I met this man and his wife, Flossie, in the early 70's when my son, Tonka, was just a baby.
The three of us, my son, his dad and I had just moved back to Arkansas from Iowa and were looking for a place to rent. We answered an ad in a paper and met Flossie.
She was a retired school teacher and it was with her that we talked about renting the trailer that the ad in the paper was for.
She told us that the intent was to rent it to a single person, meaning just one person, not a family. It was a small trailer that literally sat in their yard. Flossie's mom had lived there in her later years.
For whatever reasons, and I thank God for her decision, Flossie took a shine to us. Having cows there on the small farm in the middle of town, Springdale, AR. I think she had a soft spot for lost looking little creatures, and we fit that description to a 'T'.
We moved what few belongings we had into the little trailer. It was furnished so all we had to do was move our clothes, dishes and linens in and we were set.
Little did we know what a difference this couple would make in our lives.
Orden, or as he came to be known to us, grampie Orden, was a quiet man. He worked part days at the feed mill that was in behind the few acres they owned there off Turner St. in Springdale. He'd leave with his old metal lunch pail, just walk across the pasture, over the fence, across the railroad tracks and he was at work. In the evenings the process was repeated in reverse with an empty lunch pail.
As time went by we'd spend hours with him and grannie Flossie, whether she was hanging clothes behind the house, (she told me once that you never hung you clothes in front of the house, people didn't need to see your 'laundry' hanging out there, some stuff should be kept private) or she would be out with a pitch fork flippin' cow patties in her pasture. I asked her once why she went around flippin them over and breaking them up... 'they kill the grass underneath and broken up the patties of manure would be absorbed back into the ground faster for natural fertilizer'. Made sense to me, but she wouldn't have cared one whit if I'd disagreed with her, she'd still have done it her way. Grannie always had her opinion and wasn't afraid to let you know what it was.
Same thing with grampie, she was always telling him he needed to do this or that, this way or that a way, he'd just smile, nod and out the back door he'd go. He usually did it whatever way he wanted in the first place.
I remember one time grampie Orden had the flu and there was a pretty deep snow on the ground. I knew he didn't need to be out in it so I talked him into lettin me load the little trailer with square bales of hay and feed the cows one evening. The wind was blowing and was so cold it took your breath away. I loaded the trailer and set off down through the pasture. The idea being to stop every fifteen or twenty feet and throw out a few fleets of hay, turn the tractor and trailer around and repeat the process on the way back to the house. It was about a block and a half to the far corner of the pasture so I had plenty of room to make a wide turn with the trailer on behind the tractor. Good thing, 'cause I can't back a trailer behind anything, car nor tractor. Well, you guessed it, I somehow got that tractor and trailer 'stuck' in the fartherest corner of that snowy cold pasture. I worked and worked, pull forward, turn the wheels, back it up, over and over I tried and tried... I only got them both closer and closer to the corner fences with each attempt. I finally gave it up and with a heart that was so heavy I made my way back to the house and told grampie Orden what I'd done. Bless his heart, I can still see him... he got up off the couch where he'd been snuggled under one of grannie's warm afghans and asked me if I wanted to walk back with him to get the trailer 'un-stuck'. Never a word of blame regret that he hadn't done it himself, just a kind and patient acceptance of the situation, make the best of it and go on. Puttin on coats, scarves and 'boggins', we made our way through the snow and bitter wind back across the pasture. In a couple of moves grampie had the tractor and trailer free. He asked me if I'd throw out the rest of the hay on the way back to the barn. It was the least I could do, I thought, he'd been out more trouble and out in the weather longer than if he'd just done it himself in the first place, but I never heard one word of recrimination from him. He did thank me for helping him. I told him I didn't see that I'd been much help since he'd had to get out anyway and he said, "You tried and that's all that matters." Those few words lifted the weight off my heart and my day was made.
My son and I would be out in the yard, which was actually their yard, we had full run of the place whether they were home or not, so the whole yard and field was ours to play in... we'd be out and one if not both grannie or grampie would come out to hug on Tonka and visit with me. They'd usually bring him something to nibble on. Grampie would bring candy, grannie would bring something 'healthy', though sometimes she'd bring him a 'sweet' or one of her fresh baked oatmeal raisin cookies.
Grampie loved to pick dandelions and let Tonka blow them. Sometimes he'd get too close and they'd stick to his lips and he'd sputter and spit 'til they were gone. Grampie would laugh 'til he'd lose his breath. He'd stay squatted down playin with Tonka for long periods of time, picking flowers, dandelions or picking out juuuust the right rock to throw. A few times he had to dodge, Tonka was just walking good and not throwing much better. He like the bigger rocks and at close range you could've ended up with a nice knot if you'd gotten hit by one. When he let fly you just never knew what direction the rock was gonna go. A few times grampie and I would have to move fast to get out of the way of Tonka's latest throw.
Grannie had some ducks there on the place and they spent most of the time on the pond just off the little lane that turned off Turner St. One Spring the ducks brought a whole bunch of babies to the house. Tonka was tickled to pieces to be able to hold the baby ducks and get 'sugars' off them. He left them pretty slobber-coated, but none the worse for wear. He got such a kick out of us fillin up the bathtub and lettin a baby duck swim around in there with him, that is until it got 'hold of his little something floating and then he wanted that duck outa his tub.
