UPDATED!
We got a watermelon yesterday and as we were enjoying it, I was thinking of when we used to go visit Aunt Ruby in Breckenridge. She would always go to a cabinet or pantry and pull out a big jar of watermelon hearts, sometimes yellow, sometimes red, and just turn us loose with it; I remember just about foundering on watermelon. That was such a nice thing to do as I'm sure we made a mess. Actually I can't even remember who "we" was, only that it wasn't just me. Jimmy? I remember visiting Ruby a few times but the one that really stands out was when we went there for Uncle Ben's funeral. I must have been in junior high, because the Monkees were popular right then; and we (again, who? I just remember another boy about my age and a girl; Uncle Jimmy's kids, whose names escape me just now?) didn't go to the funeral as it turned out, for reasons I don't know, and instead spent the afternoon singing along to some Monkees 45rpm over and over and playing air guitar, using an ironing board for a keyboard. For a funeral, it was actually a lot of fun. I always heard or imagined that Ben Flynn (right?) had been gassed in World War I, which was why he was always sort of sickly. Was that true? The other person who really stands out in memory of visits to Aunt Ruby's was of course Joel Jack; we were all afraid of him, with no reason to be save that he was different, being disabled. I never had a chance to know him as some of you did. Was it Breckenridge that had the red brick streets? On the recent drive up and down US Hwy 287, one town we went through, Clarendon, Texas, had red brick streets and it was really a flashback to whereever that was.
From the comments:
"Actually, she turned you loose w/a big jar of heart melon from a yellow melon and you got up under the kitchen table so you wouldn't have to share. I always thought it poetic justice that you got a tack in your knee when you were crawling out." [none of which I remember, save for the juicy goodness of the watermelon; the rest is pure calumny -RW]
"Jimmie's [Carroll, our mother's youngest brother; the only one who is still living] kids are Randy Joe and Linda Kay. Randy is older than Rodger (again, I think) and Linda is just younger than [Roy Dale]. Ben J's boys were at Uncle Ben's funeral as well and Larry is about the same age as you.
"Breckenridge has brick streets. Daddy said that one of the bricklayers was a black man who could lay brick twice as fast as anyone else working there.
Joel Jack, for anyone who doesn't remember, was a cousin--Aunt Ruby and Uncle Ben's son--and he was disabled. He used a wheelchair and could get around on his own, and once you got used to the way he talked you could understand him. For a small child he was kind of scary because he was pretty big for all that, and his hands were very strong. But he was very kind-hearted and as Jimmy noted above, he adored Roy Lee. Knowing what we now know about the long-term effects of toxins, I always wondered if his disability was a birth defect caused by Uncle Ben being gassed in the trenches in WW I. I don't know if Joel was born that way or if it was caused by some later trauma; I seem to remember something about him being injured in a fire, but I'm sure I'll get set straight on that!
Just a note for commenters; please include dates and full names! I looked up the Monkees song "Last Train to Clarksville," which I seem to remember we played on our ironing board and washtub drums, and it came out in 1966. And I don't know who "Ben J" was, I'm sorry to admit.
UPDATE:
This from Randall: Ben J. (Ben Junior) was the eldest Flynn Child, of Ruby and Ben Flynn. Ruby was Ruth Mae's sister.
We got a watermelon yesterday and as we were enjoying it, I was thinking of when we used to go visit Aunt Ruby in Breckenridge. She would always go to a cabinet or pantry and pull out a big jar of watermelon hearts, sometimes yellow, sometimes red, and just turn us loose with it; I remember just about foundering on watermelon. That was such a nice thing to do as I'm sure we made a mess. Actually I can't even remember who "we" was, only that it wasn't just me. Jimmy? I remember visiting Ruby a few times but the one that really stands out was when we went there for Uncle Ben's funeral. I must have been in junior high, because the Monkees were popular right then; and we (again, who? I just remember another boy about my age and a girl; Uncle Jimmy's kids, whose names escape me just now?) didn't go to the funeral as it turned out, for reasons I don't know, and instead spent the afternoon singing along to some Monkees 45rpm over and over and playing air guitar, using an ironing board for a keyboard. For a funeral, it was actually a lot of fun. I always heard or imagined that Ben Flynn (right?) had been gassed in World War I, which was why he was always sort of sickly. Was that true? The other person who really stands out in memory of visits to Aunt Ruby's was of course Joel Jack; we were all afraid of him, with no reason to be save that he was different, being disabled. I never had a chance to know him as some of you did. Was it Breckenridge that had the red brick streets? On the recent drive up and down US Hwy 287, one town we went through, Clarendon, Texas, had red brick streets and it was really a flashback to whereever that was.
From the comments:
"Actually, she turned you loose w/a big jar of heart melon from a yellow melon and you got up under the kitchen table so you wouldn't have to share. I always thought it poetic justice that you got a tack in your knee when you were crawling out." [none of which I remember, save for the juicy goodness of the watermelon; the rest is pure calumny -RW]
"Jimmie's [Carroll, our mother's youngest brother; the only one who is still living] kids are Randy Joe and Linda Kay. Randy is older than Rodger (again, I think) and Linda is just younger than [Roy Dale]. Ben J's boys were at Uncle Ben's funeral as well and Larry is about the same age as you.
"Breckenridge has brick streets. Daddy said that one of the bricklayers was a black man who could lay brick twice as fast as anyone else working there.
Joel Jack, for anyone who doesn't remember, was a cousin--Aunt Ruby and Uncle Ben's son--and he was disabled. He used a wheelchair and could get around on his own, and once you got used to the way he talked you could understand him. For a small child he was kind of scary because he was pretty big for all that, and his hands were very strong. But he was very kind-hearted and as Jimmy noted above, he adored Roy Lee. Knowing what we now know about the long-term effects of toxins, I always wondered if his disability was a birth defect caused by Uncle Ben being gassed in the trenches in WW I. I don't know if Joel was born that way or if it was caused by some later trauma; I seem to remember something about him being injured in a fire, but I'm sure I'll get set straight on that!
Just a note for commenters; please include dates and full names! I looked up the Monkees song "Last Train to Clarksville," which I seem to remember we played on our ironing board and washtub drums, and it came out in 1966. And I don't know who "Ben J" was, I'm sorry to admit.
UPDATE:
This from Randall: Ben J. (Ben Junior) was the eldest Flynn Child, of Ruby and Ben Flynn. Ruby was Ruth Mae's sister.
2 comments:
Actually, she turned you loose w/a big jar of heart melon from a yellow melon and you got up under the kitchen table so you wouldn't have to share. I always thought it poetic justice that you got a tack in your knee when you were crawling out.
Jimmie's kids are Randy Joe and Linda Kay. Randy is older than Rodger (again, I think) and Linda is just younger than you. (Obviously, I'm addressing this to Jug). Ben J's boys were at Uncle Ben's funeral as well and Larry is about the same age as you.
Breckenridge has brick streets. Daddy said that one of the bricklayers was a black man who could lay brick twice as fast as anyone else working there.
I couldn't remember what all you talked about so I'm doing this in sections. Uncle Ben was gasssed in WWI and lost a lung or part of one. Joel Jack was something else. He adored Daddy. I have some good (and some scarey) memories of him.
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