Looking Back on Bethel and Mary Kate

 When I look back on my first two wives, I can't help but see how different they each was.

Bethel was trim and real pretty. She put up with a whole bunch from me with my drinking and running around and all. She will always be my one true love. I can never get back all the time I wasted out drinking when I could have been right there with her.

Mary Kate was at best pleasingly plump. She dyed her hair jet black and had a slight bitter odor about her. She was a good wife and was good to Bethel's children. Mary Kate wasn't near as forgiving as Bethel, but maybe she was what me and the kids needed at the time. We was all regular at the Catholic Church because of her.

I don’t know if I mentioned to y’all that I like opera. Most people find that strange, me coming from a small Mississippi town. It was my daddy what got me interested. He had spent a year living with an Italian family in New Orleans and learned to love Puccini and Verdi down there. Anyway, why I’m telling you this is there is a song in Tosca where this artist fellow is painting a religious picture what has a blonde beauty in it and he sings out about what he calls the hidden harmony between his woman in the painting and his real woman, the dark skinned, dark haired Tosca.That's what I think about when I compare my first two wives. 

All in all I was lucky with both wives. But not so with my third wife,Trixie. She was a different matter altogether. I met Trixie at a county fair and for the next few years she led me down paths I never thought I would go down.