After a week or two the babies started disappearing, but we never found any of the little bodies. One day grampie said he'd seen a big snapping turtle in the pond and that he bet the turtle was getting the baby ducks. We all put our heads together and decided that the few babies left had to be saved... the turtle would have to go. There was an old farm fence that ran down beside the road and out about half way out into the pond. It was decided we'd set out some lines on that fence in the water with bait on'em to catch the turtle. The baby ducks were kept in a pen there in the yard for the few days of the big turtle hunt.
Late one night just as we were gettin ready for bed there was a knock on the door of the trailer. Orden was there with a flashlight and was excited. He'd just come home and driven by the pond, shined his light on the piece of cloth we'd tied on the fence to 'flag' when we had something on the line and he'd seen that red cloth jumpin like mad. We had our duck-killin turtle.
Since I already had my gown on I just threw on a long housecoat along with coat and shoes and away we went, me, grampie and Jim, Tonka's dad, across the pasture to the pond. Grannie stayed at the trailer in case Tonka woke up.
Jim waded out into the pond about butt deep and got a good grip on the heavy nylon cord we'd used and started slowly easeing his way back to the edge of the pond. The turtle's head had come out of the water a time or two as he fought the line, his head was as big as a man's fist, so we knew he was a big one. Grampie had an axe there ready to make quick work of the turtle once he was out of the water and I had the flashlight. Just as Jim stepped up out of the water and pulled the line, he yelled, "Get outa here, it's comin up on the bank!" We knew we needed to give Jim room there on the pondbank to get away from that mad turtle so he wouldn't get bitten. Grampie and I turned to run, I'd gathered the housecoat up in my hands so I could run faster. By this time our eyes had adjusted to the moonlight and you could see pretty good. What I didn't remember and didn't see was the old farm fence that ran right beside the road. Over the years it had been mashed down 'til it was only about a foot off the ground but it was high enough to take my feet out from under me as I tripped going over it. Down I went out in the middle of the little dirt road. The flashlight went flying and all the breath was knocked out of me. I was scrambling around doing my best to get up and get moving... I was sure that the burn I felt around one of ankles was that turtle chewing away at me. In all the thrashing I didn't realize I'd gotten my foot tangled up in the web-wire of the ole fence. Grampie ran and grabbed the flashlight and soon had me untangled from the fence. By this time Jim had made it to the fence, no help from me and grampie and was using the old fence to keep the turtle from gettin at him.
When all was said and done... the turtle problem was taken care of that night, the ducklings were once again safe to swim in the pond, we all had fried turtle meat (which is delicious)and grampie had one of the best tales to tell on me that anyone ever had. He'd laugh 'til he have tears running down his cheeks whenever he'd tell how skinned up I was from fightin at that 'turtle' there in the road. I WAS pretty skinned up, my hands and knees from the gravel and rocks in the road and my legs and ankles from kickin at the fence... but I had the trophy to end all trophies... a huge turtle shell. I still have it to this day and every time I see it, I smile, I think of the three of us out there in the moonlight with a mad turtle on the end of a short line. What a memory!
Tonka has always been an earth child. I think between my parents, his boom-paw and grannie at Wayton, AR and these two wonderful adopted grandparents, he got a good start learning to be close to the earth and loving things in nature, loving to be outside. Whenever he was with either set of grandparents, he was let loose to run and play and just enjoy life!
♥ (* •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ') ♥
╔╗╔╗╔╗╔═╦ ♥. .☆.......•*¨`*•
╠╣║║║╦╠═║✫ (¯`'•.¸ //(*_*) ¸.•'´¯)
╝╚╩║╚╝╚═╚═╝❤✫ƸӜƷ *`• .…* * *.•
.•*"˜˜"*°•. ˜"*°•♥•°*"˜ .•°*"˜˜"*°•.
♥ (* •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ') ♥
Grampie and grannie were married March 1, 1933.
They had two daughters, Billie and Betty. They thought the sun rose and set on those two girls of theirs and their families.
Billie Smith married J.E. Clark and they had two children, a boy Steve and a girl, Beverly.
Steve married Beverly White, they have two children: Matthew and Megan.
Beverly married Steve Harp. They have three children: Justin (not married), Jana & Lacie.
Jane married Todd Bewley, they have two children, Hunter and Addyson. Lacie married Jessie Reece and they have a boy, Aiden
Betty Smith married Charles Gurley and they had three children, two boys, Brent and Rick and a girl, Charlinda.
Charlinda married Steve Reeves, (he died in 2003 after back surgery from a blood clot in his lungs). They have two boys Curtis and Caleb.
Brent married Leona Bagwell, they have two daughters, Leann and Brenna.
Rick married Susan Dobbs and they have a girl and boy. Nichole and Heath.
Grampie and grannie's grandkids know the kind of love that gramp's showed when you were part of his special world. I just wish you could bottle up that kind of love, caring and kindness and save it for future generations.
Like I said when I posted a flower for grampie, family and blood gave me two loving and special sets of grandparents, God gave me a third.
The few years we lived there near these two wonderful people are, without a doubt, some of the happiest and most carefree years of my life.
Grampie holds a place in my heart that no other human will ever fill.
