Faces...

I have never been good with remembering names so much but I almost always remember a face.

Most of the people I ran around with in my youth I can remember the names, some of them are faint memories now but I can still see thier faces even now.

Most of us havnt changes so much other than gaining wrinkles and loosing hair or turning grey, but we still mostly look the same as we did in our youth. The majority of the people I grew up with in early grade school before I moved into the country are still my friends, crazy side is that some dont exactly remember me other than my face. Some of this was due to thier drug use in earlier years or rather thats what several of them have told me.

The reason I have started talking about this is because of conversations during the trip back from moms dr appointment today and after we got back, about some things during highschool and even grade school. You see, Sandi and I did attend the same highschool together. Well, we did but, we didn’t know each other so much as we knew some of the same people. Some of these where people I went to grade school with and some wasn’t. Either way, im kinda getting off point. So here’s todays story.

Even as young as in 1st grade, I had a standard that I lived by that you didn’t pick on the smaller kids or the ones that couldnt defend themselves. Here it was first grade, I don’t remember who all was involved except for 2 or 3 of them but I can still see all of thier faces like they are burned into my memories. For some reason there was an interruption for the teacher to be out of classroom an another for one of the boys that was getting picked on quite often to get shoved into a dark closet by 4 other boys. Needless to say, I stood up to those 4, pulling at them and trying to get to traped kid in the dark closet. I said some really bad words that day, just as the teacher walked into the room. She didnt see what exactly had happened, but did hear what I said and saw me tossing kids to the floor.

Yup, it was my first school paddling, I remember it all too well. Ms. Brown I think her name was, with the paddle made from pencils sandwiched between 2 rulers and held together with masking tape. I can still see it, and can still remember the 5 swats I got the first round. Why did I say first round you ask? Well, I was asked by one of my friends if it hurt and I said “No, not like it will when I get home”. She took me back into the hallway and not only gave me 5 more, but then sent me to the office for more from the Principal.

Luckily, the Principal was more fair and just. I grew to love the man as a mentor over the years and I am still friends and look up to him til this day.

This day that stands in my memory is one that stands out as the begining of my journey as the “bully to the bullies” which I did do for the majority of my life. I always tried to stand up for the unjust treatment of people that were being picked on for the most part and I still remember all of thier faces.. I don’t know all of thier names but thier faces remain the same even now.

Thanks for reading ~W

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The Life of a Shop Keep

Growing up, after moving to the place I ended up finishing out what would be my teenage years, we had a shop. It started out as a resale and commission type shop and a side for what would become a bait shop. Oh the memories of this place, from early spring to late fall and sometimes the beginning of winter, we even lived in the shop. You see it started out in a big pole barn about 60 ft by 120 ft (its just an estimate in size because I have never measured it). We sectioned off one entire side by length, it had a room that we used like a kitchen with a Coleman stove, a small refrigerator and ran water by hose to it. In the front on the one side we had a large minnow tank, a sales counter, a display cabinet with antiques, a snacks stand, refrigerator with other baits and soda. The other section had all the resale items such as clothing and odds and ends.

This place ended up becoming where I would spend most of my time from age 11 until I graduated highschool and moved out. We had another building that we moved the bait shop part into later on when I was in highschool but we didnt live in it. By the time I was in highschool, I had pretty much started running the entire store inside and out as well as doing all the paperwork for it. It was open 24 hours a day mostly and only closed when I could sneak off, which was usually on the evenings that it was slow or when it seemed there was no business. Most of the time I could predict what days this was going to be, I actually used the business as a project for one of my highschool classes to get extra credit.

Before my stepdad passed away, he had told me that he had been so hard on me about the business because, it was his legacy to me to run it and make sure I always had an income and he knew that none of his kids wanted anything to do with it. He wasnt wrong, his youngest son has told me that he cant even think about fishing because it makes him sick from running that store while in highschool. He didn’t really run anything to do with it other than picking up nightcrawlers to make extra money at night and didn’t do that very often either. I did though.. lol I was picking upwards of over 1000 per night and getting paid .02 cents per worm. That was $20 per night in just a matter of a couple hours.

