Well, reading the memories is always nice .. so, I decided to dredge up a post from a time ago ..
I consider myself very, very fortunate in knowing my Grandparents on my Dad's side .. I spent 2 or 3 Summer Vacations with them between the age of maybe 9 and 12 as well as shorter visits .. Hardy was my Grandpa's name and Ruby was my Grandma .. they were both born in the latter part of the 1800's and went thru the Great Depression .. Hardy was from Mississippi and Ruby was from Tennessee .. they settled and raised their Family on a small farm in East Texas, near Louisiana .. the Piney Woods, is what that area of Texas was called ..
Life was hard for them and time aged them well beyond their years .. but, they were Good People, Christian to the core, always placing an offering even when money was very tight .. Southern Baptist / Church of Christ .. They always had a large garden, Hardy would supplement the food in the house by hunting and fishing .. he was a real Outdoors Man .. hunter, fisherman .. he introduced me to the wonders of the outdoors and shaped very much the man I grew into .. he whittled and carved wood in his spare time .. always had a King Edward cigar .. when it got down to the stob, he'd chew what was left and spit in an old coffee can ..
He would take me fishing and hunting, bought me my first pocket knife and showed me how to shoot a rifle for the first time .. squirrel, fresh bass sometimes a deer, he did his best to provide .. he wore Cover All's pretty much as his regular clothes and an old beat up fedora .. dressed up a little better when they went to Church .. always drove an old Truck and had a beat up fishing boat on a trailer .. we'd go to the Lake fairly regularly ..
Hardy served in WW1 .. he did not talk much about it, my Dad served as well which made me the 3rd generation, and last, of Military ..
Their small farm was accessed by a dirt road through the woods .. later in life, when the house they had began to deteriorate, Hardy built a house with his own hands .. he was a rough and tumble man with a Heart of Gold .. when he smiled, and his eyes would crinkle up, you could see that twinkle .. in the Evenings, he and I would pass the time playing dominos and I don't think he ever let me win .. although, eventually, I got good enough to win a time or two .. the radio was always on in the background with the aroma of cigar smoke drifting thru the room, mingled with whatever Ruby was cooking ..
Ruby was always in, what I would call, a Farmers Wife dress and an apron .. which she made .. she'd harvest those snap beans, (and other garden produce) and sit and snap them while we played dominos .. it seemed like she was always in the Kitchen, and man, could she make some fried chicken .. and, that chicken would come straight from the coop .. she had worked so hard during her life that she had a bit of a shoulder hunch, like a small hunch back, from working in the fields in her younger years .. a big day for her was a trip to the Woolworths and looking at dress material and other odds and ends .. she had no pretention, she had no prejudice ..
You'd never hear a complaint or a harsh word between them, they clearly loved each other ..
They would sometimes stop at what used to be called a Gas Station when we were out and buy me an orange Nehi soda from one of those old, slide the bottle out coolers .. it was the coldest and best thing and made me feel so special .. You remember Gas Stations .. I'm sure .. a greasy attendant would pump your gas, check the oil, clean the windshield after he extricated himself from the vehicle he was working on in the Garage ..
My memory has faded, like ours all tend to do, but I Loved these people so much .. they taught me the meaning of humility, hard work, stick to it, never give up and make do with what you have .. and, so much more .. they were a part of this Great Country that made it what it was ..
Hardy made his own hooch, somehow fermenting a concoction of stuff ..
