| Biographical Non-Fiction posted June 25, 2020 | Chapters: |
...44 45 -46- 47... 
|
  |
Not everything went smoothly in our lives.
A chapter in the book Remembering Yesterday
Things Which Don't End Well
by BethShelby
| Background I always felt like I had a wonderful life, but it seems a lot of what I recall are things that often went wrong. We handled them as they happened. |
The first day of May, you were out near the back of our lot working on your garden, when I got a phone call from Maxine telling me that your dad had died. They had taken him to Bay Springs hospital after he seemed to be having another heart attack. I told the kids to go get their daddy, and tell him his sister needed to talk to him. They had heard enough to know that their grandfather had died, so they ran toward you shouting “Pap-paw's dead.”
This was no way for you to learn your dad had passed away. The color had drained from your face, and you were in a bad state by the time you made it back to the house. I was so sorry you had to learn of his death like this. If he had lived two more weeks, he would have had his seventy-first birthday.
I couldn't help but remember what the fortune teller had said about the old man in my family not surviving. I hoped it had been a coincidence that she’d been right about that.
We left Brandon and went to your parents' house as soon as we could get a few things together. I was very fond of your dad. He always seemed to like me. All of your siblings were soon there. Your mom was very upset. A few days after the funeral, she went home with Maxine and Wayne and stayed a couple of weeks. She’d never learned to drive, so we knew she wouldn’t be staying alone in the house. After spending time with Maxine, we brought her to Brandon and she stayed with us for a while. All of you got together and found a little house in Newton that she could afford to rent and got her moved in. The house they had lived in was sold, and the money was put in the bank to provide for her living expenses.
******
After the funeral, you got a chance to talk to Joe about starting a house for us on our acreage in the country. He said he would appreciate the work. The two of you agreed on a price for his time. You told him you would pay for the materials he needed as long as he furnished you with copies of the receipts on the purchases. You had revised the house plans we’d used for our new house, and changed them to a single level house, but you didn’t cut down on the size. You moved the fireplace from the living room to the den and made a few other small changes. I didn’t understand why we needed such a large house in the country, but I didn’t argue with you about it. It seemed important for you to be able to do this.
Joe didn’t waste time. It wasn’t long before he had the slab poured, and he was starting up with the walls. He did hire my dad to work with him. I know my mother was relieved to have him out of the house, and I think Dad was happy to have something to do that brought in a small income.
This work continued throughout the summer months, but not without its problems. Joe purchased some expensive tools on our expense account. He needed them for the job, but he kept them for himself after the job was finished. You were unhappy because he was just giving you a figure of what he’d spent without sending you the receipts as he’d agreed to do. When you talked to him about it, he and Helen both became defensive. After we reached a point where we didn’t plan to get any more work done, we knew there were hard feelings and we felt awkward being around them. A number of months went by without contact.
Somehow, my Dad found out how much Joe had been paid, and he got upset as well. Of course Joe was the experienced builder, and he was entitled to more money. As a rule, it isn’t smart to do business with family. Someone always feels they have gotten a raw deal.
By the end of the summer, we had spent all of the money we could afford to on the house. It was just a shell at this point. We had the septic tank in and water, but so far the house wasn’t wired for electricity. There was a power pole installed that provided the electricity for the tools used in building, but we still would need to hire an electrician to complete the work. This didn’t stop us from taking a lantern and sleeping bags and camping out from time to time. I’m sure our country neighbors must have been curious as to why work had stopped.
We didn’t know how long it would be before we could again move forward on our building project. I didn't see any reason for being in a hurry since we weren’t planning to live there. However, you did find an electrician and paid to have it wired that fall. We had the expense of two other houses. Our house in Jackson was still in the hands of a real estate agency. I decided I knew what it meant to be property rich and income poor, because we were paying taxes and insurance on all three properties.
**********
At my new job, the work was so much easier than anything I’d done in the past and the money was better. That didn’t mean everything was running smoothly. Stan the plant manager was running a small printing company out of his home as a side business. Maggie, my assistant, and I had witnessed him taking company supplies out of the shop for his own use. He had been giving Maggie a hard time, and she wanted to report him to the owner. I’d gotten along fine with Stan, and I didn’t want to get involved, because I didn't consider it any of our business. Maggie got me involved anyway, by letting the owner know that the two of us had seen some things she felt he needed to know about. He scheduled a meeting and asked that we both come to his office.
