Robert Wallace

I’m really downsizing - big time.  Moving at the age of 71 provides a perfect opportunity to get rid of baggage. 

Even though I haven’t worn these shoes in 55 years, I can’t throw them away.  When I was 16, two years after my dad had died, I visited my paternal grandfather in Detroit and forgot to bring warm shoes.  Gramps took me to a shoe store and bought these hush puppies.  Somehow, just being on my shelf, they still give me the same warmth and sense of being cared for that they did back then. 

That was the only time I visited Gramps by myself.  He lived alone in an apartment hotel (so they called it in those days) and owned a clothing store: Wallace Woolen Mills, 2640 E. Grand Blvd.  I remember he read a prayer from a little monthly booklet every day, The Daily Word.  Gramps said he substituted  “God” for “Jesus” in those writings.  Check it out….it’s still in print. 

He played the horses, and one day he sent me to the racetrack with a daily (the track sheet for the day), circled with all his picks.  He gave me money, instructions, and an extra $10.00 to make my own bets.

Gramps lost his bets, but I won about $20.00.  I must have been on cloud nine as I exited the park and some guy whispered, “Hey kid,” motioning me to the corner by some stairs.  He had a jewelry box of beautiful shiny rings.  He said they were “hot” and he’d give me a really good deal.  His offer for the 14 kt (he said) gold ring that caught my eye was $70.00, but I bought it for $30.  I thought this was truly MY day.

When I came back to the store, I proudly showed Gramps my ring.  “You schtunk” he hollered.  “Is that how I raised you?”  Humiliated, I threw the ring on the floor, got in my car and drove back home to California.  Gramps cried and prayed for his own patience.  He showed me his love by buying the Hush Puppies and, also by screaming at me to make me less naïve and vulnerable to the world.

Now I reflect on how I probably screamed at my kids similarly. Maybe they’ll write about it someday on a storied-stuff of their own. I wonder what their hush puppies will be.