for her to get up to do the exercises.  She expressed her feeling that she is 91 and feels the heaviness of being closer to the end of her life.  This led to the discussion of how the Hero had handled his last days with grace and forbearance. 

The Hero is on the right.

Her next comment surprised me.  She said he was always strong and bore pain well.  She went on to explain that when he was about 3, his sister had slammed the car door shut on his finger.  She could remember how he just stood, looking in surprise at the door and that his finger was still there.

They went to the doctor to have it looked at and stitched.  He obediently gave his hand to the doctor to look at, and quietly watched as the doctor stitched his finger.  His mom was impressed.
She ended by saying "I hope I can bear my last days as well as he did."
Given the knowledge that she has COPD, I pray that her last days will not be unbearable too.

Sentimental Sunday The Hero Played Baseball

Texasblu had us write a post on sports in our lives a few weeks ago on Sharing a Slice of Life.  I could not think of any sports that our family really embraced.  Then I was going through the pictures trying to find something for her regarding her grandmother and came across this information my mother-in-law had given us when she broke up housekeeping.

I remember talking to her about the Hero and his twin brother and how she handled the competition between the two in sports.  She said that everything the Hero would enter his twin would jump in also.  She finally made sure they were never in the same classes or teams.  I don't know if it made any difference or not.  I do know the Hero would only talk about his years on swimming team which he excelled at but when you spoke of baseball he would say, I was a skinny runt.  I don't know about that, but looking at the picture you can tell his mind was somewhere else.  

Which one do you think was the Hero?

 

 

 

 

This is the write up about their little league his mom kept.

This was obviously not at the same time as the above picture, she took them to all the games.

 Grandchildren, sports are okay and fun, and you learn a lot from the principles of team work, that was your granddad's philosophy. 

Sentimental Sunday The Hero Loved a Gag at Christmas

When the Hero and I first married, my dad and he got into a contest to see who could out best the other in a gag gift.
The contest began with my dad painting a picture and framing it with a toilet seat.  I forget the exact phrasing of the "poem" on the outside of the box, but it was something to do with the difference between youngsters of today sitting with ease as opposed to old timers who knew hard times.  Wish I had kept the tag.  We did keep the picture and it graced our bathroom wall for a decade until it was destroyed in storage.
The next year, the Hero was ready... he came home one day with gray and brown color pigments from his stucco lab, a stack of newspapers, and a 3 ft by 3 ft box.  I watched as he carefully spread the papers in the bottom of the box, sprinkled the pigments on the layer, then repeated this to the middle of the box.  He then, put some paper, and in the middle of that a scented bar of soap.  Going back to repeating the process of paper and pigment layers to the top.  He carefully wrapped the box, put a bow on it, and proudly sat it behind the tree grinning.  I was wondering... hmmm how is this going to work?
Christmas morning came and the Hero couldn't stand it.  First thing that Santa brought out was a 3x3ft box for my mom and dad.  I sat back holding TexasBlu and watched hoping this was going to be okay.  My dad opened the box, and pulled back a some paper, oops his hands were turning brown, my mom had been pulling back paper too (stipulation on the card...they both had to open it.)  She looked at the Hero with a question in her eyes; he smiled and said there is a gift in the package.  They trudged through the mess to find the bar of soap.  My parents hooted.  He had created a need for a gift of a bar of soap.  After cleaning up, everyone was in a merry mood. 
The gags went on back and forth for years, but everyone agreed that the bar of soap was the most creative that had been done.  Yeah, he was one to like a good gag.

1972 First Gag gift.

Sentimental Sunday The Hero and Cutting a Christmas Tree

The First Christmas Tree the Hero and I had was a Texas Pine Tree.  The story I tell you is not logical, but true.  I was new to Texas, the Hero was trying to be kind (we were dating).  I really wanted a cedar tree like my dad always cut in Oklahoma for Christmas.  Sigh. Cedars are rarely found in Coastal Texas unless they are in someones yard.  The Hero was not daunted, nor was Texas to be out done by Oklahoma. ; ) 

