And I did marry that girl! But, let’s step back and take a look at the courtship and whatever else was going on during that time in my life.
I continued to be a gas jockey at the filling station and a farmer. Funny, I never related the use of jockey for both what Dad did as a young man and what I did. And, we both were farmers too. I guess I had more in common than I even thought with the old man. Oops; my son John will really be riled if he hears me call my father the old man. He doesn’t appreciate that kind of talk. He thought I didn’t know about that little discussion he had with his brother Stan when they were youngsters; but, I did.
As I said, I was working at JE Armstrong and working the now combined Murray and Carr farms with my dad. I also bought an old bus and had a contract with Greenwood School to transport students back and forth to school. My days were busy. First, up real early to milk and feed the cattle. Then get the milk ready for the processors to pick up. Did what I had to do with the crops. Next, made my school bus run. Then off to the gas station. At the end of the day, I reversed the order and repeated it every single day. Harvest time was even busier. We had buckwheat, corn, hay and oats to bring in. During this time, I pumped a lot of gas, drove a lot of miles all over the hills of Greenwood in that old bus, and shoveled a lot of … I know what you thought I was going to say, that too, but, no, it was snow.
Those bus rides were interesting. Kids say and do the craziest things, don’t they? There were winter days when the snow was so high that the kids could barely get back and forth from their front doors to my bus. The drifts got so high; this one was so tall I couldn’t reach it even as I stood on top of the bus with my shovel straight up over my head. I also remember a day with the Hyland kids, Corrine and Paul. I actually lifted Corrine and carried her from the bus about a quarter mile to her house on my shoulder through the snow as her brother followed in my footsteps. All in a day’s work as they say.
You would think I didn’t have time to do anything else. But, I did take time to play some pick-up basketball and on the town baseball team. We traveled around and played against all the neighboring towns, going as far as Woodhull. At this time in my life I was tall, about 6’ 4” and somewhat gangly looking; but, still athletic. Working on the farm my whole life, made me really strong. That made for a good pitcher. So, that was the position I played. For you baseball fans, you know a team needs a righty and a lefty to get around batters. We had that. I was both. You see, I am ambidextrous. I pitched from the right and from the left. Really kept those batters off guard.
I told you I would get back to my blushing bride. Well, here we go. That attractive young women walking down the street was a teacher at my old school. I guess you want to know how this old farm boy convinced this college educated teacher to go on a date. Well….I am just going to say, I had a bus. I drove said bus to and from the school every day, picking up riders. Margaret, my soon to be bride if I played by cards right, didn’t have a car, didn’t even have a license, and as I shared before, walked to the places she needed to go around town. Cold and blustery winter weather was my friend.
Now, Margaret had a number of suitors in town and around the area. It was a small town, we had seen the same girls our whole lives. When someone new shows up, she is bound to be popular. And, she was. But, come to find out, I had a special place in her heart. I was not a big spender. I was saving for bigger and better things for myself. So, we just spent time together. And, she seemed to be okay with that.
Margaret decided to spend that summer when she was not teaching back in Geneva with her family. I decided to drive her home. I met her family. To say they loved me would be a big overstatement. A doctor or a lawyer was more their cup of tea. A farmer and gas jockey were not what they had in mind for their daughter. I went back to Greenwood, not completely sure of my place, but pretty sure, she was the one for me.
When she returned in the fall, my hunch was confirmed. We decided we would get married. Come September 27, we took a quick trip to see Reverend Lynd, pastor at St. Mary’s Church. He was willing to perform the ceremony with a hitch; we had to wait for Amos and Andy to be over first. Well worth it. Later that evening we were a family. I think we did right well. We were happy; we had six kids, didn’t we?
Return for Part 3 of 4: Father Knows Best.