. . . and then there was pickle.

For those of you who dont know - I am in the process of finishing a graduate degree and am going to be in the library for the next week or so, and have asked some folks to have fun - and keep my blog active while I am in absentia. The first of these is my mother. So without further ado -

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Pickle's Gamma

I was born in 1949 and when I was about 4 or 5 yrs. Old, my dad was out of work for a while (for reasons not important to the story) (added by Pickle's Papa - he had a contract out on his life). So, Pickles Great Grandpapa was a trendsetter SAHD! I’m sure that there were more than a few raised eyebrows when daddy and I went to the grocery store together in the middle of the day. I bet the neighbors had a lot to say when little Susie down the street’s father was left in charge of her and the house while her mom went out and earned a living! You know, I was pretty young, so I don’t know what went on with the adults, but from my point of view, it was great!

You see my mom was a clean freak (dad wasn’t) so when my dad was on duty, he had time for play. We had a swimming pool, and a swing set and a lot of other cool toys (did I mention I was an only child?). All the kids would come over and we would have a 40 (give or take) year old kid to play with...and he was an entertainer! He could make Lincoln cry (a penny); he could tie a Camel cigarette (non-filter) into a knot, untie it and smoke it...no holes...honest! He ate ants and he told jokes, he kept a lot of the “bullies” in the neighborhood out of trouble by planting a garden and then putting them in charge of keeping the “bullies” out of it. (He gave a lot of the food to them too ). It seemed they were really the poor ones (this is inner-city Detroit).

He cooked and baked too. I remember a cookie he made one time that you dipped one end in chocolate and the other in coconut that was really great! I’m sure he didn't score any points with my mom and the other moms too when he said “If you can read, you can cook!” He made spagetti, but of course, his mom’s maiden name was Francesca CeeCee...so he knew how it was suppose to be done. The more stuff there was to chop up and put into something the happier he was. Truth be told he was a better cook than my mom.

One of the fun things I remember from that time was when we had a big snow storm. We lived on a dead end street and had an alley (almost no one knows what those are now) behind our house. He tied my cousins’ and other neighbors’ sleds to the bumper of the car and took us for a sled ride down the street and through the alley and back down the street. There must have been about 10 sleds and the reason I know that it had to have happened at that time is that if my mom had been home she would never have let me on a sled!

I do remember another day that dad and I were down in the basement working in the woodshop (don’t tell Pickle’s Grandpa, he still thinks I know nothing about tools or how they work and I plan on keeping it that way) when little Johnny and Johnny’s mom appeared outside the basement window and Johnny’s mom said “Now, Uncle Jimmy (my dad) will watch you while mommy goes to the beauty shop and I will be back soon!” She then opened the gate to the back yard and let little Johnny go in to play. So while he may have been a subject of fodder at times at least one of the neighbors trusted her child with him besides my mom!

Pickle’s Papa only had about 3 years to get to know my dad before the smoking and drinking got the best of him and he died at age 63, but dad and I had a very special relationship and I am sure a lot of it was because of the time we were afforded when I was very young. I appreciate that to this day.

I’m sure that people may have had a lot of negative things to say about him at that time, but he was about the most ‘manly man’ I ever knew. I don’t even know if there were homosexuals back then (that’s a joke). He just loved me and took care of me the best he could at the time.



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Thanks Mom - PP