I have noticed that all families boast of sayings or phrases spoken by their family and passed along over the generations. My nephew Mike and his wife visited us in Lincoln and I think one of the highligths of their visit was the opportunity for Mike and I to just spend time together. We talked about growing up in Curtis and Mike remarked that he was amazed that after reading my new book, "Back in the Day", that the two of us shared very similar experiences growing up as boys (although there was 15 to 20 years difference in the time frame).
We both worked for my Dad to acquire the various things boys felt they needed, me as his son and Mike as his grandson.
As an example: Dad bought me a horse with the understanding that I would work at his Gamble Store to pay him back for the purchase. Dad bought Mike a horse with the understanding that he would work at his Gamble Store to pay him back for the purchase. Dad bought me my first car with the understanding that I would work at his Gamble Store to pay him back for the purchase. Dad bought Mike his first car with the understanding that he would work at his Gamble Store to pay him back for the purchase.
We both did the same things in the summers between our high school years. We rode our horses over and about the hills around Curtis. We both loved to fish at both Fox Creek and Medicine Creek. We both went skinny dipping at those same creeks. We both went to dances around the area and probably drove our cars over the same gravel roads (probably faster then we should have). We both went to rodeos in Curits or North Platte on the weekends, and found that the girls were cute both in North Platte and McCook
We were also sharing some of the sayings my Dad said to us during those growing up years. I am going to share some of them with you now and hopefully you can send me comments sharing common sayings your dads used while you were growing up.
When Dad would get to the end of a story he was telling he would finish with, "...and everything of the kind." When you needed a haircut he would say, "Don't you think its time for a haircut, you look like Shag's pup." Or when he wanted you to get busy he might say, "You better get off your butt before I throw you away like a piece of rusty old iron." One of his gems regarding instructions for my driving was, "Keep your foot out of the carburetor." or "Slow her down, you sure do have a lead foot."
I'm sure that I got another saying I use frequently with my grand kids from Dad, and it's "Boy I tell you!" My granddaughter Kalyn, who is 22, gets such a kick out of it that she now has here friends either starting with "Boy I tell you!" and ending with it.
While working for him at the store he would sometimes take me out to breakfast at the Aggie Inn before we opened the store, and he would say, "We need some of those "Rib Stickin flap jacks to get a good start on the day."
Think back to your growing up days, and share some of the sayings that you remember through a comment here on my blog.
