Sometimes all it takes is a few words to make your day. Yesterday I was chatting a bit with an online friend. This lady mentioned a name in her comments that I hadn't heard in quite some time. He was an older gentleman I only knew as Long George. That name brought an instant smile to my face as memories flooded my thoughts. It was like opening a door on an old closet. It was a little dark and dusty in there but the more I stared into it the clearer things became. I explored that room the better part of yesterday. It really did make my day and I thank her for that memory. Truly it is one of those " little things " in life. Long George took me back to about 1965 or so. Back to great grandfathers house. It was there that I met this Long George. I remember a tall thin man wearing suspenders. Dusty, dirty old worn work shoes. He didn't sit down as much as he folded himself into a chair. I don't remember him speaking much, just as a presence. Where he lived I couldn't say, that he walked everywhere I knew.
I related a few stories I had of Long George to this online friend. She in return said as a child she was afraid of him, for unknown reasons. I could see that as I remember his appearance, but I had been introduced by my great grandfather. We all remark what a small world it is and this is one evidence of that. Yes, we grew up in the same small town this friend and I. We didn't know each other then I don't believe. That our parents may have known, or least were aware of each other, is without doubt. They would have been contemporaries. So to read, out of the blue this name, Long George, and make an immediate connection was like traveling in time. Instantly I knew who she was talking about. Simply an amazing thing to me. It was almost as though a secret I had held for years was exposed. As surprising as finding out your parents had first names and your grandparents weren't born grandparents !
Remembering Long George took me back to great grandfathers kitchen. Dad would drop my sister and I off there to visit with him. Great Grandmother Lucy had long since passed and he lived in that big old house alone. He lived, pretty much in the kitchen. The rest of the house was dark and dusty as those rooms were seldom used. I remember the kitchen well. The big coal stove against the wall that was never without fire in it. HIs bed sat in the far corner. A high bed with a metal frame. I remember the blanket on the top most of all, it was an olive drab army blanket. I can feel that wool in my mind whenever I think about it. I had the same blanket when I was in the navy except the color was grey. There was a table and chairs and another chair just for sitting in. It was that chair that Long George would rest in and smoke his pipe. I didn't explore much of that house as it was a scary place. Oh, I did venture in those other rooms a few times with my sister. It was in the parlor, as gramp called it, that grandma died. Gave me the creeps knowing that. The bed was still there.
It wouldn't have been long past '65 that Gramp had to move out of that house. A sad chapter in family history there and one I will not relate here. He didn't leave that home because he wanted to or because it was medically necessary and I'll leave it at that. It was Great Grandmother Lucys' father that built that house in 1897. It stayed in the family for almost seventy years. The house stands to this day but I have no idea who lives there. If whoever is there today should see a long lanky man smoking a pipe in the kitchen, that would be Long George. Don't be scared he won't hurt you.
I related a few stories I had of Long George to this online friend. She in return said as a child she was afraid of him, for unknown reasons. I could see that as I remember his appearance, but I had been introduced by my great grandfather. We all remark what a small world it is and this is one evidence of that. Yes, we grew up in the same small town this friend and I. We didn't know each other then I don't believe. That our parents may have known, or least were aware of each other, is without doubt. They would have been contemporaries. So to read, out of the blue this name, Long George, and make an immediate connection was like traveling in time. Instantly I knew who she was talking about. Simply an amazing thing to me. It was almost as though a secret I had held for years was exposed. As surprising as finding out your parents had first names and your grandparents weren't born grandparents !
Remembering Long George took me back to great grandfathers kitchen. Dad would drop my sister and I off there to visit with him. Great Grandmother Lucy had long since passed and he lived in that big old house alone. He lived, pretty much in the kitchen. The rest of the house was dark and dusty as those rooms were seldom used. I remember the kitchen well. The big coal stove against the wall that was never without fire in it. HIs bed sat in the far corner. A high bed with a metal frame. I remember the blanket on the top most of all, it was an olive drab army blanket. I can feel that wool in my mind whenever I think about it. I had the same blanket when I was in the navy except the color was grey. There was a table and chairs and another chair just for sitting in. It was that chair that Long George would rest in and smoke his pipe. I didn't explore much of that house as it was a scary place. Oh, I did venture in those other rooms a few times with my sister. It was in the parlor, as gramp called it, that grandma died. Gave me the creeps knowing that. The bed was still there.
It wouldn't have been long past '65 that Gramp had to move out of that house. A sad chapter in family history there and one I will not relate here. He didn't leave that home because he wanted to or because it was medically necessary and I'll leave it at that. It was Great Grandmother Lucys' father that built that house in 1897. It stayed in the family for almost seventy years. The house stands to this day but I have no idea who lives there. If whoever is there today should see a long lanky man smoking a pipe in the kitchen, that would be Long George. Don't be scared he won't hurt you.
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