♥ (* •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ') ♥
╔══╗
╚╗╔╝
╔╝(¯`v´¯)
╚══`my grampie Orden
♥ (* •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ') ♥
The three of us, my son, his dad and I had just moved back to Arkansas from Iowa and were looking for a place to rent. We answered an ad in a paper and met Flossie.
She was a retired school teacher and it was with her that we talked about renting the trailer that the ad in the paper was for.
She told us that the intent was to rent it to a single person, meaning just one person, not a family. It was a small trailer that literally sat in their yard. Flossie's mom had lived there in her later years.
For whatever reasons, and I thank God for her decision, Flossie took a shine to us. Having cows there on the small farm in the middle of town, Springdale, AR. I think she had a soft spot for lost looking little creatures, and we fit that description to a 'T'.
We moved what few belongings we had into the little trailer. It was furnished so all we had to do was move our clothes, dishes and linens in and we were set.
Little did we know what a difference this couple would make in our lives.
Orden, or as he came to be known to us, grampie Orden, was a quiet man. He worked part days at the feed mill that was in behind the few acres they owned there off Turner St. in Springdale. He'd leave with his old metal lunch pail, just walk across the pasture, over the fence, across the railroad tracks and he was at work. In the evenings the process was repeated in reverse with an empty lunch pail.
As time went by we'd spend hours with him and grannie Flossie, whether she was hanging clothes behind the house, (she told me once that you never hung you clothes in front of the house, people didn't need to see your 'laundry' hanging out there, some stuff should be kept private) or she would be out with a pitch fork flippin' cow patties in her pasture. I asked her once why she went around flippin them over and breaking them up... 'they kill the grass underneath and broken up the patties of manure would be absorbed back into the ground faster for natural fertilizer'. Made sense to me, but she wouldn't have cared one whit if I'd disagreed with her, she'd still have done it her way. Grannie always had her opinion and wasn't afraid to let you know what it was.
Same thing with grampie, she was always telling him he needed to do this or that, this way or that a way, he'd just smile, nod and out the back door he'd go. He usually did it whatever way he wanted in the first place.
I remember one time grampie Orden had the flu and there was a pretty deep snow on the ground. I knew he didn't need to be out in it so I talked him into lettin me load the little trailer with square bales of hay and feed the cows one evening. The wind was blowing and was so cold it took your breath away. I loaded the trailer and set off down through the pasture. The idea being to stop every fifteen or twenty feet and throw out a few fleets of hay, turn the tractor and trailer around and repeat the process on the way back to the house. It was about a block and a half to the far corner of the pasture so I had plenty of room to make a wide turn with the trailer on behind the tractor. Good thing, 'cause I can't back a trailer behind anything, car nor tractor. Well, you guessed it, I somehow got that tractor and trailer 'stuck' in the fartherest corner of that snowy cold pasture. I worked and worked, pull forward, turn the wheels, back it up, over and over I tried and tried... I only got them both closer and closer to the corner fences with each attempt. I finally gave it up and with a heart that was so heavy I made my way back to the house and told grampie Orden what I'd done. Bless his heart, I can still see him... he got up off the couch where he'd been snuggled under one of grannie's warm afghans and asked me if I wanted to walk back with him to get the trailer 'un-stuck'. Never a word of blame regret that he hadn't done it himself, just a kind and patient acceptance of the situation, make the best of it and go on. Puttin on coats, scarves and 'boggins', we made our way through the snow and bitter wind back across the pasture. In a couple of moves grampie had the tractor and trailer free. He asked me if I'd throw out the rest of the hay on the way back to the barn. It was the least I could do, I thought, he'd been out more trouble and out in the weather longer than if he'd just done it himself in the first place, but I never heard one word of recrimination from him. He did thank me for helping him. I told him I didn't see that I'd been much help since he'd had to get out anyway and he said, "You tried and that's all that matters." Those few words lifted the weight off my heart and my day was made.
My son and I would be out in the yard, which was actually their yard, we had full run of the place whether they were home or not, so the whole yard and field was ours to play in... we'd be out and one if not both grannie or grampie would come out to hug on Tonka and visit with me. They'd usually bring him something to nibble on. Grampie would bring candy, grannie would bring something 'healthy', though sometimes she'd bring him a 'sweet' or one of her fresh baked oatmeal raisin cookies.
Grampie loved to pick dandelions and let Tonka blow them. Sometimes he'd get too close and they'd stick to his lips and he'd sputter and spit 'til they were gone. Grampie would laugh 'til he'd lose his breath. He'd stay squatted down playin with Tonka for long periods of time, picking flowers, dandelions or picking out juuuust the right rock to throw. A few times he had to dodge, Tonka was just walking good and not throwing much better. He like the bigger rocks and at close range you could've ended up with a nice knot if you'd gotten hit by one. When he let fly you just never knew what direction the rock was gonna go. A few times grampie and I would have to move fast to get out of the way of Tonka's latest throw.
Grannie had some ducks there on the place and they spent most of the time on the pond just off the little lane that turned off Turner St. One Spring the ducks brought a whole bunch of babies to the house. Tonka was tickled to pieces to be able to hold the baby ducks and get 'sugars' off them. He left them pretty slobber-coated, but none the worse for wear. He got such a kick out of us fillin up the bathtub and lettin a baby duck swim around in there with him, that is until it got 'hold of his little something floating and then he wanted that duck outa his tub.