Before the meeting, I was so nervous, I couldn’t think straight. Loraine, the typist, told me to calm down before I had a stroke. She said she had something that would help, and she gave me a Xanax tablet. I don’t like taking medicine, and I was unsure if I wanted to swallow it. I put it in my mouth before I started toward the water cooler, and suddenly I realized my mouth was growing numb and my tongue was starting to swell. I got the rest of the pill down, but now I wondered if I would even be able to talk. To make matters worse, Stan had been called to the meeting as well, to face his accusers. I let Maggie do most of the talking, but I’m sure the fact that Stan was there intimidated her as well. The boss excused us after Maggie had her say, and we went back to work. Stan remained behind, I never learned what happened after we left, but I do know he was still at work the next day. He didn't have anything to say to the two of us.
**********
At home, things did not go well with our dog breeding project. Grendel got pregnant and gave birth to eight healthy looking puppies. Sadly, we knew nothing about raising dogs. Our dogs had not been checked by a vet to see if they were healthy, and they hadn’t been vaccinated.
Everything seemed fine for a while. As the puppies got older, we sold one of them and gave one to my mom and dad. One little female suddenly started walking strangely. We thought one of the kids might have hurt it accidentally. The girls denied it, but Don said he wasn’t sure. He might have run over one of the puppies with his bike. We had a vet check the puppy’s leg, he said she had hip dysplasia, which is not uncommon with German Shepherds.
When the other pups started suddenly getting sick, we checked with the vet again. By that time it was too late to save the puppies. Our dogs had hookworms. We decided raising puppies had been a mistake, and we didn’t need to let Grendel get pregnant again.
***********
There was another project that didn’t end so well either. I decided I wanted a rock garden leading from our front walk to the garage. I went to the library and checked out about eight large coffee-table type books for rock gardens. I spent hours digging out a flat area where I wanted to place some garden furniture.
You weren’t enthused over my project, but I told you about a place where someone assured me I could get all the large rocks I needed for free. After pleading with you for a while, you finally took the truck to get the rocks. Unfortunately, I’d gotten bad information. When you started loading the rocks from what appeared to be unused land, the property owner saw you and cursed you out for trying to steal his rocks. You were humiliated and told me you wanted nothing to do with my rock garden.
When it was time to return the library books, something distracted me, and I laid the books on top of the car. Then I forgot about them and drove away. When I got to the library and didn’t have them, I remembered where I put them and hoped to find them in our yard. I was not so lucky. When I got home you told me you saw a car stopped in the street, and a man was picking something up, which turned out to be my books. They never made it back to the library, and I ended up paying for some very expensive lost books.
In the end, you did help me fill in the ground which I had dug out where my rock garden was supposed to go. Some things are just not meant to be.
This was no way for you to learn your dad had passed away. The color had drained from your face, and you were in a bad state by the time you made it back to the house. I was so sorry you had to learn of his death like this. If he had lived two more weeks, he would have had his seventy-first birthday.
I couldn't help but remember what the fortune teller had said about the old man in my family not surviving. I hoped it had been a coincidence that she’d been right about that.
We left Brandon and went to your parents' house as soon as we could get a few things together. I was very fond of your dad. He always seemed to like me. All of your siblings were soon there. Your mom was very upset. A few days after the funeral, she went home with Maxine and Wayne and stayed a couple of weeks. She’d never learned to drive, so we knew she wouldn’t be staying alone in the house. After spending time with Maxine, we brought her to Brandon and she stayed with us for a while. All of you got together and found a little house in Newton that she could afford to rent and got her moved in. The house they had lived in was sold, and the money was put in the bank to provide for her living expenses.
******
After the funeral, you got a chance to talk to Joe about starting a house for us on our acreage in the country. He said he would appreciate the work. The two of you agreed on a price for his time. You told him you would pay for the materials he needed as long as he furnished you with copies of the receipts on the purchases. You had revised the house plans we’d used for our new house, and changed them to a single level house, but you didn’t cut down on the size. You moved the fireplace from the living room to the den and made a few other small changes. I didn’t understand why we needed such a large house in the country, but I didn’t argue with you about it. It seemed important for you to be able to do this.
Joe didn’t waste time. It wasn’t long before he had the slab poured, and he was starting up with the walls. He did hire my dad to work with him. I know my mother was relieved to have him out of the house, and I think Dad was happy to have something to do that brought in a small income.
This work continued throughout the summer months, but not without its problems. Joe purchased some expensive tools on our expense account. He needed them for the job, but he kept them for himself after the job was finished. You were unhappy because he was just giving you a figure of what he’d spent without sending you the receipts as he’d agreed to do. When you talked to him about it, he and Helen both became defensive. After we reached a point where we didn’t plan to get any more work done, we knew there were hard feelings and we felt awkward being around them. A number of months went by without contact.
