My Dad told me last week that his grand-dad, Papa, referred to death as "shaking hands with ol' Shorty." I've been turning this delightful bit of information around in my head ever since, looking at it from different angles. It is unclear whether ol' Shorty is God, Jesus, or Satan, though my Dad's money is on God. I'm less certain.
Papa would occasionally go into town in a horse and wagon and get drunk. When he fell into the wagon and passed out, his horses knew to take him back home. His wife would lead him out of the wagon, put him to bed, sometimes read to him - old western novels, by the light of a coal lamp - til he fell asleep.
My Dad had some of his memories of growing up in Oklahoma published in a magazine called Oklahoma Edge. Here's a short bit on Papa:
"Quite often when we left church on Sunday we would go by and get Papa out of jail. One night he came into the church and sat quietly on the back row. Someone from the church called the police and they came and arrested him. I always thought this was hypocritical on the part of the church people. I thought at the time, and still do, that Jesus would not have done that."
You can get the entire two-part series from Oklahoma Edge here - order the March and April 09 back issues. Or just come back to the blog, I'll be posting excerpts on a regular basis. It's a great read. He's a good writer.