After a week or two the babies started disappearing, but we never found any of the little bodies. One day grampie said he'd seen a big snapping turtle in the pond and that he bet the turtle was getting the baby ducks. We all put our heads together and decided that the few babies left had to be saved... the turtle would have to go. There was an old farm fence that ran down beside the road and out about half way out into the pond. It was decided we'd set out some lines on that fence in the water with bait on'em to catch the turtle. The baby ducks were kept in a pen there in the yard for the few days of the big turtle hunt.
Late one night just as we were gettin ready for bed there was a knock on the door of the trailer. Orden was there with a flashlight and was excited. He'd just come home and driven by the pond, shined his light on the piece of cloth we'd tied on the fence to 'flag' when we had something on the line and he'd seen that red cloth jumpin like mad. We had our duck-killin turtle.
Since I already had my gown on I just threw on a long housecoat along with coat and shoes and away we went, me, grampie and Jim, Tonka's dad, across the pasture to the pond. Grannie stayed at the trailer in case Tonka woke up.
Jim waded out into the pond about butt deep and got a good grip on the heavy nylon cord we'd used and started slowly easeing his way back to the edge of the pond. The turtle's head had come out of the water a time or two as he fought the line, his head was as big as a man's fist, so we knew he was a big one. Grampie had an axe there ready to make quick work of the turtle once he was out of the water and I had the flashlight. Just as Jim stepped up out of the water and pulled the line, he yelled, "Get outa here, it's comin up on the bank!" We knew we needed to give Jim room there on the pondbank to get away from that mad turtle so he wouldn't get bitten. Grampie and I turned to run, I'd gathered the housecoat up in my hands so I could run faster. By this time our eyes had adjusted to the moonlight and you could see pretty good. What I didn't remember and didn't see was the old farm fence that ran right beside the road. Over the years it had been mashed down 'til it was only about a foot off the ground but it was high enough to take my feet out from under me as I tripped going over it. Down I went out in the middle of the little dirt road. The flashlight went flying and all the breath was knocked out of me. I was scrambling around doing my best to get up and get moving... I was sure that the burn I felt around one of ankles was that turtle chewing away at me. In all the thrashing I didn't realize I'd gotten my foot tangled up in the web-wire of the ole fence. Grampie ran and grabbed the flashlight and soon had me untangled from the fence. By this time Jim had made it to the fence, no help from me and grampie and was using the old fence to keep the turtle from gettin at him.
When all was said and done... the turtle problem was taken care of that night, the ducklings were once again safe to swim in the pond, we all had fried turtle meat (which is delicious)and grampie had one of the best tales to tell on me that anyone ever had. He'd laugh 'til he have tears running down his cheeks whenever he'd tell how skinned up I was from fightin at that 'turtle' there in the road. I WAS pretty skinned up, my hands and knees from the gravel and rocks in the road and my legs and ankles from kickin at the fence... but I had the trophy to end all trophies... a huge turtle shell. I still have it to this day and every time I see it, I smile, I think of the three of us out there in the moonlight with a mad turtle on the end of a short line. What a memory!
Tonka has always been an earth child. I think between my parents, his boom-paw and grannie at Wayton, AR and these two wonderful adopted grandparents, he got a good start learning to be close to the earth and loving things in nature, loving to be outside. Whenever he was with either set of grandparents, he was let loose to run and play and just enjoy life!
♥ (* •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ') ♥
╔╗╔╗╔╗╔═╦ ♥. .☆.......•*¨`*•
╠╣║║║╦╠═║✫ (¯`'•.¸ //(*_*) ¸.•'´¯)
╝╚╩║╚╝╚═╚═╝❤✫ƸӜƷ *`• .…* * *.•
.•*"˜˜"*°•. ˜"*°•♥•°*"˜ .•°*"˜˜"*°•.
♥ (* •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ') ♥
Grampie and grannie were married March 1, 1933.
They had two daughters, Billie and Betty. They thought the sun rose and set on those two girls of theirs and their families.
Billie Smith married J.E. Clark and they had two children, a boy Steve and a girl, Beverly.
Steve married Beverly White, they have two children: Matthew and Megan.
Beverly married Steve Harp. They have three children: Justin (not married), Jana & Lacie.
Jane married Todd Bewley, they have two children, Hunter and Addyson. Lacie married Jessie Reece and they have a boy, Aiden
Betty Smith married Charles Gurley and they had three children, two boys, Brent and Rick and a girl, Charlinda.
Charlinda married Steve Reeves, (he died in 2003 after back surgery from a blood clot in his lungs). They have two boys Curtis and Caleb.
Brent married Leona Bagwell, they have two daughters, Leann and Brenna.
Rick married Susan Dobbs and they have a girl and boy. Nichole and Heath.
Grampie and grannie's grandkids know the kind of love that gramp's showed when you were part of his special world. I just wish you could bottle up that kind of love, caring and kindness and save it for future generations.
Like I said when I posted a flower for grampie, family and blood gave me two loving and special sets of grandparents, God gave me a third.
The few years we lived there near these two wonderful people are, without a doubt, some of the happiest and most carefree years of my life.
Grampie holds a place in my heart that no other human will ever fill.
♥ (* •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ') ♥
╔══╗
╚╗╔╝
╔╝(¯`v´¯)
╚══`my grampie Orden
♥ (* •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ') ♥
I met this man and his wife, Flossie, in the early 70's when my son, Tonka, was just a baby.
