Here's an excerpt from story time with Granddad Jerry:
Well in the first place, we were at White Acres. We had the barn, the yards, we could play football in the front yard, baseball in the side yard, we had the barn we could play basketball in, we could play Catcher in the Mow and whatnot, and so that’s where all the neighborhood kids came. I mean, back in those days, Amelia had a real mixture of sort of elite, to right down to the very bottom, drunks and whatnot. And I’m afraid that the language of the lower classes took over for us. I mean, there was one point along the way where I remember thinking, “y’know, all this cursing isn’t right, I can do better’n this.” And I stopped pretty quickly.
We were a bunch of hoodlums. They were all older. I mean nowadays, I think parents and everybody would go crazy to see how we were left alone. And these kids came up to play at our place, and they just showed up by themselves on their bike or whatever to join in the games. They came because we had the big yard.That’s where the kids always came. I guess when I was about 7 or 8 we were playing Kick the Can and Wolf and stuff like that. And our place was just the place where everybody came. But when you’re the smallest guy, you don’t want anyone taking advantage of you. So I was always playing with bigger kids. I never felt bullied by anybody.
I remember everybody else could climb up to the rafters and they could reach up to the top, and their feet would touch the bottom. But when I’d climb up on the rafter I couldn’t reach to the top, so if I was going to climb up on a rafter playing Catchers, I’d have to go to the second level or whatnot and go up to the top of the barn. But I was always the smallest. But like Kathleen said, I had the football. And 5th and 6th graders would play, and I was a 3rd grader when I started to play, but I had a helmet on, no one else had a helmet on. And I always played safety, and a guy’d come running down the field by himself, I’d go over and hit him in the legs, knock him down, other times, I’d be hanging on and he’d be dragging me along, then somebody else would come up and hit ‘em. I was the only kid who got to play up like that.
G’ma: Not only did you have the ball, you also had the barn and the whole farm to run on. You had a good place.
G’dad: I guess I thought most of the kids my age were kinda wimps or something.
I never thought about it [all the others being bigger]. They were the guys I played with and they were always older than me. When I was at school, I was always playing with the older kids. And I was sorta the leader of the younger kids. I say younger kids, I mean kids in my class. But I never played with them for a long time. My best friend was Jack Francis, he was center on the basketball team, but he was always like a foot taller’n me. I never thought of him as--I knew he was bigger’n me--but I never thought of him as tall. I’ve seen some movies, pictures later and thought, “he was that much taller than me?” But I never felt handicapped because I was short, except that I couldn’t reach, and I couldn’t jump and I couldn’t --wasn’t as fast or as big as the other people, but I never felt short. But the girls that I dated, the shortest was probably about 4’11, and the tallest was probably like 5’10 or 5’11. I was 5’5 ½. It never bothered me. If they didn’t want to go out with me because I was short, I figured that they would tell me.
I remember everybody else could climb up to the rafters and they could reach up to the top, and their feet would touch the bottom. But when I’d climb up on the rafter I couldn’t reach to the top, so if I was going to climb up on a rafter playing Catchers, I’d have to go to the second level or whatnot and go up to the top of the barn. But I was always the smallest. But like Kathleen said, I had the football. And 5th and 6th graders would play, and I was a 3rd grader when I started to play, but I had a helmet on, no one else had a helmet on. And I always played safety, and a guy’d come running down the field by himself, I’d go over and hit him in the legs, knock him down, other times, I’d be hanging on and he’d be dragging me along, then somebody else would come up and hit ‘em. I was the only kid who got to play up like that.
G’ma: Not only did you have the ball, you also had the barn and the whole farm to run on. You had a good place.
G’dad: I guess I thought most of the kids my age were kinda wimps or something.
I never thought about it [all the others being bigger]. They were the guys I played with and they were always older than me. When I was at school, I was always playing with the older kids. And I was sorta the leader of the younger kids. I say younger kids, I mean kids in my class. But I never played with them for a long time. My best friend was Jack Francis, he was center on the basketball team, but he was always like a foot taller’n me. I never thought of him as--I knew he was bigger’n me--but I never thought of him as tall. I’ve seen some movies, pictures later and thought, “he was that much taller than me?” But I never felt handicapped because I was short, except that I couldn’t reach, and I couldn’t jump and I couldn’t --wasn’t as fast or as big as the other people, but I never felt short. But the girls that I dated, the shortest was probably about 4’11, and the tallest was probably like 5’10 or 5’11. I was 5’5 ½. It never bothered me. If they didn’t want to go out with me because I was short, I figured that they would tell me.
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