I was also the one that would go with my stepdad and sein the back waters of the lake for crawl fish to sell and dip net or cast net for other bait fish to resell. I seem to remember only twice did my stepbrother take me to catch bait fish and both times he took his girlfriend with him and only once did he help but was only for a little while. When we could go for getting bait fish, we would fill about 10-15 totes to bring back and then I would help my stepdad process and portion them to be frozen as bait.

We also made our own lead weights, specialty bobbers, plugs and sometimes dough type baits to sell. It was just me and him doing that, and my step siblings didn’t help with that either. Yes, back then I was angry that I was the one that “had to participate” but I am not since growing up.

Over the years, I have often thought about reopening the bait shop again, but would probably be harder than it was back in the 80s. Its a new time and you can get bait at any gas station or supermarket around here now, so not so sure I could work that out.

Anyways, thanks for reading ~W

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Roadblocks??

I’ve mentioned a few times about the little town I was running around in my youth and here’s another story from then.

This little town had a tradition that went back to at least as far back as the 50s, I just know the man that lived next door to us used to tell me stories about it from his youth and he was at least 60 back in the 80s.

Anyways this tradition of crazy nonsense was called the Road Block. Basicly people around town would donate to us big items such as TV’s cabinets or anything big for us to use for blocking off the main road into town. This was a small country town and had one single main street that ran from the highway to the park. The last 2 weeks in the month of October was when the road block would be errected, usually in the evening and then would be moved to the sides of the road during the day for the entire duration.

Usually this was just something to occupy the teens of the town amd keep them out of real trouble and actually causing real trouble in the town. I can remember the first year that I participated and was before I became well known in the town. We had all kinds of items donated to our cause that year such as tractor tires, big cabinet TV’s, cabinet stereo systems, stoves, washing machines and driers. What I didn’t know at the time was that another part of this was the calling of law enforcement on ourselves to have a sheriff deputy chase us. I didnt make the calls but I did do a great deal of finding hiding spots when this would happen. The funny side is that there were people that would come out and sit in front of the General Store and let us know when the sheriff had been called and on the way. Other than doing that, these adults didn’t participate unless to tell us where to get more items for the road block.

Over the years we kept the flame going of this tradition but it is no longer upheld in that town. There have been talks of us as adults bringing back the tradition but other than that it has been lost to only memories.

Thanks for reading ~W

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Doing the Dishes

This story is a fairly short one, but it actually happened.

Me and my one friend, let’s call him J was down at the village and none of the normal friends were around, he was dating one of the girls and they always left thier doors unlocked. They were the kids and the mom was visiting family in another town while the dad was at work. J went on in and decided to do thier dishes, I went over to the store to shoot some pool (I will talk about this place in another story).

Anyways back to J, he was doing dished and decided he wanted to get out of there before they or the dad got home. Needless to say, he had never had nonstick pans and he apparently was working really hard to get this black stuff off thier brand new non stick pans. I found this out cause it became the talk about someone breaking in and ruining thier new pans.

He came from money and he bought them new pans after admitting to the “crime”, but it was pretty funny.

I was going to write a different story, but my internet is fairly bad with this rain we have been having. Anyways, thanks for reading. ~W

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Storytime?

Im thinking about writing about past adventures, a glimpse if you will of the world of me.

I don’t know if anyone would be interested in these memories, of times that went wrong and adventures that went sideways at times. Some of it would be the same as when you grew up maybe, but it will be from a gen x type perspective of the trials of survival… err I mean life… It wont be in any certain order and I will change the names for legal reasons. So shall we start?

I grew up in a smallish town (less than 100k) had 3 siblings I grew up with but had 5 others that would visit from time to time. My dad worked for the city in different positions over the years and we didn’t really want for anything because those needs were taken care of. I can remember lots of vacations but those memories are some what clouded and mixed up because I was so young.

This first story was back in the mid to late 70s, 1977 or 78 I think. I would have to go digging through old photos to get the exact date and those are in storage. We had ventured out to the East Coast to visit with Dad’s brother and one of his old service buddies.