The three of us, my son, his dad and I had just moved back to Arkansas from Iowa and were looking for a place to rent. We answered an ad in a paper and met Flossie.
She was a retired school teacher and it was with her that we talked about renting the trailer that the ad in the paper was for.
She told us that the intent was to rent it to a single person, meaning just one person, not a family. It was a small trailer that literally sat in their yard. Flossie's mom had lived there in her later years.
For whatever reasons, and I thank God for her decision, Flossie took a shine to us. Having cows there on the small farm in the middle of town, Springdale, AR. I think she had a soft spot for lost looking little creatures, and we fit that description to a 'T'.
We moved what few belongings we had into the little trailer. It was furnished so all we had to do was move our clothes, dishes and linens in and we were set.
Little did we know what a difference this couple would make in our lives.
Orden, or as he came to be known to us, grampie Orden, was a quiet man. He worked part days at the feed mill that was in behind the few acres they owned there off Turner St. in Springdale. He'd leave with his old metal lunch pail, just walk across the pasture, over the fence, across the railroad tracks and he was at work. In the evenings the process was repeated in reverse with an empty lunch pail.
As time went by we'd spend hours with him and grannie Flossie, whether she was hanging clothes behind the house, (she told me once that you never hung you clothes in front of the house, people didn't need to see your 'laundry' hanging out there, some stuff should be kept private) or she would be out with a pitch fork flippin' cow patties in her pasture. I asked her once why she went around flippin them over and breaking them up... 'they kill the grass underneath and broken up the patties of manure would be absorbed back into the ground faster for natural fertilizer'. Made sense to me, but she wouldn't have cared one whit if I'd disagreed with her, she'd still have done it her way. Grannie always had her opinion and wasn't afraid to let you know what it was.
Same thing with grampie, she was always telling him he needed to do this or that, this way or that a way, he'd just smile, nod and out the back door he'd go. He usually did it whatever way he wanted in the first place.
I remember one time grampie Orden had the flu and there was a pretty deep snow on the ground. I knew he didn't need to be out in it so I talked him into lettin me load the little trailer with square bales of hay and feed the cows one evening. The wind was blowing and was so cold it took your breath away. I loaded the trailer and set off down through the pasture. The idea being to stop every fifteen or twenty feet and throw out a few fleets of hay, turn the tractor and trailer around and repeat the process on the way back to the house. It was about a block and a half to the far corner of the pasture so I had plenty of room to make a wide turn with the trailer on behind the tractor. Good thing, 'cause I can't back a trailer behind anything, car nor tractor. Well, you guessed it, I somehow got that tractor and trailer 'stuck' in the fartherest corner of that snowy cold pasture. I worked and worked, pull forward, turn the wheels, back it up, over and over I tried and tried... I only got them both closer and closer to the corner fences with each attempt. I finally gave it up and with a heart that was so heavy I made my way back to the house and told grampie Orden what I'd done. Bless his heart, I can still see him... he got up off the couch where he'd been snuggled under one of grannie's warm afghans and asked me if I wanted to walk back with him to get the trailer 'un-stuck'. Never a word of blame regret that he hadn't done it himself, just a kind and patient acceptance of the situation, make the best of it and go on. Puttin on coats, scarves and 'boggins', we made our way through the snow and bitter wind back across the pasture. In a couple of moves grampie had the tractor and trailer free. He asked me if I'd throw out the rest of the hay on the way back to the barn. It was the least I could do, I thought, he'd been out more trouble and out in the weather longer than if he'd just done it himself in the first place, but I never heard one word of recrimination from him. He did thank me for helping him. I told him I didn't see that I'd been much help since he'd had to get out anyway and he said, "You tried and that's all that matters." Those few words lifted the weight off my heart and my day was made.
My son and I would be out in the yard, which was actually their yard, we had full run of the place whether they were home or not, so the whole yard and field was ours to play in... we'd be out and one if not both grannie or grampie would come out to hug on Tonka and visit with me. They'd usually bring him something to nibble on. Grampie would bring candy, grannie would bring something 'healthy', though sometimes she'd bring him a 'sweet' or one of her fresh baked oatmeal raisin cookies.
Grampie loved to pick dandelions and let Tonka blow them. Sometimes he'd get too close and they'd stick to his lips and he'd sputter and spit 'til they were gone. Grampie would laugh 'til he'd lose his breath. He'd stay squatted down playin with Tonka for long periods of time, picking flowers, dandelions or picking out juuuust the right rock to throw. A few times he had to dodge, Tonka was just walking good and not throwing much better. He like the bigger rocks and at close range you could've ended up with a nice knot if you'd gotten hit by one. When he let fly you just never knew what direction the rock was gonna go. A few times grampie and I would have to move fast to get out of the way of Tonka's latest throw.
Grannie had some ducks there on the place and they spent most of the time on the pond just off the little lane that turned off Turner St. One Spring the ducks brought a whole bunch of babies to the house. Tonka was tickled to pieces to be able to hold the baby ducks and get 'sugars' off them. He left them pretty slobber-coated, but none the worse for wear. He got such a kick out of us fillin up the bathtub and lettin a baby duck swim around in there with him, that is until it got 'hold of his little something floating and then he wanted that duck outa his tub.
