“What am I supposed to say to them about Ham…your boyfriend?”
“I have explained to them that he is my boss at the plant and a very good friend.”
********************
The drive to Lebanon was neither quick nor fun. Buddy was definitely in a deep summer funk. He had told his friends at St. Louis Bertrand that he was being forced to spend the month on the farm and then he would be going back to the Orphanage. They were sad to see him go and told him that it would be a long time until next summer. Bobbi Joe Thomas offered to let him ride his bike up to Central Park. Buddy would have taken him up on it but he didn’t know how to ride a bike and didn’t want to tell the others…so the moment past.
Ernie Simms, who had a slight hair lip seemed saddest of all. He didn’t have siblings like Bobbi Joe and therefore he and Buddy had become very close.
“Buddy, I hope to come out to the orphanage to visit with you.”
“That would be great, I could take you around and you would be able to see Tough.”
“Wow, I forgot about Tough, my dad said Tough must be a dummy, since he doesn’t know his name.”
“No your dad is the dummy for talking about people.”
“Yeh, well you better not say that to him…he would whoop your ass.”
Father Edwards was sad to see Buddy go as well. They sat in the garden next to the rectory and Father gave Buddy a holy medal, which he blessed. It had a chain so Buddy put it around his neck. He was very proud of the medal and chain; it was the first jewelry he had ever been given.
“Buddy you are a very bright and wonderful boy, I consider it an honor and a joy to have met you and I hope your mother will stay in the parish and come back next year.”
“Thank you very much Father, I didn’t think I was going to like it here when I first met you.”
“Why is that Buddy?”
“I thought you were scary looking. But I know now that you can’t look at a person and tell what they are. You are just like my dear Father Hermann…a very kind man…and a man like St. Francis who loves children and all animals.”
“Well I don’t know about animals Buddy…never owned one.”
“But you love to play the horses.”
“Yes, that is true Buddy…I do love to play the horses but I don’t own them, even though I probably have bet enough on them to own one.”
“We have beautiful horses across the road at the orphanage, and we love to go up to the fence at Grand Avenue and watch them run around the field with their tails in the air.”
“Would you like for me to come out to the orphanage and see you Buddy?”
Buddy reached up… in an unexpected manner, and hugged the priest… who was caught off-guard by the gesture…“Oh yes Father…please come out on the week-end and then you could meet Father Hermann… and you could pitch horseshoes, and we could walk up to watch the horses run in the field…please, please come!”
“You can count on it Buddy and I will bring some of the children with me.”
********************
It had been an extremely happy moment for Buddy. Father Edwards would definitely come out and Ernie Simms might do so as well. August would go quickly and then he would soon see his old friends at the orphanage and his new friends would come for a visit and to see Joe Tough. If they were lucky enough to come in the fall they would also see the beautiful trees of gold, red and orange and the green pastures with black and white dairy cattle and the beautiful horses with their babies running along beside them.
The road to St. Joseph was a special place but as Joe Tough knew the road away was filled with curves and bumps, and at every turn there was an obstacle and ahead…there was the city. He preferred the warmth and protection of the orphanage, though he barely remembered the city. He did recall a woman holding him and he was crying…they were running away from horrible shouts and smoke…the woman was crying as well…it was a vision that he saw often…it made him sad and lonely…it made him wonder who the woman was and why she was crying.
********************
“So this is my grandson, finally I get to meet you.”
Buddy stepped up to the tall man and he leaned over toward Buddy. Buddy stuck out his hand but his grandfather reached down and picked him up and kissed him on the cheek.
“I have been looking so forward to this moment Buddy, now go give your grandmother a big hug.”
Buddy went to Lucy who was seated at a table in the yard. She put out her arms for him and held him for quite a long tome…Buddy could feel her sobbing.
“Now Buddy these are your relatives.” His mother said.
“This is your Aunt Polly, my real sister.” Buddy had a hug for her as well.
“This is your Aunt Dorothy and her husband Lee…Dorothy is my half-sister.” Buddy hugged Dorothy and shook hands with Lee.
“This is your Aunt Aileen.” Buddy hugged her too.
“This is your Aunt Rita.” She got a hug though Buddy looked at her suspiciously since Rita was near his age.
“And this is your Aunt Louise.” Now Buddy was really confused with all these aunts and Louise was younger than he but the biggest shock was yet to come.
“And Buddy, believe it or not this is your Uncle Larry.” Now Larry was only about two years old, so Buddy was now demanding an answer to who all these people were and would he have to call them Uncle this and Aunt that?
“Buddy you see this is the way it happened…many years ago, I married a woman by the name of Nettie Marshall…she and I were married for five years and we had three children…your Uncle Joseph, who died in the war…your mother and your Aunt Polly. Now your grandmother Nettie died and several years’ later I remarried your new grandmother Lucy. She and I have had four children who are half-sisters and brother to your mother and your Aunt Polly. Does that make any more sense?”
“Yes sir…except do I have to call Larry, Uncle…when he can’t even talk?”
