Building the Fire at the Tip Top School

Greeting to all, and welcome for the first time to the East Wing,

I guess it kinda shows your age when ya remember that Memorial Day used to be May 30th every year. It was changed to the last Monday in May just to make a three day holiday. It don’t seem right. It cheapened up the meaning of Memorial Day.

Damn Republicans, I think they’ve done this dastardly deed just looking for a reason to dork over regular people like me and you. I don’t know anyone who ever had a problem with Memorial Day being May 30th each year no matter what day of the week. After all, the people we remember on Memorial Day didn’t all die on the last Monday in May. When a three day weekend becomes more important than the reason to remember, well don’t get me started on that one. Damn Democrats, maybe they’re the ones that changed the holiday. a pox on both their houses. Shame on them all.

Sometimes politics and the people who play that dirty game make me wanta puke, one good thing about writing from the East Wing, there’s enough of those type reading the rambling they know who I’m talking about, and why.

Decoration Day, that’s what we hillbillies called it when I was a kid. In Kentucky, unlike Indiana, many people are buried in family cemeteries rather than communal locations. The cemeteries in Kentucky carry family names such as Manns, Minix, Watson, Clemons, Howard etc. It is not uncommon to this day to drive along the back roads of Eastern Kentucky and see a new grave site located within close walking distance of the house.

As a kid, I remember many people would make the trip from Starke County Indiana to Eastern Kentucky on Decoration Day to cut the grass and clean the cemeteries, to put out new flowers, to remember, to just remember. I read somewhere ya never die as long as someone remembers your name. That being said, I guess only the famous or villainous live forever. If ya stop and think about it, only a few, a very few have achieved that level of immortality. All others are destined to go the way of BobbyRay, “dust you are and dust you shall return”.

I lost a friend of mine a few days ago, Mike Rowe, he knew about Decoration Day. One of Mike’s favorite things in the world was going to Kentucky, to Tip Top Kentucky. When I was a kid, Mike’s dad, Henry Rowe, was the clerk at the company store at Tip Top.

I don’t know if I told ya about the first time I started into business for myself. I was in the third grade at Tip Top Elementary School.

Now every year the teacher hired someone to come early each morning to build the fire in the two stoves in the class rooms when the weather is cold.

The teacher’s name was Miss Higgins, and she approached me with a business proposition, build the fire in the two stoves each day of school when the weather is cold and receive 25¢ per week. I was to supply the kindling, the school was to supply the coal. (There was always lots of coal at Tip Top, in fact the only reason there was a Tip Top. KY, was there was lots of coal at Tip Top.)

I was to supply the matches. I negotiated with Miss Higgins on the matches, I won, the school would supplied the matchers. My first earned income was secured. Life was good in Tip Top and my financial future was assured with an income being at a level unsurpassed by any one in my extended family for my age. But what really worked out best for me was when I started bragging about my new found wealth.

I think I told ya about having 12 cousins at Tip Top and them all being named Cole, and all in the same family, well they were, and when I told the Cole Boys about me landing this big contract with the Tip Top Elementary School Corporation for this fire building job, I had one cousin, Pilipino, ( yup we named people kinda funny names, after all they named me BobbyRay). Any how Pilipino, we called him Pino, Pino says why I’d do that job for just 10¢ a week if they’d ask me.

Now I’m honing my business skills at a young age and I see an opportunity to make money without working so I say “ Pino how’d you like to make 10¢ a week?” Pino says “Who’d I gota kill?” I say “nobody, just build fires at the schoolhouse” Pino grins and sees big $$ signs.

Me and Pino work out the details, he agrees to: supply and split the kindling, the school supply the coal and the matches, Pino builds the fire every day when it’s cold in the morning, at least one hour before school starts at 8:00 AM. The schoolhouse to be always warm by time to start school. Pino to be paid 10¢ a week. Pino is to become the second richest cousin in Tip Top, second only to BobbyRay.

Pino’s happy, Miss Higgins’s happy, I’m happy, and Pino splits the kindling, builds the fire, gets up early to go to school to build the fire, makes 10¢ a week, I make 15¢ a week, don’t do any work, sleep in every cold morning and just go to school on time, to a warm schoolhouse. My company ran like a well oiled machine.

I had so much money coming in I started a charge account at the company store just to get rid of some of the cash. Henry Rowe set it up for me. My wealth surpassed my wildest dreams, 15¢ every week and no work, the money just kept rolling in, with no end in sight.

In addition to being the clerk at the Company Store, Henry Rowe was a Baptist Preacher, as was my dad, Wick Howard, so I knew Henry Rowe most all my life. A kind and gentle man, Henry Rowe. Henry was a hugger of people. Now us hillbilly people are huggers or non huggers. Henry Rowe was a hugger. He hugged um all, both male and female, every time ya saw him, ya got a hug from Henry. He loved us all, and we all loved him.

My family of Howard, we are huggers too, I hug my babies every day and every time I see them, even if I hugged them yesterday, today is a new day, hug your babies every day, ya won’t be sorry.

So it was with Henry Rowe. As a little boy he made me feel important. He talked to me, not down to me but at my level, not many people have that ability to talk to kids that way. Henry Rowe did, and so did his son Mike Rowe. I’ll truly miss my friend Mike Rowe. Want to know the value of a friend? Lose one.

Last week was my birthday, and ya know what my mama got me for my birthday, ya got that right, Moon Pies, took some doing but the ole girl got er done. I’m so glad my mama can still wish me a happy birthday and buy me Moon Pies. Not only did my mama get me Moon Pies for my birthday, she also got me golf shirts, not only golf shirts, but a TIGER WOODS RED GOLF SHIRT. My mama loves to watch Tiger Woods play golf, but only if he is in the lead. She won’t watch TV the Tiger is not winning.

The next time I play golf with my son, John, I’m gona ask my mama to drive the golf cart, she will. Ya never get too old to love your mama.

The day has come and gone, this 31st day of May, at what in another time would have been Memorial Day Weekend. Society changes and memories remain. A President has been elected based solely on a platform of “Change” without detail. We’ll see. Month five according to the count of the Republican Cat, and Lord knows that cat is keeping count.

As all my girls sleep, (2dogs, 1cat, and 1wife) I have enjoyed your company this evening more than ever before on this last day of May 2009. I so look forward to our next visit. Please know forever, you’re always welcome in the East Wing………………..

Stay safe in Baghdad and Afghanistan

From the East Wing, remembering two friends of mine, Henry Rowe and his son Mike, on the old Memorial Day Weekend.
I wish you well,
BobbyRay