Sunday, May 24, 2020

My Third Favorite Memory of Mom

For Mother's Day, I recently wrote a piece about my second favorite memory of my mother. Something happened recently that got me thinking along this line again, and I did not want to wait until Mother's Day of 2021 to share it. I saw a picture. I was going through an envelope my sister had given me, one filled with pictures of me. She had gathered these when we cleaned out Mom's house. In that batch of pictures, I found this.

From left to right: My younger sister, Carol,
my older sister, Helen, and the real
cowboy, Zane. Quinton was not
even a twinkle in my mom's
eye at this point.
This image warmed my heart, flooded me with memories, and an overloaded my feelings. Maybe you can tell that I was a cowboy. At that time TV programming was dominated by cowboy shows, Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, Palatin, The Rifleman, Bonanza, The Big Valley, Rawhide, and others, many others. All the kids on Harding Street played cowboys and Indians constantly.

Notice the jeans. Momma had to buy those. Notice the boots (well you can't see them but I had them on). Momma had to buy those. Notice the six gun on the hip. Momma had to buy that. Notice the rope. Mom had to give me that. Notice the jacket. Momma had to buy that. Notice the bandanna around the neck. Momma had to buy that. Notice the hat. Momma had to buy that.

Somewhere around this time, I had a birthday. I might have turned five, I guess. I remember Mom asking me what I wanted as a gift. I told her I wanted a gun that went like this, and I moved my right hand up and down. I didn't know how to verbalize my desire, and she didn't know how to interpret my attempt. What I wanted was a lever action rifle because that is what the cowboys on TV used.

She took me on a trip to try to find what I wanted. That's a momma. Although it has been almost sixty years, I am sure we went to Carrollton Avenue, a block or two west of the Crystal Grill. We went inside a store that had plate glass windows as big as the sky. The store was huge and if you cleared it out, you could have played a football game in there. The ceiling must have been eighty feet high. On the west side of the store-- I am sure of that-- we found one. We found a lever action rife, a cap gun. That was what I wanted, and Mom made it happen. 

Only a few years ago, I asked Mom if she remembered that birthday/shopping trip. I wanted to check my memory, if it was really on Carrollton Avenue and the rifle was on the west wall. What was the name of the store? If any of you readers remember the store, please leave a comment below.

She did not remember. I wasn't surprised. It was just another day in her life, but for me it was huge. Momma took my gibberish, tried to interpret, and when she couldn't she went the extra mile to make sure her little cowboy was properly outfitted. Thank you, Mom. Thank you, Jesus, for letting me be born to Jo Ann Hodge.

1 comment:

  1. It could have been Sterlings or Woolworths. I can’t remember which, but one of those stores was on Carrollton Avenue & they had a huge toy section.

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