"The Shackles were visiting us at Kirksville. Carl and Bob
got up early
to go some place. Ronnie woke up and asked "Where are you
all going."
Carl said, "We're going crazy!" Ronnie pleaded, "Wait til
I get my
shoes on. I want to go, too.!"
Uncle Carl
"Johnny used to ride his bicycle to school when he lived in
Independence, Kansas, and then walk home and ask 'where's my bicycle?'.
Johnny and Ronnie had to furnish their own towels for PE. Johnny
always
left his towels at school and brought them all home at the same
time at
the end of the year."
Aunt Jackie
"When we were building our house in Lexington, Johnny and Ronnie
came to
visit us. We had just picked strawberries and had two crocks
full,
covered with sugar, in the refrigerator. They each ate one
crock full
before bedtime and Ronnie asked if there were any more."
Uncle Carl
"When we were building our house in Lexington, Johnny, Ronnie, Karen
and
Wanda all came to visit for a week. We were extra busy working
on the
house. To keep Johnny and Ronnie busy, Carl told them he'd
pay them 25
cents if they'd move that mountain of dirt from the back yard to
the
front yard. They got a wheelbarrow and two shovels and, boy,
did they
work!"
Aunt Jackie and Uncle Carl
"I remember when we had an old fox skin. Johnny, Ronnie, Karen,
Wanda
and Connie were at our house during Christmas vacation. Wanda
was
afraid of that fox skin. Carl got down on his hands and knees
and put
it on; and crawled around on the floor. She started screaming.
Karen
and Connie would yell, "Do it again, do it again, Carl!".
Aunt Jackie
"For New Years, we didn't have a punch bowl. I always made
the punch
and put it in the crock. That became a tradition. The Shackles,
Brooks', Mammaw and Poppy would come for New Year's weekend and
we
always had punch in the crock."
Aunt Jackie
"When the kids were real small, they always wanted me to be their
'horse". I'd get down on my hands and knees and give them
a ride on my
back around the room. Ronnie would always run because he was
going to
'jump' on the horse. About the time he'd get there, I'd hit
the floor
and he'd go over the top, roll into the bed or couch. He'd
come right
back and try it again."
Uncle Carl
"We were taking Mammaw and Poppy out to Girard. We stopped
at a
restaurant by the Sedalia fairgrounds but Mammaw didn't see anything
on
the menu she liked except for a sausage and a biscuit. The
waitress
looked surprised and we laughed at her. She asked the waitress
if she
could make her a sausage sandwich. Mammaw beat Wendy's and
McDonald's
to the idea of a sausage sandwich."
Uncle Carl
"The week before Ronnie was to be born, we went out to Girard to
help
with the kids. The week passed, we were still waiting for
Ronnie so we
took Karen, Wanda and Johnny home with us. It was a long trip
home. We
stopped at every service station and restaurant, and one service
station
that was even closed, to use the bathroom. When we got hom,
Johnny
cried the whole night the first night (he was only 18 months old).
He
wouldn't take a bottle, he wouldn't go to sleep. We walked
the floor
all night. The next morning I said 'that's enough' and gave
him a
spanking and got his attention. He didn't cry any more."
Uncle Carl
Gifts I gave Bob:
•the necklace made from two leather strings and sliced walnuts.
Johnny
and Ronnie even wore it to school.
•a pig picture I framed with a barnboard frame I made.
•I took Cheerios and made "donut seeds"
•three course chicken dinner (wooden box with 3 kernels of corn
in it)
Uncle Carl
And, last but not least:
"We were uptown at Armstrong early one morning. We saw Poppy
coming
pulling the wagon behind the tractor. In the wagon were two
little
urchins wearing headscarves. As Poppy got closer, we recognized
them as
Johnny and Ronnie. I asked them why they were wearing those
head
scarves. They said, "Mammaw wouldn't let us come unless we
had
something on our heads."
Aunt Jackie