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I really wish I had listened more to the stories the old folks told, Let’s share some

Posted on 5/31/22 at 10:53 pm
Posted by fr33manator
Baton Rouge
Member since Oct 2010
124570 posts
Posted on 5/31/22 at 10:53 pm
Sitting here, drinkin’, thinkin, with the kids put to bed,
About all those old stories, that still play in my head.

I can remember listening to the tall tales my grandpas and grandmas, great aunts and uncles would tell me about their coming up.

About the depression. About how my grandpa, the oldest of 6, kept everything that was his in a cigar box because sometimes they’d have to move in the middle of the night because they couldn’t pay the rent if the work ran out.

How they lived hardscrabble lives on farms trying to eke a living out of the land, in the houses built from logs hewn by hand. Tales of high cotton and long hungry nights. And so many more I’ve forgotten and I’d pay a pretty penny to hear again.

I remember my old neighbor, Mr. Ray. He had a glass eye and a ragged scar on his stomach from where he parachuted into a tree in France during WWII. His wife was Evelyn and she made awesome banana pudding with nilla wafers.

He had an old black and white TV and would play solitaire with a worn deck of cards and watch westerns. He called me Tater and I loved that old man. I remember how much it hurt when he got to the end and didn’t remember me.

Wish I remembered more of those old stories the old people would tell. You can’t get ‘em back. Can’t get anything back.

Cherish your old folks and their stories. You’ll hear them a hundred times when you are young and you’ll groan but as you get older and they are gone you’d give anything to hear them again.

So, if you have some you can remember, maybe share them here. Be a break from the miserable modern nonsense we digest here on a daily basis.

This post was edited on 6/1/22 at 12:25 am
Posted by Mingo Was His NameO
Brooklyn
Member since Mar 2016
25455 posts
Posted on 5/31/22 at 10:54 pm to
I can garauntee nobody finds your stories more interesting than you.
Posted by Kafka
I am the moral conscience of TD
Member since Jul 2007
142485 posts
Posted on 5/31/22 at 10:55 pm to
you're acting like a bull looking at a bastard calf
Posted by 0x15E
Outer Space
Member since Sep 2020
12813 posts
Posted on 5/31/22 at 10:57 pm to
Zzzzzzz
This post was edited on 5/31/22 at 10:59 pm
Posted by Kafka
I am the moral conscience of TD
Member since Jul 2007
142485 posts
Posted on 5/31/22 at 11:03 pm to
quote:

my old neighbor, Mr. Ray. He had a glass eye and a ragged scar from where he parachuted into a tree in France during WWII
serves him right for not looking where he was landing

-- Mingo
Posted by Ric Flair
Charlotte
Member since Oct 2005
13681 posts
Posted on 5/31/22 at 11:06 pm to
I remember an assignment we had in 5th or 6th grade, where we had to interview a veteran. I knew my grandpa was in the Navy back in the day, but didn’t know he served in WWII until my dad suggested that I interview him. It was probably the longest I’ve ever talked to my grandpa one on one (long distance phone call bills were steep back in the day), and most times that we visited him were on holidays (Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, etc) and he was surrounded by 14 or so other grandkids at those times. No epiphanies, crazy war stories, or sage advice from that conversation that I recall. I just remember the feeling having that 1:1 conversation “man to man” for the first time.
Posted by VolsOut4Harambe
Atlanta, GA
Member since Sep 2017
12856 posts
Posted on 5/31/22 at 11:07 pm to
This weekend I met my SO’s grandmother who grew up during the Hungarian Revolution and escaped Budapest for Vienna.

The fear and anguish in her eyes was really clear as she described seeing bodies in the streets and dealing with the threats made against her family and her husband. She really holds a major disdain for Russians.

You don’t hear stories like that from people from generations on.
Posted by Oates Mustache
Member since Oct 2011
22190 posts
Posted on 5/31/22 at 11:17 pm to
The was this really wise poster named GeauxChrisSports.
Posted by SECSolomonGrundy
Slaughter Swamp
Member since Jun 2012
15942 posts
Posted on 5/31/22 at 11:28 pm to
My grandmother was a little girl and lived through Kristallnacht. She wasn't Jewish but some kids in her neighborhood were. She tells the story about how her mother lied to her about it. She says she heard the children screaming but her mother told her it was just a bad dream.

She is a tough tough lady.

If you have elderly family members with great stories to tell, get out your camera and record it. Thank me later.
Posted by White Bear
Yonnygo
Member since Jul 2014
14034 posts
Posted on 5/31/22 at 11:30 pm to
quote:

I remember my old neighbor, Mr. Ray. He had a glass eye and a ragged scar from where he parachuted into a tree in France during WWII. His wife was Evelyn and she made awesome banana pudding with nilla wafers.