His friend had kids as well and there was this girl, she was between the age of me and my youngest brother who is 5 years older than me. Anyways, aparently me and this girl were inseparable during that visit, we went and played in the woods and there was this pond, it had a culvert type pipe sitting in it, and she talked me into getting over to it. Then jumped back out, she then told me “dont fall in the water, it will suck you down and you will never be seen again.” Well guess what I didnt do very easily? Yup, I was stuck. Looking back now and thinking about this, I think this girl must have been closer to my brothers age than me, its kind of the same meanness that he always did to me as well. Anyways, my brother came to the rescue, but was only so he didnt get into trouble. He was supposed be watching over us, and had decided to do his own thing.

Ive still got a photo of me and this girl but I could not tell you what her name is. During this vacation we also made it out to the ocean with the same family, I remember being on a pier, we did some crab fishing with traps that we had set out. On this pier was also a slide that went down and would drop you into the water, aparently it wasn’t deep water there, she talked me into going down the slide. I went down it, but I didnt come back up..my feet stuck in the sand and I was below the surface. The next thing I knew was my Dad pulling me out of the water and saving me.

I also remember going to Revolutionary War battle sites and museums that year, getting lost in the museum in Washington DC, seeing all the founding documents and getting copies of them, and standing under the liberty bell and actually touching it. It was a fairly memorable time but the memories arnt as vibrant as they were just a few years back. I was only about 4 or 5 back then.

Tomorrow, I will try and post another and bring you along, perhaps it will be one of the more recent memories… Thanks for reading, ~W

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The loss of a friend

Wednesday night I received a message over social media telling me I needed to visit a friend of mine because he wasn't doing very good. About an hour later, his oldest child called me and let me know he had passed away.. I was left numb.. It had been about a week since I had seen him and I really wanted to get out to visit him and just hadn't had time in since I had started this job a few months ago... I feel now that it was just an excuse.. I should have and could have made an effort to drive the 20 miles to his home and visit.. He was after all, "one of my best friends".

We went 5 years without even speaking to each other but in 2009, I made an attempt to reconnect. The time we had spoken before that, we had spoken very harshly with each other and our friend ship ended.. But that day in December 6 years ago we reconnected and it was like seeing a long lost friend that moved away.. He had just had surgery and had lost his toe to diabeties the month before.

Instead of jumping forward to the end of my friend's story, I will instead tell some good memories from our past. ..

1989 : we met in the little quiet town of Bonnie, but not exactly sure, if memory serves me correctly it may have been through my friend Tony who I had met not too long before that too... Keith was very charismatic and outspoken. But I seem to think remember that he some how we needed up going to cruise the mall and hit up the arcade.. Even though I didn't have money he still invited me along and offered to pay. This became a regular thing on weekends and we often times would spend the night at each others homes for game nights or wrestling pay per views.
Over the next few years we were pretty much inseporatable except for when I was at school.. You see he was a couple years older than me, and had actually dropped out of school a couple years earlier.

There was times that we would go "cruising" and flirt with girls in several of the local bigger towns.. We always had clean fun as opposed to the things I did when I was around my other friends.. Keith kept me out of trouble and he almost always had my back, as I also had his.

We both had crazy dreams of our future.. Of one of us making it big and the other one taking the other one with him if he didn't make it too...

We both had been told of our short life spans.. Me I was told by several doctors that I would be dead before I was 30, Keith always said that he wouldn't live to see 40 cause "that's just how it is and I don't wanna get old".. So over the years before we both got married to our first wives, we both pretty much did all kind of crazy things to see that we died in our youth.

We both lived a fairly free lifestyle of knowing what freedom of living on what we saw as being on the edge was like. We did what we wanted and how we wanted and didn't really answer to anyone... Well then we had to grow up.

By the end of the summer of 1992, our crazy childhood was over and we had to grow up.. We were both married and Kieth already had a child and I had one on the way.. We had to become " respectable" cause we were now dads.. Oh how it ended up as being just another adventure... And perhaps I will share some more stories of the adventures of Brad and Keith another time...

God speed my friend you are missed
~B