Friday, December 12, 2008

Boat Show

In those days, Coffeyville Kansas was a small town that didn't ask for much. Aside from a demolition derby here, and a reenactment of our towns' folk killing bank robbers there, we didn't have much for entertainment.
So the perplexing question my father must have asked himself daily..."How do I entertain these 5 kids of mine?"
VIOLA!!!
BOAT SHOW. YES!

What better way to bond with the family, than to load into an aerostar, drive 1.5 hours, to look at boats inside a convention center. (There is no water inside this convention center. The boats just sat there lifelessly).

I was four. In my lust for boats at that age, I must have gotten really excited by all the boats...or shall I say, mom and dad must have gotten really excited by all the boats, because the only true memory I have of that boat show is being carried by a man in a cowboy hat to the lost and found children (apparently cowboys don't like children wondering around boat shows unattended).

I was put in a play pen with other kids whose parents too, had been caught up in the hype of a still boat on concrete. Later I was reunited with my family.

The next day I was given a friendship bracelet from my mom...It looked like any standard velcro, wristband, bracelet of the decade...except this bracelet was extra special. For this bracelet had a curly chord (like that of a telephone) which connected to moms wrist. At four years old, I had never been so embarrassed.

I looked so uncool playing in my front yard with (literally) a leash tied to my mom's arm.

The leash came in handy later though when we all played house. Naturally, I was the dog.
In today's society, neighbors might frown on children running around in the front yard, while tied to a tree.

But in those days, they smiled and waved as I barked when they went by.

4 comments:

ChariDee said...

I don't so much remember you barking as I remember you crawling around on all fours lifting your leg on my car tires. Tomato - Tomotto I guess.

Ruby Sue Lou said...

I trace this back to the beginning of my paranoia of losing you kids. Which is why I enacted the policy to say "here" when I would call your names consistently :) Always had to keep you guys in check...the boat show was my biggest failure.

Anonymous said...

this is maybe the cutest story ever written.

Ian said...

You were leashed?? You poor child. Your poor mother. She must've been desperate to control you.