Thursday, September 07, 2017

Judy's Parents

Judy's parents, Pet and Eldred Stutts, both had September birthdays, so I've been thinking about them a lot this month.  They were the two hardest-working people I ever knew.  

For many years they owned a little grocery store in Thornton, Texas, and every day they were up at dawn, if not before.  Pet would cook a full breakfast, and Eldred would be at the store not long after the sun was up.  After cleaning up the kitchen, Pet would join him there and work until noon, when she'd cook a full meal on the stove in the back of the store.  In the afternoon, she'd go to the house and clean it thoroughly.  And I mean thoroughly.  She cleaned the bathroom every day, not just once or twice a week.  She's the only person I ever knew who mopped the garage.  She'd go back to the store after cleaning, but she'd leave early because in the evening she'd cook the third full meal of the day.  Eldred often stayed at the store until dark, except in the summer when dark didn't come until 9:00.  In the winter when dark came early, he'd stay until after dark. It's true that Eldred worked hard at the store, but I always thought Pet worked even harder.

The doors of the Central Baptist church never opened without Pet and Eldred being there.  Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night.  Always. When Judy and I started dating, we were allowed to go out on Sunday night, but only if we attended church first.  Later on we started dating on Wednesday nights in the summer, and somehow we got a dispensation from church attendance.  Judy must have done some fast talking to make that work.

Judy and I got married as soon as she graduated from college, and not too long afterward I was talking to her parents about saving money.  They loved Judy beyond words, and they spent most of their money on her.  Her college education was all paid for, and although she had a summer job, it didn't pay much.  So I told her parents that they'd just been relieved of a big expense and that they should start putting money in a savings account.  For some reason they listened to this whippersnapper and did it.  It worked out well for them when they retired, and I've always been glad I brought it up.

They didn't like to talk about some things, though.  When Judy got pregnant with Angela, saying the word pregnant was almost more than Eldred could bring himself to do.  When she got pregnant with Allen only a short time after Angela was born, he couldn't do it.  He said, "You mean you're p-p-p-going to have another baby?"

Great people, both of them.  I'll have some more to say later.

10 comments:

Rick Robinson said...

Wonderful, Bill, thanks so much for sharing these memories of us. You bring them right to life off the page. Seems you were raised right.

Were there books in your childhood home?

Unknown said...

Yes, we had a few books when I was small. Then the library took over until I started to earn money to buy them.

J. Kingston Pierce said...

Nice memories. Thanks for letting us all in on them, Bill.

Jeff Meyerson said...

Another great memory, Bill. Thanks for sharing it.

Peter Brandvold said...

Great people! Thanks for sharing their story with us, Bill.

Tom Johnson said...

Good story, Bill. I remember my mother and grandmother, both were always in the kitchen or cleaning the house. Today, I have a cleaning lady come in once a month to do a thorough cleaning, while we straighten up thing daily, but neither of us spend all day cooking and cleaning like they did in our youth. I remember my mother always listened to radio soap operas while doing the house work, always on her feet. I think television changed all of that.

Cap'n Bob said...

You gotta love people named Eldred and Pet Stutts.

Ed McBride said...

Thanks for the reminder to take a little time to remember the loved ones that have passed from our lives. I should try to be better at passing along these types of stories to my kids.

Karin said...

Very nice portrait, Bill.

George said...

You did Eldred and Pet a Big Favor by encouraging saving. You were a good son-in-law!