When I was about 6 years old, daddy use to take me and Harold down to his parents. One time we were there when Mom was about to set the dinner table. It was in the summertime and my grandma (Mom) kept a washpan at the screened-in back porch. We all had to wash our hands in that pan and dried on the same towel. They didn’t have water in the house, so one of the uncles always had water carried from the Spring.
Me and Harold was tuckered out from running from a Billy Goat grandpa had. That thing would butt the fire out of you if he got to you before you could get thru the fence. It made me and Harold feel big to get to eat with so many grown-ups at the same time.
They were all grown men, and daddy was the only one that had any hair. If you stood up and went around the table, it looked like a half dozen eggs, after they removed their hats. By the time they reached 40, all of ’em except daddy had lost their hair.
Grandpa (Boots) was at the end, then Jud, daddy, Frank, Howard, Carl and Tobe.
Mom slid two chairs in front of the fireplace, put mine and Harold’s plate in them, and we sat on the raised thing made of concrete and rock. After dinner Howard (one of the younger brothers) kinda took to me and Harold. The others wouldn’t have anything to do with us, but Howard told us to not get all dirty from playing with that ole Billy Goat…that his girlfriend was coming later and we could meet her. (Like we cared about that!) But later that afternoon, we got to meet Mary, his girlfriend and they got married within a few weeks.
Daddy didn’t have a car back then so we walked all the way down there. I remember looking at all the stars on the way back. We had stayed until almost dark and it’s a good two miles back home. I recon that was the first time when daddy showed us the Big and Little Dipper in the sky. What a day we had at Mom’s!
Ken Roper 2013
I can almost see Ken and his brother sitting on the hearth eating from the chairs. His story of feeling so proud to get to eat with the grownups reminds me of when you get old enough to eat with the adults at Thanksgiving instead of at the kids table.
If you’ve ever been out in the night far away from the lights of civilization, you’ll know the feeling Ken and his brother must have felt when they saw all those stars and learned of the big and little dippers for the first time. It’s magical to walk down a road or trail in the dark and see the wonders of stars and every planet hanging way out in space. Pap wrote a song that speaks of that great wonder. You can hear it here.
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I love the sky at night. When I am outdoors and looking up I feel so close to God. We had a pick up truck and often we would go sit on our distant cousin’s country store porch until way after dark. Several people gathered there to talk, laugh and enjoy the warm evenings. I loved riding the short distance back home lying on my back in the back of that old ford, the metal cold against my back, and figure out where we were by the sway of the truck and by the path the sky made between the trees. It isn’t the easiest for me to get up off the ground these days, but I still ENJOY lying flat on my back looking UP into the night sky. It almost feels that I could fall UP into its beautiful deepness~ It is a surreal feeling to me. Try it sometime
We have a small house so wasn’t uncommon to have people eating at tables in both the kitchen and living room. i always had so many younguns at my house there was usually two or three “kids tables” at holiday meals..15 years later any time the kids are home (all adults now) they still insist on sitting at the “kids table” in the living room. In fact when my daughter got married the boys told her she had to sit with the adults since she was married…then when she got divorced she went back to the “kids table”
Speaking of the wonders of the heavens, I well recall the first meteor shower I ever saw. I was a kid. A total solar eclipse one afternoon in the ’70s was quite a show. Then there was the time, just after sunrise, a co-worker and I saw big brown spots on the sun. There was a thick, smoky haze that day, from grass fires. The sun looked like an orange-colored egg yolk. At sunset, the spots had changed shape and moved across the disc. That fascinated me. Then, last week, my daughter and I visited a museum and saw the mind-boggling photos of deep space as seen through the miracle of the Webb telescope. Wall-size photos and interpretive information referencing the distances involved, and the evidence of the births and deaths of stars, and the uncounted galaxies, humbled us completely. Most of what we saw “was without form, and void . . . .” What the telescope hasn’t yet shown us is a blue little marble like Earth. Wouldn’t that be something to see!
I was affected by that readinā and I especially liked 1) washing from the same pan and nobody died or was scared 2) was tired from running from a billy goat whoād light you up ( kids today should be so fortunate) 3) half a dozen egg heads eating and 4) walking in dark, enjoying learning about The Dippers, sharing each otherās company and not missing a car in the leastā¦. I needed that in my soul, Tipper and Mr. Roper. You ask why we readers keep coming and I say you filleth my cup with good and worthy thoughts until it runneth over. Sometimes I laugh and sometimes I cry. (Donāt tell or Iāll deny it.). Lol. The good stuff is right here!!!
Loved Ken’s story. It brings back those good ole childhood memories. Tipper, you won’t believe this, but Sunday I found this very song Pap wrote and Robert and I were listening to it. To think he wrote it, sang and played it with Paul is just amazing. I know it’s not the only one he wrote but it’s just beautiful. Thank you for sharing Ken’s story and also the song. Praying for Miss Cindy and all of you.
When I was young there were many children in the family, and my mother set up three card table-type/folding leg tables and mostly lawn chairs for the kids, and those with toddlers were told to bring their highchairs. Such good times and fond memories from childhood, and also spreading sheets in the backyard to watch the heavens at night. Nothing better than the silent feelings you get from stars.
What a lovely Ken Roper story! Thank you for sharing it.
What a beautiful song! It brought back memories of all us church kids lying on our backs in the church graveyard (yes, the graveyard!) watching the glorious night sky while our parents were in choir practice.
I liked the kids table, it was fun, but you outgrew the chairs and table. š Iām with you Tipper looking at a clear night sky is phenomenal. Iāve been fortunate enough to live in areas where the skies are clearer and even more so when your at 7000 feet camping with only a camp fire for light, such a wonder up there. it makes you feel pretty small. I remember once when I was young and we lived in Wyoming, I got to see the northern lights.
