Jack (from 9-20-10)

Me and Willie went out early to fish a while. We caught six bass and two white perch. I'm taking them to Dorothy and she'll get them cleaned and fix them for supper.

But today, I promised to tell y'all about my middle child Jack. His name is John Conroy, but we called him Jack. Now, Jack was cursed with real good looks. I mean girls were always calling our house and walking out of their way to come by to see if he was out in the yard. And this, in my opinion, caused Jack to take the wrong path in life. He didn't study like Bill so he was always close to getting booted from school. When Bethel was alive (she died when he was seven and one-half), she kept him in line. She didn't have to get tough with him because he loved her mor'n anything and tried hard to please her. But after she was gone he got into real trouble. In his junior year in high school he got two girls in trouble. I mean within a month of each other. Well there couldn't be no shotgun wedding there, could there? Bethel had a brother up in North Mississippi, a preacher, so we sent Jack up there. He only came home a couple of times for a day or two at a time after that. But he did settle down enough to got to college to make an engineer. At the time I was real confused why you had to go to college for four years in order to drive a train. Of course later I understood what an electrical engineer did. I hope you understand the difference in ignorance and stupidity.

And I hope you understand which one I was.

Bill (from 9-20-10)

Well, like I said me and Bethel had three children together. The first was Bill. His real name is William Clay  but we called him Bill. He was born while I was in Korea. Me and Bethel hadn't been married but a few months when I got the call. I reckon we made Bill just before I shipped out cause I wadn't over yonder but nine months when I got word he arrived. So when I come home there he was. He was a smart little thing, took after his mamma I reckon. He made real good grades and even traveled with the school to debate other schools. But his mamma never knew it. She died when he was only nine. She missed seeing him go off to college and make a lawyer. But at least she didn't have to suffer through missing him when he moved out to Hollywood, California and took up a life of high living. She didn't have to know he would forget about us and all he left behind in Harper. Of course, me and Bethel had two more children before she passed on, Jack and Doreen.
Tomorrow I'll try and explain Jack to you.

Jimbo's Hardward (from 9-18-10)

Hope I'll be able to talk more about me and Bethel tomorrow, but before I go on with that, I thought of a couple of stories about Jimbo Johnston and his hardware store. 

The first one took place back in the seventies. I know because it involved our town marshall, Bledsoe Blevins, and he died back in 1979. Well, Bledsoe was walking around about midnight one night, checking doors and found that Jimbo had forgot to lock his front door. He called him and told him to get down with his key. But Jimbo said it wadn't necessary; he was there all day and nobody came by, so he didn't think anybody would show up at midnight. 

Another time Jimbo was telling about how somebody came in and bought a broom. He forgot to charge it and couldn't remember who bought it. So he just charged everybody he could think of for a broom. I think it was $2.99. I asked him didn't people complain. Well he said Ethylene Walker raised a little hell so he bought her a coke and she cooled down. And he said the rest of the fools paid for the broom. Just like they really bought it, don't you know.

More About Harper (from 9-17-10)

Well Harper, like I told you, has 900 citizens, maybe a few more. We have everything here we need. There is no need to drive eight miles to that city with all the stores and the big mall. We got a real good grocery store, Neighborhood Pantry. We have Jimbo's hardware where you can get anything from hand plows to paint. There is Jay's Drug Store, Bickerstaff Furniture Store, and Speedy Dry Cleaning. And two of my favorite places: Berber's, a filling station, and Dorothy's Cafe. I don't drive much no more so the filling station is just a place where I get information and go to visit my cousin Wilkie. He has worked there for many years. He calls it his day job because he does lots of other things in his time off. And Dorothy, a very close friend of mine, runs one of the best eating places you'd every want to see. I eat lunch there every day that I'm not out in my boat. Today she has fried catfish. She has fish every Friday, but she ain't Catholic or nothing. I used to be for a while and she started serving fish for me and my second wife Mary Kate. That's just how good Dorothy is.

Me and Bethel (from 9-15-10)

Well like I said me and Bethel had three kids together, a girl (Doreen) and two boys (Bill and Jack.)

Doreen married a nair-do-well and lives over at Golds Creek. Bill and Jack both live out west. Doreen comes home once or twice a year even though it's only fifty miles to where she lives. And the boys ain't been home in several years. But I reckon that's all right.

Now I don't wish for much but if I could have one wish it would be to be standing right beside my Bethel, holding the hymn book, singing Blessed Assurance, in the Harper Lake Baptist Church. That's all I want to say today.

Bethel (from 9-14-10)

Like I told you my first wife was named Bethel. She was as sweet and as kind as a wife could be. I like to tell a story about how me and Bethel met that always miffed her up some. The story I told was this: we was both swimming at the Harper Lake Beach. I was changing from my wet bathing suit when I heard somebody come into the girl's side. Now the girl's side and the boy's side was separated by a piece of wall that did not go all the way to the ceiling or the floor. I bent over to look into the girl's side and me and Bethel rubbed noses. 

As you can figure this story wasn't true. We really knowed one another since we was in grade school, but I liked to fun around with Bethel. She was smarter than me, but who wadn't back then. I got most of my learning after I quit school, half way through the seventh grade. I saw better opportunity at the Neighbor Pantry, our grocery store, as a bag packer and delivery boy.

But this is about Bethel. We got married at the Harper Lake Baptist Church by Brother Ezra Crowder and was happy for more than ten years before Bethel got sick.

Tomorrow I'll talk about how Bethel and me had three children.

Monday in Harper (from 9-13-10)

Well it's Monday again in Harper. Seems to come around at least once a week. Monday is a good day to get off to a start on things or just to get a better grip on things you already doing.

So I thought maybe it's a good time to let you know a little more about the person you reading about. Of course you already know my name and the name of the town where I live. And by now you've guessed I’m no spring chicken. Actually I'm seventy-eight years old. And I live just outside the town limits of Harper right on the lake. My house in up the road was too big for me now that I'm all alone so I moved out into my fishing cabin. Works good for me.

I been married three times. Buried two of 'em. And the third one run off and left me, but more about that later. My first wife was named Bethel. You could probably guess with a name like that she was a fine Christian woman. Well you'd be right. Tomorrow when I have more time I'll tell you all about her.