He took me for a drive to where he KNEW there was some small pine trees we could use.  Well, there weren't any small trees on his dad's property,  SO he spotted a medium tree near the street.  Yep, he climbed the tree, and chopped the tree down with his machete uh maybe bayonet from his rifle.  Whatever, it was not a saw.  I stood on the street watching and wondering if we were going to be arrested.  Luckily, it was a isolated road back in what is now known as Oak Ridge Forest subdivision. It took him quite a few minutes to cut the top (yes, I said top) off of the tree.  When he got down to the ground, he stood it up and it was about 5 ft tall, just perfect for my apartment.  He opened the trunk, it was not big enough.  He pushed the backseat forward and down (it was the old 1953 Chevy I wrote about before.) He tied the trunk down to hold it in place and we drove 45 miles back to my apartment to set it up.  (Great big grin on my face right now)  As we took it inside, the size of the tree, which had seemed reasonable earlier, was overwhelmingly large. In height it was okay, but in width...a wee bit big; as in, if it wasn't trimmed, you could not see the couch.  After some adjustment, it turned out fine. 
For years we would look back at that trip and giggle at the thought of the Hero chopping, maybe hacking,  the tree top of a pine tree.  Now grandchildren, you see your granddadE was an awesome man who went to lengths to make me happy. 

Sentimental Sunday, The Hero and a Secret

 I am in Idaho where it is snowy and cold. This brought a story of the Hero and his high school dating days to mind. 

In 1963, he had taken his girlfriend Jane Smith out for a movie.  It was cold so he had on his full length overcoat.  He walked her to the door and said good night. 
He got back into the car and started home.  It was back before the freeways were finished.  His home was on a boulevard that was in progress.  Houston was expanding. 
About 2 miles down the road he realized his bladder was full and  needed to be relieved.  It wouldn't be polite to go back to Jane's and her father wasn't really friendly.  Searching in his mind, he thought of a good friend Mary who lived in the same area.  He pulled up at her house and hurried to the door.  Just after he knocked, he was struck with the thought...What do I do now?  How do you say, "Hi, I need to use your bathroom" and rush by them.  Mary answered the door.  He stammered, "I just dropped Jane home and stopped by on my way home...."  in the middle of the small talk he realized this time he could not hold his bladder any longer back.  His bladder let loose.  He talked even louder to cover the dripping noise.  The thought in his mind was 'I am so glad I have a long overcoat on!' It stopped and he said "Well, I have to get home.  Bye." and hurried to the car.  As he got in, he looked back to see Mary looking strangely at a puddle of steaming liquid on her porch.  He never spoke to her of it and she never asked.  He would tell our children, "This was one of my most embarassing moments, but I survived."  When  asked why he didn't just rush home he said, 'not enough time.'  Can't you just see him on that door step.  LOL How I love him...so funny.

Sentimental Sunday The Hero as Acting Like a Superhero.

I have verified this story with the Hero's mother.  It is true.  I thought it would be a good story as the grandchildren are gearing up to dress up for Halloween.

I have shared that the Hero had a very active imagination.  He was always thinking up something. He would look for how to make something happen.  He loved looking at the sky and watching the birds trying to figure out how they flew at the age of 5 and 6.  He believed in his Heroes.  His mother got him a Superman costume for Halloween.  One day he climbed out on the garage roof and jumped off.  He really thought he was going to fly because he had on his cape and had it stretched out.  Off he went, and oops, down he went.  His brother ran in to tell his mom that the Hero was lying flat on his back behind the garage. (At least he went off the back instead of where the concrete was..; )   )
 His mom was understanding and lovingly checked him out making sure he was okay, then she admonished him to not do it again.  He took the admonishment to heart.  LOL  He may not have been a rocket scientist at 6 but he wasn't stupid either.

Now why was GreatMother so understanding and loving when he had put himself into danger?
That is the wonderful part of the story.
The GreatMother revealed to me that at 7 she had done the same thing off their porch.  She said she can remember standing and envisioning how she would swoop up just before she would hit the ground.  She laughs and says..."Well, it didn't work."  I love it.



My second son unknowingly followed in their footsteps. At 4, he decided to jump out of a loft with a hanger to break his fall like batman's implements.  Well, it didn't.    Isn't life grand.