The Store Keepers

It's amazing what your mind will come up with when you are sitting around not feeling really great in the first place, and just letting it wander. Of course, I'm in that wonderful stage of my life where I can remember all that stuff that happened YEARS ago, but can't remember what I had for supper last night. Short term memory is a thing of the past.

Anyway, I was thinking about son, Bert, for some reason, and then got remembering about the first time he and his wife came up to help us in the store. It was back in the summer of 1986. I believe they'd been up for the 4th. of July parade that year, and saw how busy we were, so decided to come up and give us a hand.

We fixed up the upstairs part of the store for them to live in, and they got settled. Around the first part of August, I decided it was time to leave them on their own to see how they could handle things, so Joan and I took a camping trip to Colorado - mainly to get out of the HEAT that was overbearing that year.

So, I sat Bert down and gave him some info that I thought he might need while we were gone. It kinda went like this:

"Bert, if you have a problem with the plumbing, you call the plumber, Bert. When the garbage needs hauled off, you call the garbage man, Bert. When you need the gate opened or closed, you call the gate man, Bert. If you have a problem with the electric, you call the electrician, Bert."

All of a sudden he stopped me. "Wait, Dad. I need to get these numbers down."

I said, "Bert, didn't you understand what I said? All of the men I mentioned were named BERT."

That stopped him cold. HE was going to have to be the plumber, gate man, garbage man, electrician, etc. That's the way it is in a self-owned store. You get to do it ALL.

Another time, he and I had worked out butts off putting signs up north along the side of the highway. Each hole had to be nearly drilled in the hard, rocky ditches to put the post in. When we were finished, Joan and I left for Nashville to attend the Gospel Quartet Convention being held there.

The next morning we called the store to see how the kids were doing, and Bert was in a RAGE.

"Dad, ya know what someone did????"

I could never have guessed.

"Someone pulled up all the signs (about 20 of 'em), and put them by the front gate, poured oil on them and set them on fire."

Fortunately, they didn't burn. He was really in a tether. He couldn't find the holes they went in, so had to spend a day drilling new holes. THEN, we marked the edge of the highway with paint so we could find the holes IF someone did it again.

Then, one time Joan and I had been to Texas for something and we stopped at a yard sale. The people asked us where we were from in Oklahoma after seeing our license plate. We said up north of Broken Bow in the mountains.

They asked us if we had ever been to the old country store along the side of the road before you get to the Three Sticks monument. Not really knowing how to answer, I asked, "Why?"

"Well," he said, "we were up there yesterday, and stopped to see what all they had, and the nicest young couple that owned it made us feel so welcome. We're telling everyone about the store. They have all kinds of stuff and the best ice cream."

Then we didn't mind telling them that this was our store and they were our kids. It was so nice to hear such good remarks from a customer. Bert and wife did a great job when they were here.

I'm sure I have some more "Bert" stories, so I'll lean back, relax, and let the mind go. So, will post more memories later.

WB