I had to share my Uncle Frog with several ornery cousins. They all seemed to think he was their uncle too. Fortunately for Glenn and me, Frog preferred living at our house over anyone else’s and many good memories exist because of his good taste in accommodations.
One of the cousins who tried to horn in on my time with Uncle Frog was Mike. Mike and I are the same age within three days. I’m the older of course so much more experienced in the ways of the world.
The second time Frog lived with us we were living on Sam Calloway Rd. in Fort Worth. One of the things I remember most about living in this house is Frog teaching Mike and me to smoke. We were appreciative of this opportunity because neither of our dads thought we were old enough. We were four and time was wasting. I still remember that day as if it were yesterday. Frog was sitting on the couch enjoying a good cigarette break. Mike and I wandered in from fighting Indians and bad guys and climbed up on the couch on either side of him. Purely out of a sense of discovery we asked Frog what cigarettes tasted like. He said he couldn’t explain it. We would just have to find out for ourselves. I thought that would be the end of it because I knew Frog to be very attached to his cigarettes. Mike had a more inquisitive nature and continued to pester him for a valid answer. It never took much to wear Frog down. In about three minutes he produced a cigarette out of his pack for each of us and kindly lit them up before handing them over. The three of us had barely settled in for a good smoke when Frog’s older sister, my momma, walked into the room. You would have thought we were doing something dangerous the way she reacted. I don’t know if my Aunt Ramona ever knew that Mike got a spanking from my momma. I do know both of us got a severe beating and Frog would have got one too had he not been just a shade faster than momma getting to the front door.
Mike and I gave up smoking after that. We saw no sense in getting beat for doing something that made us want to throw up.
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I worked for Uncle Frog the summer of 1968 building over passes on Loop 820 by the Mark IV Industrial Park. I got a neighbor named Ricky a job too. Ricky was a year younger than me. One day I stepped on a nail and it went through my foot. Ricky saw me do it and it made him sick. Ricky was too sick to pick up the tools at the end of the day so I had to do it. Uncle Frog told me I had to go to some industrial clinic and get a tetanus shot. He said it was Brown and Blakeney Construction Company rules. I told him I wasn't going to get a tetanus shot. We went back and forth for a while until he finally grinned and told me OK, he wouldn't get a shot either if he were me. But, I was not to say a word to mom or any of my aunts because they were always all over his butt about something all the time. I told him that would be no problem. It would be our secret. Remember this is a secret and don't tell anyone.
ReplyDeleteI sure miss uncle Frog!
ReplyDeleteOf all the stories you tell, I think stories involving you, Mike, Uncle Frog and/or Aunt Adelaide are the funniest. Or any story involving Donnie and church.
ReplyDelete