He had an old black and white TV and would play solitaire with a worn deck of cards and watch westerns. He called me Tater and I loved that old man. I remember how much it hurt when he got to the end and didn’t remember me.

rings a bell....Like desperados waitin for a train
Posted by Willie Stroker
Member since Sep 2008
12981 posts
Posted on 5/31/22 at 11:41 pm to
A lot of the stories I heard from old people just sounded like bullshite.

As I got older, I realized I was right. They exaggerated a lot of shite for the same dramatic effect people still do the same thing today.
Posted by GREENHEAD22
Member since Nov 2009
19626 posts
Posted on 5/31/22 at 11:56 pm to
I lost my last grandparent late last year.

I've have often thought about making a post in regards to their lives. The upbringings,the experiences, accomplishments, the stories. All make our lives today seem boring and dull. If I ever get an alone bourbon night maybe I will post it.
Posted by GreenRockTiger
vortex to the whirlpool of despair
Member since Jun 2020
42335 posts
Posted on 6/1/22 at 12:02 am to
One of my grandma’s stories was that she and her six siblings could not take a bath often during prohibition because her dad made beer in the tub

He was also put in jail a few times during WWII for yelling in German at the radio
Posted by vuvuzela
Oregon
Member since Jun 2010
14663 posts
Posted on 6/1/22 at 1:13 am to
Good stuff man. So many stories I’ve heard and been told along the way.

Sturgill simpsons song, “pan bowl”, really captures the spirit of the folk arts and tales of older times. Highly recommend it if you haven’t given it a listen before.
Posted by Hangit
The Green Swamp
Member since Aug 2014
39236 posts
Posted on 6/1/22 at 1:22 am to
Posted by WWII Collector
Member since Oct 2018
7035 posts
Posted on 6/1/22 at 2:20 am to
My grandpa always told me: "When I was your age, I had four mules pulling my middle buster."

My Grandmother was born on a boat that had cattle... And they would load the cattle on the boat and float to greener pastures...

Cotton anyone? They say it's a good crop...
Posted by Stealth Matrix
29°59'55.98"N 90°05'21.85"W
Member since Aug 2019
7929 posts
Posted on 6/1/22 at 4:46 am to
quote:

I really wish I had listened more to the stories the old folks told

I once asked my grandpa when I was a wee kid about his experiences in WW2.

He told me with a serious face to ask when I was older, when I was ready to understand.

I never got the chance. He took his tales to the grave when I was in my early teens.
Posted by ironwood
Member since Aug 2021
274 posts
Posted on 6/1/22 at 6:01 am to
I'm gen x, my parents were very self consumed and did not believe in family. It's not been til the last 10 years or so that I've been getting information...usually sideways, like my father will tell me of my maternal grandfather, my cousin will tell of my paternal grandfather, etc
things I learned:
my great grandfather on my father's side was crushed by a derailed train while herding goats.
In WWII my maternal grandfather was shot in the leg, he used all the morphine (because everyone else was killed) and crawled for a surprising distance. he spent two years in traction in the hospital because he refused to let them take his leg. When he got back state side, he married his best friend's widow as promised. I've heard some things of this man now, I wish I had known him not just met him from time to time. He was hard but each story I pry out of my family just fills me with respect.
i think passing on stories of the family line is important. It's something to know what you're made of but, also, to get flat out humbled...and get some perspective.
I keep hearing that phrase "now more than ever"....I don't believe that sick mantra could be used if we maintained visceral history
Posted by Nole Man
Somewhere In Tennessee!
Member since May 2011
7211 posts
Posted on 6/1/22 at 6:46 am to
One of my best friend's Dad was in Auschwitz. Lost his parents. His sister was there, but she later died. He was able to make it over to the US after war and went on to be a successful business man and later philanthropist.

Wasn't really a story per se, but it was often his look or non-response to certain comments or questions. You'd look at the tattoo on his arm and just wonder what he'd been through. Never told us.

Was actually able to visit Auschwitz last December. Something everyone should do if they're ever able. Put it on the Travel Board. Here are some photos if interested. LINK

I guess what I learned from being around him many years ago is to never forget.
Posted by Hulkklogan
Baton Rouge, LA
Member since Oct 2010
43305 posts
Posted on 6/1/22 at 6:59 am to
quote:

How they lived hardscrabble lives


Scrabble can be kinda hard
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