My family got to eat at the same table at suppertime when we were home. When we all had families and gathered at Mom and Dad’s for holiday dinners, my oldest sister would yell, men eat first! I don’t know why. It was customary in the old days for men to eat first so they could rush back to the fields, but in our family, most of the men had been stretched out watching TV while the women cooked. My sister has always been the bossy, loudmouth of the family so everyone went along with her commands for a while. I’m glad Ken got to eat with the grown-ups even if his seat was not the most comfortable. It sounds like the lard buckets seats I have used at the dinner table more than once.
Enjoying Pap and Paul’s song today. What a sweet melody. Have a great day!
I remember sometimes eating at a different (kids) table and at times pulling two straight back cane bottom chairs together one facing the other and putting my plate in one and sitting in the other one. It all depended on the number of ones there. I love Glendaās comment of just being together. Just being together with my wife was my greatest joy after she retired. I had retired before she did. It only lasted for 7 months, now everyday without her is a heartache, even right now, this morning, there are no words to describe how much I miss her. This is also true for me to be with my family and my wifeās family or friends, I love āhanging outā with all of them. This is one of the only joys I have now.
Randy, I know the feeling all too well. Bill had been gone for 9 years now and there are still times when I will think āI need to call Bill and tell him that.ā It is hard, but I choose to be grateful and I choose to be happy. Dudnāt always work, but I give it my best shot. Iāll say a prayer for you and you go on honoring yāallās life together. Godās blessingsā¦
Amy, you know exactly how I feel and I know what you are saying about calling your husband. Sometimes at night I wake up and feel like she is standing beside my bed, I have even called out her name, Janice. I know I have to carry on for my son and grandsons. I feel like I am surviving but no longer living, thereās a hole in my heart that time will never heal, only my death. Like I said a day or so ago , spend every minute you possibly can with your family, love ones and friends. To me, outside of my relationship with God, nothing in life is more important. I know many other members know what we are saying and it does not necessarily have be your spouse.
Randy, your relationship with God might not be what you think it is. God can heal that hole in your heart. Give yourself completely to Him and when the heartache comes go to Him and He will take it away. God can and will do what family, friends, psychologists or drugs can’t. God can hold you up when you think you are going to fall. But, you have to fully trust Him. Don’t put your trust in a pastor or a preacher. Don’t rely on the prayers of others. Read your Bible and let God talk to you through his Word. Put yourself is the right place with God and you don’t need anybody else!
I miss my wife too. I hear her call my name when I am asleep but I know it’s all in my head. My wife is asleep waiting for the return of Jesus when she will wake up to sleep no more (to steal a phrase from an Inspirations Quartet song). I miss her but I wouldn’t wish that she were back. The last few years of her life were miserable. She is asleep now and no pain or heartache will ever harm her again. I am happy for and in some ways envious of her.
I will certainly miss Ken’s comments as you could feel the love he had for his family and a lot of the times he would be telling a tale about him and his brother, Harold:)
Pap sure wrote some beautiful songs!!
I was watching an older video with Granny talking about her growing up years, meeting Pap and finally moving to her home there. I knew just exactly what she meant when she said, “they don’t make em like that anymore.” Meaning her husband, their parents and grandparents and community back in the day. I agree, and I think it is that you absolutely knew that they LOVED you and had your back no matter what. Plus, they had a reverence for God and respect for their fellowman.
Praying for Miss Cindy and your family.
On the back road, us holler kids would walk to church on Sunday night. It wasnāt far and we knew every turn in the road. It would be dark walking back home but sometimes the sky would be lit up with so many stars and silly us we would try to count them. It was magical..lights leading us home.
Have a wonderful day.
I remember sitting at separate table with my cousins , perched on a huge dictionary so I could reach my plate.
I don’t think we sat at the kids table because we were kids but because there wasn’t enough room. I loved it. we didn’t have enough dinner plates either so my mother gave one of us a small platter to use. my cousin and I fought over it like crazy. It got so my mother kept a note of who used it last so the other could use it next time. I still have it. I always loved it when family came, the house was full of fun and laughter.
From Ken’s Big Dipper. I remember a yarn my dad told when in Aust Army training. From the “bush” labeled as # 1 scout. A young Officer on Nav training had them hopelessly lost. Dad had been warned not a say anything. Around 0300, the young Bloke (guy) asked Dad for help. “Watch my finger, Sir, Dad replied, “You see I am pointing to the big dipper, that handle will take you straight to the 4GR radio transmission tower in Toowoomba.
Greg, he should have pointed to the Southern Cross and sent the bloke on a long walkabout–alone.
I like Papās song very much.
lots of pain today, back hurts, sciatic nerve, both legs, God help please!
Norman-I’m sorry! I pray your pain goes away!!
I sympathize with you, it is an everyday thing for me to have my knees and lower legs ache. I joke and say when are young and wake up with something hurting, you go to the doctor, when you get old and wake up without something hurting, you go to the doctor. Hopefully your pain will ease up.
Praying that God surround you with comfort and relief from your pain. His love and peace are unfailing.
Oh for the memories. Loved hearing you and Matt chatting about your garden, loving the popsicles and just being together in general. If other could just see what you guys do on a daily basis and how you thrive, at least that is what we see and I am sure it is true, and what a loving family looks like. Even with trying to ease Miss Cindy in her plight, you work so well together…Thanks for sharing and God Bless you guys.
You know, I can still remember finally getting to eat with the grownups at family get togethers. I hadn’t really thought about that in a long time. Ken’s story reminded me about that right of passage.