My Dad.

I got off to a weird start talking about my dad (in the post "In a dream last night I realized..."). I have some wonderful memories of crawling into bed with him while my mom did whatever it is that women do in the bathroom to prepare to retire for the night. He would tell me stories about when he was a little boy, before and during the great depression. I had my favorites and I would say, "Tell the one about such and such or so and so..." At some point, my mom would come in and tell me to go to bed.
In the 20's and 30's, you had to take a ferry across the Cape Fear river. There were no bridges. Going to Wilmington was a big deal to a dirt poor kid, in those days.
My grandfather (who I never knew) told my father one day, when he was a boy, that in 2 weeks he would take him and his brother, Bubba (my uncle Oscar, that I never knew) to Wilmington with him. Well, they got very excited and marked the days on the calendar. When the fateful day arrived, however, my grandfather, for some reason, said he could only take one with him. He took Bubba.
My dad was incredibly upset. I think he cried. When my grandmother (who I never knew) found out what had happened, she was furious. She scraped up the little bit of money she had been saving, grabbed my dad, hitched a ride with someone she knew to the ferry and took him into Wilmington, herself.
On the way to Wilmington, my dad saw his dad and brother coming back on the ferry. He said he remembered thinking that it felt good that their trip was over and his was just beginning.
Dad said he had enough money to buy 2 little cheap pocket knives - one for him and one for uncle Bubba.

Once Pa, as my dad's father was known, had a horse that he would hitch to a wagon. Well, this horse, whose name I can't remember - I heard these stories over 40 years ago - had a bad habit of stopping in front of a particular house, along the route from home to the country store, and taking a dump. It happened every time. One day, as Pa and my dad came back from the store with a buggy full of groceries, this horse began to make his regular stop. As soon as my granddad saw what the horse had in mind, he said, "I'll break you from this!" He took the stick he used to spur the horse along and whopped him good across the backside. This act was such a surprise to the horse that he erupted - blowing shit all over Pa, my dad and the cart full of groceries.