Everybody laughed as they made their way into the kitchen where Lucy had made a big celebration dinner. There was more food on that table than Buddy had ever seen and everybody was talking, laughing, hugging and kissing that Buddy felt somewhat sorry for old Ham…he seemed so out of place but for Buddy he had never felt so much in the right place. For the very first time in his life he now knew what his mother had been talking about…there is nothing like the blood of real families…the connection is undeniably and the love that flowed through those veins was like the sap through the giant oak tree at the end of the lane…a very special mixture of Irish immigrants and the old country.
Buddy could see it in his grandfather…a big man but on the thin muscular side with big hands that were spotted with freckles as was his handsome face and his thinning red hair. Sitting next to him Buddy could feel why his mother had not wanted to disappoint him again…this was a hard working… loving man filled with expression and life.
Lucy on the other hand was a quiet woman, who seemed to stay in the background as all the others laughed and whooped it up. She did not seem to be that much older than his mother who was twenty-something…Buddy whispered to his mother.
“How old is Lucy?”
“Buddy…” she said softly…“Please call Lucy Ma…and she is thirty-years-old.”
“And Aunt Polly?”
“Ok, I see where this is going she whispered…Polly is 22, Dorothy is 17, Aileen is 12,
Rita is 8, Louise is 5 and Larry is 2.”
“And what about Uncle Lee?”
“Lee is 18, AND YOU ARE SIX… AND THE MOST INQUISITIVE OF THE LOT.”
“Mother…”
“Yes Buddy.”
“I love it here.”
“Me too,”
“Mother.”
“Yes Buddy.”
“I love you too.”
Katherine leaned over to her boy and kissed him on the forehead…“I love you Buddy.”
Everybody at the table saw the kiss and started laughing and smooching their lips to
gether…to make the kissing sound…it was all in fun.
The fun and festivities lasted into the night. All the children, aunts, uncles and grandparents participated in various card games, the most cherished of which was a game called “High Nine,” a game which required a bidding to name the trumps and then the playing of those cards in a way to collect points meeting the required bid amount. Ma and Pap argued about the game and Pap was caught cheating several times…he didn’t like to loose.
By eleven o’clock the smaller children had to be carried off to bed and the adults especially Pap (the official name for my grandfather) had been sleeping for an hour because he had to get up at four in the morning to start milking the cows. Buddy had gone to bed reluctantly even though he had asked Pap to get him up early so that he could help bring the cows into the milk parlor.
It had been a long day and Buddy was tired as he snuggled into the big bed next to his mother…little Uncle Larry who was next to him…his new friend would not let him get away.
Ham went home with Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Lee, they had a small cottage in town, which had an extra bed…he was grateful for the bed but Buddy suspected that he would have preferred other sleeping arrangements…that would not happen in his lifetime.
Aunt Polly went home to her farm on the other side of town, she was married to an older man whose name was Skippy Russellville…they had been married since she was fifteen. At that time Pap had been a tenant farmer on the Russellville place and Polly had become enamored with Mr. Russellville. Buddy was certain that Pap was just as upset about young Polly as he had been with Katherine but as he would say…“You can’t talk to a young girl when the blood is running to the wrong part of the body.”
Buddy didn’t understand the comment but he suspected that it had to do with sex, which seems to rule the minds of the Lenahan family…including the patriarch.
********************
Buddy was certain that Pap had tried to awaken him the next morning but he was still exhausted from the day before and just rolled over and went back to sleep. When he did wake, the sun was up and he could hear voices in the kitchen and the clatter of dishes. He could hardly believe that anyone would want to eat after that dinner the day before but this crew knew how to eat and Ma knew how to cook for them.
He dressed and hurried down to the kitchen where he found Little Uncle Larry having some eggs and sausage. A meal he had never tasted…and never wanted to do so. He opted for a glass of milk and toast with strawberry jam. Katherine was up as well and she was having a coffee while she talked with Ma.
Soon Little Uncle Larry was finished and they went out to the milk parlor where the milking chore for the morning had been completed and the milk stored in the cooler for the big milk truck to pick up later in the day. This was not a big operation but for one man it kept him moving to feed, milk and process the milk for the big containers which he then had to move into the coolers which was nothing more than a large barrel with cold water.
But it was far superior to hand milking which Pap had done for years before the Rural Electric Cooperatives came along to provide electricity to the farm. Now Pap was able to handle fifty cows, milking them twice a day and the income from the milk helped to offset some of the cost of the family. The rest of the day would be spent in the fields, there would be mowing of the hay, working in the tobacco, plowing the rows in the corn and later in September planting the winter wheat and soybeans.
Ma worked right alongside Pap, she took care of the family garden, the chickens, the hogs and she cooked the meals three times a day for the family and any farm help at different times of the year for the harvesting.
Aileen, the oldest girl at home, helped take care of the cleaning of the house. She was a typical teen, into her own world which included teen magazines, clothing and make-up and a boyfriend that Pap could not stand. Buddy was starting to get the idea that there weren’t any boys in the county good enough for Pap’s girls…and Buddy agreed with him.