Somehow, my Dad found out how much Joe had been paid, and he got upset as well. Of course Joe was the experienced builder, and he was entitled to more money. As a rule, it isn’t smart to do business with family. Someone always feels they have gotten a raw deal.
By the end of the summer, we had spent all of the money we could afford to on the house. It was just a shell at this point. We had the septic tank in and water, but so far the house wasn’t wired for electricity. There was a power pole installed that provided the electricity for the tools used in building, but we still would need to hire an electrician to complete the work. This didn’t stop us from taking a lantern and sleeping bags and camping out from time to time. I’m sure our country neighbors must have been curious as to why work had stopped.
We didn’t know how long it would be before we could again move forward on our building project. I didn't see any reason for being in a hurry since we weren’t planning to live there. However, you did find an electrician and paid to have it wired that fall. We had the expense of two other houses. Our house in Jackson was still in the hands of a real estate agency. I decided I knew what it meant to be property rich and income poor, because we were paying taxes and insurance on all three properties.
**********
At my new job, the work was so much easier than anything I’d done in the past and the money was better. That didn’t mean everything was running smoothly. Stan the plant manager was running a small printing company out of his home as a side business. Maggie, my assistant, and I had witnessed him taking company supplies out of the shop for his own use. He had been giving Maggie a hard time, and she wanted to report him to the owner. I’d gotten along fine with Stan, and I didn’t want to get involved, because I didn't consider it any of our business. Maggie got me involved anyway, by letting the owner know that the two of us had seen some things she felt he needed to know about. He scheduled a meeting and asked that we both come to his office.
Before the meeting, I was so nervous, I couldn’t think straight. Loraine, the typist, told me to calm down before I had a stroke. She said she had something that would help, and she gave me a Xanax tablet. I don’t like taking medicine, and I was unsure if I wanted to swallow it. I put it in my mouth before I started toward the water cooler, and suddenly I realized my mouth was growing numb and my tongue was starting to swell. I got the rest of the pill down, but now I wondered if I would even be able to talk. To make matters worse, Stan had been called to the meeting as well, to face his accusers. I let Maggie do most of the talking, but I’m sure the fact that Stan was there intimidated her as well. The boss excused us after Maggie had her say, and we went back to work. Stan remained behind, I never learned what happened after we left, but I do know he was still at work the next day. He didn't have anything to say to the two of us.
**********
At home, things did not go well with our dog breeding project. Grendel got pregnant and gave birth to eight healthy looking puppies. Sadly, we knew nothing about raising dogs. Our dogs had not been checked by a vet to see if they were healthy, and they hadn’t been vaccinated.
Everything seemed fine for a while. As the puppies got older, we sold one of them and gave one to my mom and dad. One little female suddenly started walking strangely. We thought one of the kids might have hurt it accidentally. The girls denied it, but Don said he wasn’t sure. He might have run over one of the puppies with his bike. We had a vet check the puppy’s leg, he said she had hip dysplasia, which is not uncommon with German Shepherds.
When the other pups started suddenly getting sick, we checked with the vet again. By that time it was too late to save the puppies. Our dogs had hookworms. We decided raising puppies had been a mistake, and we didn’t need to let Grendel get pregnant again.
***********
There was another project that didn’t end so well either. I decided I wanted a rock garden leading from our front walk to the garage. I went to the library and checked out about eight large coffee-table type books for rock gardens. I spent hours digging out a flat area where I wanted to place some garden furniture.
You weren’t enthused over my project, but I told you about a place where someone assured me I could get all the large rocks I needed for free. After pleading with you for a while, you finally took the truck to get the rocks. Unfortunately, I’d gotten bad information. When you started loading the rocks from what appeared to be unused land, the property owner saw you and cursed you out for trying to steal his rocks. You were humiliated and told me you wanted nothing to do with my rock garden.
When it was time to return the library books, something distracted me, and I laid the books on top of the car. Then I forgot about them and drove away. When I got to the library and didn’t have them, I remembered where I put them and hoped to find them in our yard. I was not so lucky. When I got home you told me you saw a car stopped in the street, and a man was picking something up, which turned out to be my books. They never made it back to the library, and I ended up paying for some very expensive lost books.
In the end, you did help me fill in the ground which I had dug out where my rock garden was supposed to go. Some things are just not meant to be.
 Recognized |
I'm continuing to recall memories of life with my deceased husband as if I am talking aloud to him. I'm doing this because I want my children to know us as we knew each other and not just as their parents
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. 
You need to login or register to write reviews. It's quick! We only ask four questions to new members.
© Copyright 2024. BethShelby All rights reserved.
BethShelby has granted FanStory.com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.
