Those
were the days, alright... My father just sent me this photo from a
long time ago,
way back when, practically the "olden days."
Okc; 1936
click to see bigger
This picture was taken back in 1936 at the
Oklahoma City Stockyards. And see that there fella on the far left, the one leaning all suave like... well, he's my Granpa, T.J. Spear. Isn't he handsome? Does he remind you of anyone? Yeah, him... He used to get mistaken for
John Wayne all the time or so I was told. I did know him growing up. He was a big man, and you definitely knew when he entered the room. He made people laugh all the time. He was very fun, funny even. He was a great story teller and always seemed to hold the room's attention with the ending always bringing huge laughs from the crowd that gathered. He spoke, people listened. He was a big fan of Johnny Cash, and always laughed when he heard the song,
"Boy Named Sue..." He would laugh and quote Johnny,
"My name is Sue and how do you do..." He was also a cattle rancher in
Calumet, OK, and he was married to my Grandmurr,
Louise. (who's 91st birthday would have been yesterday) They were a jolly couple, always traveling and going to fun places like Las Vegas with their fun friends, George & Pauline and Chuck and Jenn... I've been lucky enough to inheret some really cool vintage photo's of all of them, partying it up at the old hotels like the
Tropicana and the
Desert Inn. They are all dolled up in their finest polyester, sitting at big round tables dressed with white tablecloths and overrun with empty highball glasses... Makes me really wish I could have known them as an adult, you know. Partying it up with the grandparents, now that would have been cool.
One of my favorite memories of my Granpa, T.J. was the time when he and Louise came to visit us in California from Oklahoma. They drove the distance with a stop over in Vegas. Once they got to our house my Granpa told me he had a present for me. Even though I was only 7, I knew it was going to be something good, they always gave the grandest of gifts... He went to his suitcase and pulled out a big brown paper bag, the type from the grocery store all big and brown. It appeared to be heavy and he carried it over with both hands... I couldn't imagine what it could be, I wondered what grandness could come in a big brown grocery bag. Before he handed me the sack, he said that while in Vegas, he took out a
".25 cent piece" from his pocket and said to himself just before putting that .25 cent piece into the slot machine,
"This one's for little jilly..." Just then, he opened the bag and proceeded to
dump the contents right onto the shag carpeting... out came hundreds, no thousands of Quarters, as in
.25 cent pieces.
I was rich! It was a whopping total of $67.00, but to a 7 year old, (this 7 year old) that might as well have been a Million dollars. I had died and become
Mrs. Rockefeller! Next, I just about drown in my own thoughts of all things
Malibu Barbie. Just think, now I could buy the Beach Jeep I had been dreaming of, or, or the Beauty Pageant Stage, or, or, or, maybe I will just get another Barbie and they can be twin sisters forever and ever... Uhhh, think again one 7 year old... It all came to a hault when my parents could see my eyes glazing over and the millions of coins literally burning a hole in my size 7 corduroy slacks. Immediately my dreams were squashed and I was taught the most problematic lesson of
Saving. Oh and to make things worse (even though now, I see that at least she was trying to make it
fun for me...) my always creative mom "made" me a real bank to put my
million sixty-seven dollars in. She got out a rather large Foldgers Coffee can, covered it with some pretty fabric, cut out a whole just big enough for a .25 cent piece to slip in to, (not out of) and told
me to put all of the quarters inside. I was then instructed that I could spend it, but only if done so, wisely. Now in retrospect, how does a 7 year old (this 7 year old) ever spend money wisely? I mean everything available to them (meaning
not Tequilia, or anything greasy at a drive-thru, because uhhh hello, they
can't drive) is pointless and not of a wisely nature. Thank mom. Thanks dad.
I never did get that Malibu Beach Barbie Jeep, or that damn Beauty Pageant Stage, but I did have those .25 cent pieces for a very long time. I wish I could tell you that I still have them, but honestly my memory isn't serving me on how they ever got spent. I do remember though that my mom actually sewed all of my Barbie clothes back then, so I had the pimped out wardrobe for my Malibu girl and didn't need no stinken' store bought rags and I must have justified not having the jeep since my Barbie was stylin'.
And my Granpa, T.J. always remained my hero for thinking of little ole' me while in Vegas.