After a week or two the babies started disappearing, but we never found any of the little bodies. One day grampie said he'd seen a big snapping turtle in the pond and that he bet the turtle was getting the baby ducks. We all put our heads together and decided that the few babies left had to be saved... the turtle would have to go. There was an old farm fence that ran down beside the road and out about half way out into the pond. It was decided we'd set out some lines on that fence in the water with bait on'em to catch the turtle. The baby ducks were kept in a pen there in the yard for the few days of the big turtle hunt.
Late one night just as we were gettin ready for bed there was a knock on the door of the trailer. Orden was there with a flashlight and was excited. He'd just come home and driven by the pond, shined his light on the piece of cloth we'd tied on the fence to 'flag' when we had something on the line and he'd seen that red cloth jumpin like mad. We had our duck-killin turtle.
Since I already had my gown on I just threw on a long housecoat along with coat and shoes and away we went, me, grampie and Jim, Tonka's dad, across the pasture to the pond. Grannie stayed at the trailer in case Tonka woke up.
Jim waded out into the pond about butt deep and got a good grip on the heavy nylon cord we'd used and started slowly easeing his way back to the edge of the pond. The turtle's head had come out of the water a time or two as he fought the line, his head was as big as a man's fist, so we knew he was a big one. Grampie had an axe there ready to make quick work of the turtle once he was out of the water and I had the flashlight. Just as Jim stepped up out of the water and pulled the line, he yelled, "Get outa here, it's comin up on the bank!" We knew we needed to give Jim room there on the pondbank to get away from that mad turtle so he wouldn't get bitten. Grampie and I turned to run, I'd gathered the housecoat up in my hands so I could run faster. By this time our eyes had adjusted to the moonlight and you could see pretty good. What I didn't remember and didn't see was the old farm fence that ran right beside the road. Over the years it had been mashed down 'til it was only about a foot off the ground but it was high enough to take my feet out from under me as I tripped going over it. Down I went out in the middle of the little dirt road. The flashlight went flying and all the breath was knocked out of me. I was scrambling around doing my best to get up and get moving... I was sure that the burn I felt around one of ankles was that turtle chewing away at me. In all the thrashing I didn't realize I'd gotten my foot tangled up in the web-wire of the ole fence. Grampie ran and grabbed the flashlight and soon had me untangled from the fence. By this time Jim had made it to the fence, no help from me and grampie and was using the old fence to keep the turtle from gettin at him.
When all was said and done... the turtle problem was taken care of that night, the ducklings were once again safe to swim in the pond, we all had fried turtle meat (which is delicious)and grampie had one of the best tales to tell on me that anyone ever had. He'd laugh 'til he have tears running down his cheeks whenever he'd tell how skinned up I was from fightin at that 'turtle' there in the road. I WAS pretty skinned up, my hands and knees from the gravel and rocks in the road and my legs and ankles from kickin at the fence... but I had the trophy to end all trophies... a huge turtle shell. I still have it to this day and every time I see it, I smile, I think of the three of us out there in the moonlight with a mad turtle on the end of a short line. What a memory!
Tonka has always been an earth child. I think between my parents, his boom-paw and grannie at Wayton, AR and these two wonderful adopted grandparents, he got a good start learning to be close to the earth and loving things in nature, loving to be outside. Whenever he was with either set of grandparents, he was let loose to run and play and just enjoy life!
♥ (* •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ') ♥
╔╗╔╗╔╗╔═╦ ♥. .☆.......•*¨`*•
╠╣║║║╦╠═║✫ (¯`'•.¸ //(*_*) ¸.•'´¯)
╝╚╩║╚╝╚═╚═╝❤✫ƸӜƷ *`• .…* * *.•
.•*"˜˜"*°•. ˜"*°•♥•°*"˜ .•°*"˜˜"*°•.
♥ (* •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ') ♥
Grampie and grannie were married March 1, 1933.
They had two daughters, Billie and Betty. They thought the sun rose and set on those two girls of theirs and their families.
Billie Smith married J.E. Clark and they had two children, a boy Steve and a girl, Beverly.
Steve married Beverly White, they have two children: Matthew and Megan.
Beverly married Steve Harp. They have three children: Justin (not married), Jana & Lacie.
Jane married Todd Bewley, they have two children, Hunter and Addyson. Lacie married Jessie Reece and they have a boy, Aiden
Betty Smith married Charles Gurley and they had three children, two boys, Brent and Rick and a girl, Charlinda.
Charlinda married Steve Reeves, (he died in 2003 after back surgery from a blood clot in his lungs). They have two boys Curtis and Caleb.
Brent married Leona Bagwell, they have two daughters, Leann and Brenna.
Rick married Susan Dobbs and they have a girl and boy. Nichole and Heath.
Grampie and grannie's grandkids know the kind of love that gramp's showed when you were part of his special world. I just wish you could bottle up that kind of love, caring and kindness and save it for future generations.
Like I said when I posted a flower for grampie, family and blood gave me two loving and special sets of grandparents, God gave me a third.
The few years we lived there near these two wonderful people are, without a doubt, some of the happiest and most carefree years of my life.
Grampie holds a place in my heart that no other human will ever fill.