Rita’s chores included gathering the eggs, feeding the chickens and helping her mother in the garden. Little Uncle Larry’s duty was to stay out of the way, wrestle with the dog or throw rocks at the hog.
Everybody had a chore and Buddy figured that he would work along with the small kids and Ma…he was right, but there was a lot to do in the garden. At this time of year, the garden was starting to come-on and the weeds were in abundance, so this was a daily task to keep them from overtaking the green beans, potatoes, tomatoes, corn, squash, peppers and even the flowers which bordered the vegetables.
Yes, there was a lot to do here on the farm, Buddy wondered when he would get to do some of the fun things Mother and Ham told him about on the trip to Danville. Things like going to the movies, riding the pony, riding the bike, playing in the hay loft, swimming in the lake.
Late in the day Buddy’s mother and Ham prepared to leave for the trip back to Nashville. She kissed Buddy several times and reminded him that he needed to be a good boy for his grandparents and that they would be back for Labor Day week-end for the trip back to St. Joseph.
Everyone waved as Ham maneuvered the Ford down the long drive and out onto the Miller Pike which would lead them to U.S. Highway 27 and that would connect with U.S. Highway 60 which ran past the orphanage. Long after his mother had cleared the last hill and disappeared from view, Buddy stood watching the highway…Little Uncle Larry came over to him and took his hand…they walked slowly past the well in the back yard and into the house where Ma had fixed a big pitcher of Kool-Aid and made cookies which were still warm
********************
After supper, Pap asked Buddy to take a little walk with him. Little Uncle Larry tagged along as did Rita and Louise. The family car was parked in a shed like building next to the smoke house, Pap went to a closet door inside the garage and upon opening it there stood a beautiful red bike with silver fenders. He carefully lifted the bike from the storage closet and rolled it to the yard. He stopped at the rear of the garage and picked up a tire pump. Outside he asked Buddy to hold the bike firmly while he checked the tire for air. Both tires needed air, so Pap screwed the air hose to the tire plug and then he began to pump up the tires.
The bike had some dust on it but otherwise after Pap applied a little grease to the chain, the bike was as good as new.
“Ok Buddy, its yours for the summer.” Pap proclaimed.
“But, Pap, I don’t know how to ride a bike.”
“That is no problem Buddy, you have the entire month of August to learn, and my suggestion to you, is to take your time, take that bike over to the fence, get on and ride down the fence row until you feel comfortable enough to let go. If you fall…it won’t hurt falling into the soft grass in the field.”
“Ok Pap, thanks a lot for the bike.”
“Buddy, there is only two things I would ask of you, no bike riding when there are chores to do and if you decide to ride on the Miller Pike, you must let your Ma or me know where you are going.”
“Ok Pap.”
“Good boy Buddy.”
Buddy didn’t expect that this would ever happen, because he didn’t expect that he would ever learn to ride this thing. But he didn’t think that he would teach himself to swim either and he did so by swimming along the edge of the pool in much the same way Pap was suggesting that he try to ride the bike.
Over the next few days with the help of Rita, Louise and little Uncle Larry, Rita and Buddy learned to ride the bike off the fence. There were a few minor incidents but with few bruises to show Buddy became fairly proficient. He even managed to totally irritate the Brahma bull who somehow thought Buddy was trying to infringe on his range and would charge the fence every time he saw the red bike. Buddy thought that he had been quite lucky that the bull had not decided to jump the fence, which he could easily have done. This was a fierce looking bull, he was all white in color with big ears sat on the side of small horns and he had a giant hump on his shoulders…he scared you just to look at him.
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br /> With the bike exercise behind him Buddy now had only to learn to ride the pony, and for this it would be necessary to catch his grandfather with a little extra time on his hands to help catch the critter and then put the bridle and saddle on him. This pony did not want to accommodate Buddy in the least, he had better things to do with his or her time. But Buddy was dead-set on riding this pony and began to figure when the best time would be to catch Pap in the right mood.
Buddy finally decided that Sunday after dinner would be the best time. Sundays always included going to Mass at St. Charles in St. Mary’s. Pap would wear his one and only white shirt with a tie that spread across his chest like a vest with no sides. The tie looked like a giant Byzantine sword but Pap was a farmer and a damn good one at that.
Pap also was a frugal man…he had purchased a used car, made before the war and into this car he packed his family while headed down the Miller Pike toward St. Mary’s there were a number of hills, large and small. When Pap got to the top of each hill, he would cut the engine to save gasoline and then we all would make a wager on how far he could coast. After the first week, it got to be repetitive and only Little Uncle Larry could be suckered into a bet. But then Ma would say that it was a good thing that I wasn’t eligible for the sacrament of Holy Communion because taking the bet from Little Uncle Larry would mean that I had sinned…sinned on the Sabbath and that would necessitate going to Confession.
Making his first Holy Communion was something Buddy had to look forward to next year…as well as the need to practice fasting before going to communion, which meant that you could take no food or water after midnight. This wasn’t a big issue for Buddy since he didn’t have access to food after twelve and he only enjoyed a drink of water after he had been running and playing.
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