When I was about fourteen years old my dad was hurt in a farm accident. I learned an awful lot that winter. As the oldest the milking chores where mine. Now Ever since I could walk I was in the barn helping (getting in the way) with the milking. Many times dad would see that the troublesome cows where milked first and would go unload a load of hay or split wood and let me milk by myself.
Came home from school one day and dad had gotten hurt and messed his hand up pretty bad. Dad looked at me and said You are gonna have to milk by yourself for awhile. He went with me to the barn to supervise but the cold hurt his hand real bad, and he couldn't stay out very long.
I had saved up money to buy a 22 rifle and earlier had asked Dad if I could by the one I had picked out. Not really the one I wanted because it was quite a bit more money and I decided a nice single shot would do just fine. Well he said no. By the time dad got hurt I was over the poutin' and had pretty much got over it and never gave it much thought.
By this time I pretty much had figured out Santa wasn't real and was really Mom and Dad, and of course Christmas wouldn't be much this year. Now Christmas wasn't normally a lot of big toys and such but the folks managed to get each of us something we really wanted and managed to get us something really nice that we liked but never dreamed we would get. and there seemed to be a family gift all of us would use.
Christmas Eve morning Dad cam to the barn and asked me for some help and told me not to say anything to the other kids. I KNEW IT I KNEW IT Santa isn't real and big grown up me is gonna get to help and the little ones will never know it I can keep a secret.
That year the gifts included two bicycles and the family gift was a ping pong set. We hid the bicycles in the garage behind the ping pong table.
Come Christmas morning as we opened gifts Dad let me know it was time to take the kids to the garage. Of course they
were all excited about the ping pong set and didn't seem to see the bicycles and I was beside my self waiting to see the look on their faces when they saw the bikes. I finaly got them to notice and big grown up me was really enjoying watching them with the bikes.
When I went in the house to start reading the book I had gotten that year Mom said "You left something in the garage." No I didn't, I helped put it out there and every thing is in the house. "You better go look" Dad said. When I went out and looked I saw the nicest 22 rifle any kid could want, way better than the one I had picked out. All of a sudden I wasn't a big grown up anymore, just a farm kid that discovered first hand, Santa is real.
Came home from school one day and dad had gotten hurt and messed his hand up pretty bad. Dad looked at me and said You are gonna have to milk by yourself for awhile. He went with me to the barn to supervise but the cold hurt his hand real bad, and he couldn't stay out very long.
I had saved up money to buy a 22 rifle and earlier had asked Dad if I could by the one I had picked out. Not really the one I wanted because it was quite a bit more money and I decided a nice single shot would do just fine. Well he said no. By the time dad got hurt I was over the poutin' and had pretty much got over it and never gave it much thought.
By this time I pretty much had figured out Santa wasn't real and was really Mom and Dad, and of course Christmas wouldn't be much this year. Now Christmas wasn't normally a lot of big toys and such but the folks managed to get each of us something we really wanted and managed to get us something really nice that we liked but never dreamed we would get. and there seemed to be a family gift all of us would use.
Christmas Eve morning Dad cam to the barn and asked me for some help and told me not to say anything to the other kids. I KNEW IT I KNEW IT Santa isn't real and big grown up me is gonna get to help and the little ones will never know it I can keep a secret.
That year the gifts included two bicycles and the family gift was a ping pong set. We hid the bicycles in the garage behind the ping pong table.
Come Christmas morning as we opened gifts Dad let me know it was time to take the kids to the garage. Of course they
were all excited about the ping pong set and didn't seem to see the bicycles and I was beside my self waiting to see the look on their faces when they saw the bikes. I finaly got them to notice and big grown up me was really enjoying watching them with the bikes.
When I went in the house to start reading the book I had gotten that year Mom said "You left something in the garage." No I didn't, I helped put it out there and every thing is in the house. "You better go look" Dad said. When I went out and looked I saw the nicest 22 rifle any kid could want, way better than the one I had picked out. All of a sudden I wasn't a big grown up anymore, just a farm kid that discovered first hand, Santa is real.