♥ (* •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ') ♥
╔══╗
╚╗╔╝
╔╝(¯`v´¯)
╚══`my grampie Orden
♥ (* •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ') ♥
The three of us, my son, his dad and I had just moved back to Arkansas from Iowa and were looking for a place to rent. We answered an ad in a paper and met Flossie.
She was a retired school teacher and it was with her that we talked about renting the trailer that the ad in the paper was for.
She told us that the intent was to rent it to a single person, meaning just one person, not a family. It was a small trailer that literally sat in their yard. Flossie's mom had lived there in her later years.
For whatever reasons, and I thank God for her decision, Flossie took a shine to us. Having cows there on the small farm in the middle of town, Springdale, AR. I think she had a soft spot for lost looking little creatures, and we fit that description to a 'T'.
We moved what few belongings we had into the little trailer. It was furnished so all we had to do was move our clothes, dishes and linens in and we were set.
Little did we know what a difference this couple would make in our lives.
Orden, or as he came to be known to us, grampie Orden, was a quiet man. He worked part days at the feed mill that was in behind the few acres they owned there off Turner St. in Springdale. He'd leave with his old metal lunch pail, just walk across the pasture, over the fence, across the railroad tracks and he was at work. In the evenings the process was repeated in reverse with an empty lunch pail.
As time went by we'd spend hours with him and grannie Flossie, whether she was hanging clothes behind the house, (she told me once that you never hung you clothes in front of the house, people didn't need to see your 'laundry' hanging out there, some stuff should be kept private) or she would be out with a pitch fork flippin' cow patties in her pasture. I asked her once why she went around flippin them over and breaking them up... 'they kill the grass underneath and broken up the patties of manure would be absorbed back into the ground faster for natural fertilizer'. Made sense to me, but she wouldn't have cared one whit if I'd disagreed with her, she'd still have done it her way. Grannie always had her opinion and wasn't afraid to let you know what it was.
Same thing with grampie, she was always telling him he needed to do this or that, this way or that a way, he'd just smile, nod and out the back door he'd go. He usually did it whatever way he wanted in the first place.
I remember one time grampie Orden had the flu and there was a pretty deep snow on the ground. I knew he didn't need to be out in it so I talked him into lettin me load the little trailer with square bales of hay and feed the cows one evening. The wind was blowing and was so cold it took your breath away. I loaded the trailer and set off down through the pasture. The idea being to stop every fifteen or twenty feet and throw out a few fleets of hay, turn the tractor and trailer around and repeat the process on the way back to the house. It was about a block and a half to the far corner of the pasture so I had plenty of room to make a wide turn with the trailer on behind the tractor. Good thing, 'cause I can't back a trailer behind anything, car nor tractor. Well, you guessed it, I somehow got that tractor and trailer 'stuck' in the fartherest corner of that snowy cold pasture. I worked and worked, pull forward, turn the wheels, back it up, over and over I tried and tried... I only got them both closer and closer to the corner fences with each attempt. I finally gave it up and with a heart that was so heavy I made my way back to the house and told grampie Orden what I'd done. Bless his heart, I can still see him... he got up off the couch where he'd been snuggled under one of grannie's warm afghans and asked me if I wanted to walk back with him to get the trailer 'un-stuck'. Never a word of blame regret that he hadn't done it himself, just a kind and patient acceptance of the situation, make the best of it and go on. Puttin on coats, scarves and 'boggins', we made our way through the snow and bitter wind back across the pasture. In a couple of moves grampie had the tractor and trailer free. He asked me if I'd throw out the rest of the hay on the way back to the barn. It was the least I could do, I thought, he'd been out more trouble and out in the weather longer than if he'd just done it himself in the first place, but I never heard one word of recrimination from him. He did thank me for helping him. I told him I didn't see that I'd been much help since he'd had to get out anyway and he said, "You tried and that's all that matters." Those few words lifted the weight off my heart and my day was made.
My son and I would be out in the yard, which was actually their yard, we had full run of the place whether they were home or not, so the whole yard and field was ours to play in... we'd be out and one if not both grannie or grampie would come out to hug on Tonka and visit with me. They'd usually bring him something to nibble on. Grampie would bring candy, grannie would bring something 'healthy', though sometimes she'd bring him a 'sweet' or one of her fresh baked oatmeal raisin cookies.
Grampie loved to pick dandelions and let Tonka blow them. Sometimes he'd get too close and they'd stick to his lips and he'd sputter and spit 'til they were gone. Grampie would laugh 'til he'd lose his breath. He'd stay squatted down playin with Tonka for long periods of time, picking flowers, dandelions or picking out juuuust the right rock to throw. A few times he had to dodge, Tonka was just walking good and not throwing much better. He like the bigger rocks and at close range you could've ended up with a nice knot if you'd gotten hit by one. When he let fly you just never knew what direction the rock was gonna go. A few times grampie and I would have to move fast to get out of the way of Tonka's latest throw.
Grannie had some ducks there on the place and they spent most of the time on the pond just off the little lane that turned off Turner St. One Spring the ducks brought a whole bunch of babies to the house. Tonka was tickled to pieces to be able to hold the baby ducks and get 'sugars' off them. He left them pretty slobber-coated, but none the worse for wear. He got such a kick out of us fillin up the bathtub and lettin a baby duck swim around in there with him, that is until it got 'hold of his little something floating and then he wanted that duck outa his tub.
