Remembering Friends In My Teens
As I remember my teen years, there are many fond memories that are close to my heart. At around thirteen I started a close network of friends that was based from the Church I was attending. I guess that was the time that I began to notice the girls. Anyway I was raised in a loving Christian home in which high
moral standards were instilled in us at an early age. I was the oldest of a large family of eight children. Although my youngest brother was born after I had set out on my own adventure in life. In my younger years I always was doing jobs to make a little money during the Summer months, like mowing lawns and wasn't afraid to try anything to help out. I started working for my Granddad around the age of twelve so I was able to have a little spending money which was really neat at the time. This was kind of the beginning of my youthful years and a time for me to become close friends with people outside our family.
There were male and female friends and some of them were Cousins. I remember Larry who had me over one weekend who lived out south of Osborne where his adoptive parents ran a small gas station with the living quarters in behind the station. We slept down in kind of a basement and had a great time that week end. But what I remember most was on that morning for breakfast his mom had fixed this huge breakfast with pancakes and the works. Anyway they were all putting peanut butter and syrup on their pancakes and told me "you got to try this as you will really like it". I was
reluctant but as a guest and to be polite proceeded to spread the thick goo on them and to my delight it was very tasty. And now to this day it is hard for me to eat pancakes unless there is peanut butter on them.
My cousins Kenny, Roger, Terry, and Darrel lived about fifteen miles out on a farm, north west of town. I spent many weekends there with them enjoying the farm life and helping with the chores. They didn't have electricity yet so at night they would light these large gas lanterns in each room for light. They had a large refrigerator that run on propane and got there water from the well. Some of the many chores was feeding the chickens, milking the cows, and feeding all the animals. We had to put the milk through a cream separator so they could sell the cream in town as part of their income. They also had several ponds on their farm which we would go fishing for bullheads for a good fish fry. I remember the big old barn with the big hay loft where we spent many hours swinging from a rope swing. So many fond memories of farm life that I will cherish forever.
My largest circle of friends was based around the church where we attended three times a week. I had been raised from a small child in the church and found my closest friends there. A group of us teens had become friends with people who where a little older and able to drive. Just about every night after church we would all jump in the car of whom ever would be willing to drive us around. We usually would go to the local drive inn for a snack or some ice cream and then spend several hours
cruising around the town. I had four cousins
JoAnn, Connie, Edith, and
Fontella who became know as my kissing cousins. I would usually sit in the back seat with two of them on each side and somehow this kissing game got started. It was funny as some of them would keep track of who had the most kisses. The older guys that drove us around never seemed to be included in this game which really wasn't fair for them. Ha Ha. Of course I didn't complain any about it. Even though I refer to them as my kissing cousins we had a bond of closeness that I cherish to this day.
Darrel was a friend that was crippled as he had to have metal braces on his legs that would lock into place holding his legs stiff. He had this old 1951 Kaiser that he had a racing corvette motor with a special transmission put in. I would ride around with him and one night he decided to go to Stockton for a cruise. As we were cruising up and down the streets, this hot Ford that had a racing motor in it, (as it couldn't hardly idle)
flagged us down and asked if we want to go out east of town and have a drag race. Darrel said
OK and off we went. So we lined up and someone in the other car started off the race. Darrel punched the gas and we left them as if they were standing still. We went back in town and here they came, honking, and wanting us to stop. After a few blocks of
ignoring them we finally stop and they all piled out of the hot Ford and said, "what on earth do you have in that old Kaiser. Darrel said, "just a plain old 6 cylinder motor" and they said,"No way" so he finally told them about the racing motor. They told us that his was the first car to beat them and finally left us in kind of a shocking mood. It was amazing how Darrel would drive so fast since he had to lift his crippled leg up for the brake. It's
scary to me now realizing what could have
happened if we were in a wreck while racing. He was a real great friend and pasted at a young age due to his health problems.
The youth group at the church would have conventions around the state and a group of us would usually would go. On one of these outing we were in Wichita for a week end meeting. This was my first time to stay in a Hotel that I remember. We discovered the art of dragging our shoes on the carpet on the way to our room and then touching someone on the ear with a half inch spark that would make them jump with surprise. I met a girl from Overland Park Kansas and became friends with her, and although that was the only time I saw her we corresponded for years through the mail. She was very upset when I wrote her a letter telling her that I was about to be married. I guess she had these plans for us to be together. Anyway we all had a great time that week end.
I used to love to go fishing mostly in the river that run just south of town. My cousin Kenny and I would spend many hours trying to catch that big old catfish as they would give you that big thrill as they would jerk on the line. One week end we got this dumb idea to go to the hardware store and buy these
enormous large fish hooks and attach them to the end of a long stick and try to reach in the water and snag the fish. The water was clear enough to see them swimming by. It seemed like a great idea at the time until I snagged Kenny in the foot with this big hook. We had hard time getting it out of his foot and gave up on this illegal way to fish.
There are so many fond memories of that time in my life that have a special place in my heart and will always be recalled often.
