One boring day in 1958 my older brother, Ronnie and I were hanging out in the garage talking. Mama was taking a nap. We found a bottle of red shoe polish. America hadn't become a throw-away society yet. In the fifties, shoes were resoled and polished regularly. The applicator to the shoe polish had a wire stem with a fuzzy ball at the end that soaked up the polish. Ronnie pulled out the applicator and smeared a dab of the red liquid on the palm of his hand. All of a sudden, we read each others minds: Wouldn't it be funny to smear the polish all over his hand, and go running into the house screaming that he cut himself? We'd scare Mama good!
We had forgotten in our excitement that Mama didn't have a sense of humor.
A screen door lead from the garage into the house. Ronnie ripped open the screen, ran in and jumped in the air screaming as he headed down the hallway. The picture is still etched in my mind today. Mama came running out of the bedroom screaming, her hair standing up on her head and her eyes bulging out the size of tennis balls.. By the time she reached Ronnie, she realized she'd been hoaxed and began screaming epithets while slapping him mercilessly. Ronnie cried, and I felt terrible that he got into trouble.
"Are you alright Ronnie?"
"Leave me alone!" he snapped back.
My 88 year-old mother brings that incident up now and then, and each time we laugh till we cry.
On August 22nd of that year, 13 year-old Ronnie and my father were killed in an airplane accident. The plane crashed in the ocean near San Quentin Prison in California. It was one day after my brother, Kenneth's fourth birthday and the day before my ninth birthday.
Oh dear! Your poor Mom!
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm so sorry about your brother and dad. I can only imagine how hard it must have been to lose the ones you love so young. :-(
Yes, it was a terrible time, but luckily life is sprinkled with good times and funny times also.
ReplyDeleteOh Brenda, I'm so sorry about your Dad and brother. How awful to have lost them at such a young age! Your story had me laughing...until I read the sad ending. It's nice you have that fun memory of your brother, though. I remember that shoe polish with the ball thing on the wire!
ReplyDeleteIt's a very funny story, and I questioned whether I should include the ending. It puts a damper on the funny story.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to hear about your dad and brother. I can't imagine what it was like to lose them at such a young age. Thanks for sharing this story. Loved it. It made me laugh and made me cry.
ReplyDelete