Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

As Promised A Scary Story

come and sit by my side if u love me

do not hasten to bid me adieu

but remember the Red River Valley

and the cowboy who loved you so true

they left Oklahoma with all the rest of the great unwashed...in the 30's...at the height of the great depression...they would soon gain three names to call their own

dustbowlers white trash and Okies...my grandmother had never picked a bole of cotton in her life..she was well married to a man 10 years her senior who owned a construction company

he'd built her a beautiful home...when he married her at 12 in Durant Oklahoma

she bore 12 children for him...3 sets of twins...one set stillborn due to the Spanish Flu epidemic...one set that were so small she slept them in a shoebox near the wood stove and covered them with olive oil everyday...they lived 6 months

when the dust came they could live no longer wee small things

the dust didn't stay outside..it found it's way into every crevasse nook and cranny...and smother them as surely as may have happened if she'd put a hand over their faces

when her husband left to travel 100 miles to get a new contract...he was wished well by the whole family waving on the platform as the train pulled away...he never returned

it was a long time before my grandmother accepted he'd deserted his large family because he couldn't support them anymore

and it wasn't long before that family was living in a tent on other peoples farms and my grandmother was wearing white cotton gloves to try and save her hands from the stickers on the cotton she picked...and the wild blackberries she fed her children day after day

and on foot they moved constantly West...thru Oklahoma...then Texas...then New Mexico

some were lost along the way...i had a 12 year old Aunt Nellie who was so hungry she ate some cheese that was out at a general store they'd gone into...to die quickly because it was laced with cyanide

in New Mexico my mother at 13 was married quickly to a 70 year old man to save her from being taken by the state

my grandmother who was 35 married a 20 year old man who drove the whole family to California...then turned around and went home

my mother had a 3rd grade education..and sent me letters that started 'Deariest Nan"...with every other word misspelled

i didn't know all the hardships they had suffered..had no compassion for their plight...i was out of the home and in an orphanage by the time i was 10

and in my 20's i was fortunate enough to see John Steinbeck's "Grape of Wrath" on TV late one nite when i was working

i was in shock after it was over...and cried off and on for the rest of the nite

it took me 2 days to regain any composure..and then i went and saw my mother and grandmother who were living together at the time

and i apologised profusely for my arrogance and hard heartedness about the kind of people i had perceived them to be...they forgave me ...because that's what family do...but i was ashamed for a long time after that

and understood their clannishness..suspicion of officials...and fear of authorities in general...every direction they looked for help had failed them...they may have had trust at one time...but it was during that time just plain scared out of them

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Drinking Sudden Death on All Saint’s Day in Quixote’s church-themed interior

Seeking solace, spiritual and otherwise
Next Article

Ramona musicians seek solution for outdoor playing at wineries

Ambient artists aren’t trying to put AC/DC in anyone’s backyard

come and sit by my side if u love me

do not hasten to bid me adieu

but remember the Red River Valley

and the cowboy who loved you so true

they left Oklahoma with all the rest of the great unwashed...in the 30's...at the height of the great depression...they would soon gain three names to call their own

dustbowlers white trash and Okies...my grandmother had never picked a bole of cotton in her life..she was well married to a man 10 years her senior who owned a construction company

he'd built her a beautiful home...when he married her at 12 in Durant Oklahoma

she bore 12 children for him...3 sets of twins...one set stillborn due to the Spanish Flu epidemic...one set that were so small she slept them in a shoebox near the wood stove and covered them with olive oil everyday...they lived 6 months

when the dust came they could live no longer wee small things

the dust didn't stay outside..it found it's way into every crevasse nook and cranny...and smother them as surely as may have happened if she'd put a hand over their faces

when her husband left to travel 100 miles to get a new contract...he was wished well by the whole family waving on the platform as the train pulled away...he never returned

it was a long time before my grandmother accepted he'd deserted his large family because he couldn't support them anymore

and it wasn't long before that family was living in a tent on other peoples farms and my grandmother was wearing white cotton gloves to try and save her hands from the stickers on the cotton she picked...and the wild blackberries she fed her children day after day

and on foot they moved constantly West...thru Oklahoma...then Texas...then New Mexico

some were lost along the way...i had a 12 year old Aunt Nellie who was so hungry she ate some cheese that was out at a general store they'd gone into...to die quickly because it was laced with cyanide

in New Mexico my mother at 13 was married quickly to a 70 year old man to save her from being taken by the state

my grandmother who was 35 married a 20 year old man who drove the whole family to California...then turned around and went home

my mother had a 3rd grade education..and sent me letters that started 'Deariest Nan"...with every other word misspelled

i didn't know all the hardships they had suffered..had no compassion for their plight...i was out of the home and in an orphanage by the time i was 10

and in my 20's i was fortunate enough to see John Steinbeck's "Grape of Wrath" on TV late one nite when i was working

i was in shock after it was over...and cried off and on for the rest of the nite

it took me 2 days to regain any composure..and then i went and saw my mother and grandmother who were living together at the time

and i apologised profusely for my arrogance and hard heartedness about the kind of people i had perceived them to be...they forgave me ...because that's what family do...but i was ashamed for a long time after that

and understood their clannishness..suspicion of officials...and fear of authorities in general...every direction they looked for help had failed them...they may have had trust at one time...but it was during that time just plain scared out of them

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The Tijuana-San Diego life of man executed in Virginia

Mario's story
Next Article

Rage to Kill

I haven't spoken to her in eight years, ever since she threw a scene at Taco Auctioneer in Cardiff.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader