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The Experiment When C.A. Hager appeared at the head of our sixth-grade classroom, he could have been an astronaut for all we knew. Male teachers were rare. I had known of only three in the whole school system up to that point, and they were over at the “old school.” They were gray, old men
It turns out Grandma Iva’s cantankerous cat is still wreaking havoc, even 60 or so years later. When Mom read what I had carefully written based on what she told me, she said I had it wrong. The cat never came in the house, she said. I protested that I wrote exactly what she told
In July 1951, Nelson and Estie Shelton became grandparents for the first time, when Chuck and I were born just a few days apart. Okay, I’ll admit I’m the older one. They were still in their forties, and Grandma Estie wasn’t happy about suddenly having achieved grandparent status. After all, she still had children at
After Grandpa Charlie had been dead a number of years and all of the children had left home (or maybe Aunt Emily Jane was still there), Grandma Iva Lineberger had a cat that was about as cantankerous as a cat can be. She used to claim he cussed at her. She insisted he could, and
Note: Because this piece is about Dad and Mom before they became parents, I have elected to call them by their first names. Keep in mind that Bobby turned 21 in 1948, while Marie was still a teen-ager. When Bobby returned home after his service in the Army, he declared that he had spent the
(from my old blog, c.2010) Our families have had an on-again, off-again interest in genealogy over the years. Lately it’s been on-again in the Sheltons, my mother’s side of the extended family tree. From what I’ve learned lately, it might be time to stop shaking that tree. Dad always said if you shake your family
As long as I knew him, Grandpa Nelson Shelton had a truck. In going through my growing set of family photos, I noticed how often one of his trucks is in the background. He used to refer to his farm as a “truck farm.” As a child, I found this an odd term – he
After dropping out of school to help with his family’s expenses, Dad (Robert Neal Lineberger, Sr., or “Bob” or “Bobby”) received his notice to appear at Fort Bragg, NC for his draft physical. He carried with him a small pocket calendar, which he carried throughout his Army service. He jotted a few cryptic notes about
The first time I met my cousin Robert, I knew he was different. We were both children, he about five, me about seven. His father, my mother’s brother Jack, had moved to Chicago in pursuit of better work, so Robert had spent most of his young life away from the rest of us. Now Jack
No one would ever confuse my two grandfathers. Although they lived within five miles of each other and shared many acquaintances, they barely knew each other. As far as I know, they never socialized, except at rare gatherings when Mom and Dad pulled their families together.. Whether they liked each other or not I never
Rabbit Box Blog 