After a week or two the babies started disappearing, but we never found any of the little bodies. One day grampie said he'd seen a big snapping turtle in the pond and that he bet the turtle was getting the baby ducks. We all put our heads together and decided that the few babies left had to be saved... the turtle would have to go. There was an old farm fence that ran down beside the road and out about half way out into the pond. It was decided we'd set out some lines on that fence in the water with bait on'em to catch the turtle. The baby ducks were kept in a pen there in the yard for the few days of the big turtle hunt.
Late one night just as we were gettin ready for bed there was a knock on the door of the trailer. Orden was there with a flashlight and was excited. He'd just come home and driven by the pond, shined his light on the piece of cloth we'd tied on the fence to 'flag' when we had something on the line and he'd seen that red cloth jumpin like mad. We had our duck-killin turtle.
Since I already had my gown on I just threw on a long housecoat along with coat and shoes and away we went, me, grampie and Jim, Tonka's dad, across the pasture to the pond. Grannie stayed at the trailer in case Tonka woke up.
Jim waded out into the pond about butt deep and got a good grip on the heavy nylon cord we'd used and started slowly easeing his way back to the edge of the pond. The turtle's head had come out of the water a time or two as he fought the line, his head was as big as a man's fist, so we knew he was a big one. Grampie had an axe there ready to make quick work of the turtle once he was out of the water and I had the flashlight. Just as Jim stepped up out of the water and pulled the line, he yelled, "Get outa here, it's comin up on the bank!" We knew we needed to give Jim room there on the pondbank to get away from that mad turtle so he wouldn't get bitten. Grampie and I turned to run, I'd gathered the housecoat up in my hands so I could run faster. By this time our eyes had adjusted to the moonlight and you could see pretty good. What I didn't remember and didn't see was the old farm fence that ran right beside the road. Over the years it had been mashed down 'til it was only about a foot off the ground but it was high enough to take my feet out from under me as I tripped going over it. Down I went out in the middle of the little dirt road. The flashlight went flying and all the breath was knocked out of me. I was scrambling around doing my best to get up and get moving... I was sure that the burn I felt around one of ankles was that turtle chewing away at me. In all the thrashing I didn't realize I'd gotten my foot tangled up in the web-wire of the ole fence. Grampie ran and grabbed the flashlight and soon had me untangled from the fence. By this time Jim had made it to the fence, no help from me and grampie and was using the old fence to keep the turtle from gettin at him.
When all was said and done... the turtle problem was taken care of that night, the ducklings were once again safe to swim in the pond, we all had fried turtle meat (which is delicious)and grampie had one of the best tales to tell on me that anyone ever had. He'd laugh 'til he have tears running down his cheeks whenever he'd tell how skinned up I was from fightin at that 'turtle' there in the road. I WAS pretty skinned up, my hands and knees from the gravel and rocks in the road and my legs and ankles from kickin at the fence... but I had the trophy to end all trophies... a huge turtle shell. I still have it to this day and every time I see it, I smile, I think of the three of us out there in the moonlight with a mad turtle on the end of a short line. What a memory!
Tonka has always been an earth child. I think between my parents, his boom-paw and grannie at Wayton, AR and these two wonderful adopted grandparents, he got a good start learning to be close to the earth and loving things in nature, loving to be outside. Whenever he was with either set of grandparents, he was let loose to run and play and just enjoy life!
♥ (* •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ') ♥
╔╗╔╗╔╗╔═╦ ♥. .☆.......•*¨`*•
╠╣║║║╦╠═║✫ (¯`'•.¸ //(*_*) ¸.•'´¯)
╝╚╩║╚╝╚═╚═╝❤✫ƸӜƷ *`• .…* * *.•
.•*"˜˜"*°•. ˜"*°•♥•°*"˜ .•°*"˜˜"*°•.
♥ (* •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ') ♥
Grampie and grannie were married March 1, 1933.
They had two daughters, Billie and Betty. They thought the sun rose and set on those two girls of theirs and their families.
Billie Smith married J.E. Clark and they had two children, a boy Steve and a girl, Beverly.
Steve married Beverly White, they have two children: Matthew and Megan.
Beverly married Steve Harp. They have three children: Justin (not married), Jana & Lacie.
Jane married Todd Bewley, they have two children, Hunter and Addyson. Lacie married Jessie Reece and they have a boy, Aiden
Betty Smith married Charles Gurley and they had three children, two boys, Brent and Rick and a girl, Charlinda.
Charlinda married Steve Reeves, (he died in 2003 after back surgery from a blood clot in his lungs). They have two boys Curtis and Caleb.
Brent married Leona Bagwell, they have two daughters, Leann and Brenna.
Rick married Susan Dobbs and they have a girl and boy. Nichole and Heath.
Grampie and grannie's grandkids know the kind of love that gramp's showed when you were part of his special world. I just wish you could bottle up that kind of love, caring and kindness and save it for future generations.
Like I said when I posted a flower for grampie, family and blood gave me two loving and special sets of grandparents, God gave me a third.
The few years we lived there near these two wonderful people are, without a doubt, some of the happiest and most carefree years of my life.
Grampie holds a place in my heart that no other human will ever fill.
♥ (* •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ') ♥
╔══╗
╚╗╔╝
╔╝(¯`v´¯)
╚══`my grampie Orden
♥ (* •. ¸ ♥ ♥ ¸. • * ') ♥
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