Pipkin/Fleenor Reunion, Copyright 2009-2019, All rights reserved
Memories at Granddad and Grandmother Pipkin’s Place (Downhome)
By Kathy Pipkin Voss (August 24, 2014)
1. Granddad Pipkin had a locked kitchen cabinet drawer that contained candies like toasted coconut sticks, chocolate covered cream candies (called another name) and peanut patties. Mother would always look the candies over good before she let us eat them to see if they were old.
2. Drinking cokes with the lid still on them but, we would punch a hole in the lid with an ice pick and suck the coke out through the hole.
3. After Granddad would go fishing, he would take the fish and lay them on the picnic table outside the house and chop their heads off and skin them. I wanted to watch one time (wearing a white shirt) while my sister did not want anything to do with it and stayed in the house. With the first whack of the hatchet, blood splattered onto my white shirt. After all was over, I went back into the house and Vicki said “Eww, is that blood?” I said, “Yes”, nonchalantly, and walk away.
4. I remember lots of fun with firecrackers and roman candles and fireflies at night. We, Vicki, Stanley and I, would put the ‘black cat’ firecrackers underneath a vegetable can with the fuse sticking out, light them and blow the can up in the air. One time a firecracker had a short fuse and when Stanley lit the firecracker, it blew up in his hand. His whole hand was black and blue and he was crying while Aunt Ava put alcohol on it.
5. Grandmother Pipkin would know we were coming down for the weekend and she would make homemade banana ice cream. She made it in the old fashioned ice cube trays that had the levers that you pulled to break up the ice. She left the levers out of the tray and mixed milk, mashed bananas, and vanilla extract together and put in the freezer. Sometimes we had to wait a while until the mixture was good and frozen, but the waiting was worth it.
6. One time at Christmas, when I was about four years old, we would draw numbers that would match a gift under the tree. The family let me draw a number and I proudly found my number on the gift and opened it. It was a sweater! BUT, it was a size Adult Large. Mother tried to tell me that the sweater needed to go back under the tree for someone else to draw. Me, not understanding I could not wear a size large, cried not wanting to give up the sweater I had won. Finally, I reluctantly agreed and walked away.
7. One night, I was getting ready for bed and put on my flannel pajamas. I had a sore knee and Grandmother Pipkin and my mother gave me some Absorbine Jr. to roll on my knee. (Remember the roll on). About 30 minutes later, I looked at my pjs and the Absorbine Jr. had eaten through the flannel material and left only a mesh like material. Imagine what it really did to our skin!
8. The ever enjoyable and looked forward to the trips to Ed Gilley’s Gas Station and Feed Store in Miller Grove – My dad, G.A., would buy me ‘Grasshoppers’. They were long, individually wrapped green sticks that were green apple flavored. (Sold as Jolly Ranchers now days.) I remember the old wooden floors creaking while walking through the main building to purchase our items.
9. The family sleepovers – cold, cold nights with 4 or 5 blankets or quilts over us in the bedroom where the bed was angled in the corner and I said, “Mommy, I’m cold.” This bedroom was the one where Grandmother kept a doll on the bed and I would play with it every time I came over. When Granddad and Grandmother moved, I was blessed with given the doll whereas I still cherish to this day.
10. My dad, G.A. and I, went ‘downhome’ one day so dad could help Granddad do something with the cows. I was around ten years old. I had a very loose tooth which I postponed pulling for some time. It was barely hanging on by one root. As Dad left out the door, his last words were, “That tooth better be out when I get back.” I stayed in the bathroom, which seemed like forever, playing and looking at that tooth and dreading to pull it. After a little while, I heard the back screen door open and knew Dad was back. Quickly, I grabbed the tooth and yanked it out. It was like 30 minutes later before Dad even mentioned the tooth! No big deal. It is funny how we perceive something so small to be so fearful to do.
11. Does anyone else remember the two framed pictures that hung in the living room above the sofa? A boy wearing blue satin clothes and a girl wearing a pink dress and a bonnet on her head.
12. Aunt Wanda – Vicki and I always looked forwarded to seeing Aunt Wanda because she would ask us about our boyfriends and their birth dates. She used her knowledge of Horoscopes and the stars to determine if we were compatible or not. She probably saved us from wasted time in our relationships.
13. The things I remember most about the Pipkin sisters and brothers getting together, was when all were sitting at the kitchen table and every topic in the world would be discussed. Topics on aliens, animals, cars, doctors/dentists, gardens, morals, news controversies, politics, religion and sex operations were just a few I recall. There were arguments, laughter and world problems solved. Some of the most interesting ideas, opinions, and comments were made around those tables. Later, all would take turns in playing dominoes, Wahoo, Skip-Bo or watching sports on the TV. I miss those days, but, those days will be imbedded in my memory forever.