Dear Boo and Bubble,
Captain and I were talking the other
day about your great grandfather Cottrell and his two brothers,
Emmett and Sidney. I remarked how I had never heard a negative story
about any of them to which Captain replied, “But, they were boys,
you know......and boys will be boys.”
I guess since I'm not a boy, I can't
fully grasp this concept – that just because you happen to be a
boy, you're predisposed to getting into mischief. I surely hope
that's not the case with the two of you! It got me thinking about
great granddaddy Schaefer and I can only remember one story he told
on himself about such things.
When he was little, your great, great
grandmother Mattie found herself to be a single mom. She took
granddaddy and his sister, Katherine, and moved in with Mamie Peninah
- your triple-great grandmother about whom I've written in previous
posts. Mattie enrolled in secretarial school to learn shorthand and
typing in hopes of find employment.
Every morning, she left the house after
breakfast and walked a little ways down the street to the bus stop to
catch a ride into town for her classes. Granddaddy watched her until
she made it to the stop, then he sneaked out the back door of the
house into a field behind where he met up with the neighborhood gang.
They spent their time gathering up Rabbit Tobacco and smoking it.
In the evenings, Mattie returned. Upon
taking one look at Granddaddy, she'd say “Schaefer.....you've been
smoking Rabbit Tobacco. You get upstairs right this minute and stay
there. No supper for you tonight. And I better not catch you doing
it again!”
This totally befuddled granddaddy. How
could she know? He saw her walk all the way down to the bus stop.
It was impossible that she saw him.....unless for some reason she
didn't get on the bus.
After a few days, when Mattie headed
out the door, granddaddy decided to employ a new tactic. Feigning a
desire to spend time together, he escorted her personally to the bus
stop and waited with her until the bus came. The driver swished open
the doors and Mattie stepped on board. Granddaddy stood on the curb
waving to her as the bus pulled away. He watched her take a seat and
then skedaddled back through the house and into the field.
Confident that he was home free,
Granddaddy met up with his buddies and they smoked some more Rabbit
Tobacco.
That night, he eagerly waited for
Mattie on the front porch. The bus came to the stop and she got off.
Granddaddy greeted her as she came up the steps. Before even saying
“hello,” she lit into him.
“Schaefer Kendrick, you've been
smoking that Rabbit Tobacco again. I warned you not to......you get
on up to your room and stay there until I've had a chance to figure
out how I'm going to punish you so you'll get the message.”
“There is NO WAY she knows,”
granddaddy thought to himself.
“I saw her get on the bus this morning.” He
was totally perplexed, but that didn't matter. No more Rabbit
Tobacco for him.
Years
later, he asked Mattie how in the world she knew that he was smoking
Rabbit Tobacco. It was a mystery he had to solve.
“Simple,”
she replied. “The hairs above your lip were singed.”
There's
a lesson here for the two of you. You may think that you can get
ahead of your mom, but you never will.....even if you're just being
boys.
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