Monday, April 6, 2020

This Weeks Very Short Story: Chapter 14


In the early 1980’s, one of my guilty pleasures was getting my car washed. It wasn’t just getting my car washed. At the car wash, they had a guy who shined shoes. I would sit up on his throne, watch the cars get washed and the people waiting. I was on top of the world. It is very hard to do this these days with athletic shoes though. 
Growing up I always liked the Lincoln Town Car, the one with the suicide doors. Why you ask? Because, I equated owning one with being rich. There was someone I knew whose parents had 2 of these cars. Flash forward to the Lincoln dealership in Beverly Hills, CA. I was looking at a Town Car and my wife knowing the story, said go ahead and get it. Then within a few moments later, she said, when am I going to get my van? Well, she got her van, I never got a Lincoln. For the two weeks that I spent in Michigan for my 40th high school reunion, I did rent a Lincoln Town Car. Even cruised it down Woodward Avenue during the Dream Cruise. Heaven. 
Recently it was reported in the news that an 8th grade boy was charged with assault when he kissed an 8th grade girl. She said it was unwelcomed. Well, I was a 10th grade boy who still loves kissing that 8th grade girl some 45 years later. I guess you know what my sentence was. 
When my younger son finally started college in Ohio, I was yelled at by my wife. How could you let him go so far away she cried out? Funny, I do remember that my wife was with us as we toured colleges in Michigan and Ohio. 
From the stories that I was told, my father in law Moniek Margulies, was given a bicycle and told to leave when they knew the German’s were coming in Poland. My translation is that he was faster than a speeding German. Thank God for that. 
From stories that I was told, my mother in law Riva Lipenholtz Margulies, was in the part of Poland where the Russian’s came and invited them to vacation in Siberia. Baruch HaShem. 
It may be hard for some to believe that to get my younger son to go try out and play baseball, we had to tell him that his friend Timmy was going to play. One season and he was hooked. I don’t think that Timmy played that many years. 
After the first year of T-ball, I knew that my younger son (around 6 years old) had some innate abilities. When I took him to hit ground balls to him, he started backhanding the ball. He was also able toss up a ball, all by himself and then hit it with a bat. Two things I am not sure my older son could do today. 
In high school, I went to a party with a friend of mine. He drove as I was not old enough to drive. We went to pick up his girlfriend and her friend. When we got there, I moved to the back seat and next to me then sat his girlfriend’s friend who was also her next door neighbor. I still let that girl sit next to me, sometimes even drive. That is how it all began. 
Many years ago I went to a Junior Detroit Red Wing’s game at the same place where the Red Wings played. A women a few rows in front of me, caught the puck with her head, blood everywhere. I have never been to a hockey game since. It is much safer to watch on TV anyway.   

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