What About Marty

By Carl Arnold

The nostalgic experiences in this book are about a young child and his family. The closeness they shared between the ages of three and twelve is seen in these chapters. Having two brothers and a sister growing up was very educational, entertaining, exciting and traumatic at times. It is a common story of true feelings of love and kinship experienced by many families; about a family in poverty and struggle, but enjoying the little things as though those times were alike for all. The father's insecurity brought about a shyness which became a part of Marty's personality. Viewed in this writing is the friendship of Marty and his siblings, but a main point that is displayed is the strength of their Mother, and her tenacity while raising four children by herself. The setting and time is the late forties to mid-fifties. It was a good time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9781669875192

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What About Marty

Carl Arnold

Copyright © 2023 by Carl Arnold.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 04/22/2023

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

852704

CONTENTS

Dedication

Forward

Introduction

Chapter 1     Managing Marty

Chapter 2     Shoes, Ghost Stories, Dancing

Chapter 3     Grant the Loner

Chapter 4     War And Uncle Walter (Hunk)

Chapter 5     Jessie Mae The Wonder Mom

Chapter 6     Bullet Was His Name-O

Chapter 7     Local Trips And Far Away Places

Chapter 8     School Bullies, Girlfriend Heartaches, And Horses

Chapter 9     Where The Crawfish Pinches

Chapter 10   Giddyap You Horse

Chapter 11   Stilts, Tom Walkers, and Bulls

Chapter 12   Pickin’ Cotton

Chapter 13   The Native American Rain Dance

Chapter 14   Airplanes, Hangers, Raisins And Coins

Chapter 15   Little League

Chapter 16   Plans For Summer Meeting

Chapter 17   Swifts, Bats, And Larry.

Chapter 18   The China Berry Tree

Chapter 19   Battle Grounds, Adopted Secret

Chapter 20   Return Bottle Business Aunt Sally And Uncle Ben

Chapter 21   Pete the Turkey

Chapter 22   Trespass, Deceit, Confession

Chapter 23   Girlfright And Square Dancing

Chapter 24   The Class, The Courtship, The Dance Date

Dedication

This book is written with many fond and loving memories of my Mother, Mrs. Jessie Mae Brown. A hard and conscientious worker all her life, she raised four children to be good, mature, and responsible adults, who have nothing but adoration, praise, admiration, and undying love for her. She lives with her Creator, Master and Savior now, who allowed her seventy-seven years on this earth from March 20, 1919 till December 13, 1996.

And Special Appreciation

to

My very good friend, Allyson Reeder, who has been nothing but kind to me in hard times and always. She was kind enough to take time away from her life to review this book. Her advice has been especially important to the completion of this project, My thanks to her for her tireless efforts.

Forward

Family is one of the most important, if not the most important, ingredient in the establishment of a healthy society. If that is not taken care of in the outset of the building of a country, there may as well be nothing instituted. This is the very foundation of the beginning of life and the perpetuity of it. If the forefathers had not recognized this when our country was started, this world would be in even worse condition than at this present time. In the fifties and sixties there were good examples given on TV, such as: The Donna Reed Show, My Three Sons, Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, The Andy Griffith Show, and Leave It To Beaver, to name just a few. The family could sit down and watch those and have no fear of having to explain any inuendos. They were safe, and very well done. Very moral, entertaining, and instructional were the ingredients of these kinds of shows. Though many families that grew up with these shows were not as well off as those depicted in them, they could identify with the morals portrayed.

This book is about such a family that lived at the time of those shows. The siblings in this family were allowed to watch those programs, and loved them. Many of the catch phrases such as one from Ricky Nelson when he was about ten or twelve years old were a part of their conversations, such as, I don’t mess around, boy. Don Adams was famous for Missed it by that much!; Don Knotts, Nip it in the bud; from Lost In Space came, Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!, and so forth, and so on.

The purpose of this book is to tell about some families in our society, though not well off, that could have some good clean entertainment in their lifes using simple events, plans, and materials. Also to tell of how tragedies and disappointments could be overcome by loving togetherness. The bonds of closeness have the cement of the matriarch of this family, who is the only one of two whose true names are mentioned in this effort.

Introduction

He was excited, and apprehensive at the same time, concerning what was about to happen! Knowing that there were so many things he had not done because of his inner fears, he was determined to conquer them this time. These fears had been intangible and virtually unknown most of his life. They had kept him from enjoying a good portion of his childhood.

He had decided that it was over, and that his life from this time forward was going to be his, and his alone. How many occasions had there been that the desire to do things that were enjoyable, and would make him happy, had been left undone, incomplete, unaccomplished, but never forgotten? Just to have the comforting peace of mind not to worry about initiating the least and simplest adventures in life that his piers were constantly enjoying was a luxury his fears would not allow.

At the age of eight he had wanted so much to go to the city park where the public pool was, but didn’t go, for fear that his classmates would make fun. His older brother had no problem with people noticing his little deficiency. He even asked him one time how he handled it. His brother told him that it didn’t make any difference what people might think or say. He was going to be himself and do what he wanted to do no matter what they thought. He tried his best to overcome his fear using his older brother’s wisdom, but could only go to the swimming pool and watch while others enjoyed themselves. Keeping an eye open for people that had similar infirmities, he noticed that he was not the only one with unattractive attributes. However that didn’t help, because he felt he was overwhelmingly more plagued. And, besides, he didn’t have the right trunks like the other kids had.

All of his deficiencies, however, did not bring negative results. Inheriting his mother’s youthful looks and shortness of stature, he used them to his advantage. While a little deceitful, he could and would get into the matinees and movies at the discounted twelve year old price till he was fifteen years old. Besides, his sister worked at one of the downtown theaters, and his admission was free, but they usually showed B films. He had to