Unfortunately as a teenager I had a habit of missing the bus to school and later on when working in the shoe shop, I might've been "out late" the night before and Mom couldn't get me going in time to ride with her. So I'd drag my dead ass up to Gram and Gramp's to catch a ride on what I fondly call The Breakfast Express, which wasn't so much a particular transportation device (though I remember it mostly as that black early '70's Olds Cutlass 2dr or the 4dr from the '60's before it), as it was the people on it and what they were doing.
Who were these people, you ask? They were Stan and Geneva (Gram and Gramp), like it was one person because they were always together it seems, and occasionally yours truly riding in the back along with chain saws and dinnerware. What were they doing? Aside from seeming to be running late, Gram would have a plate in her lap with eggs, bacon and toast, which she would be cutting up and feeding to Gramp while he was driving us to our destination.
Now people with better story-telling skills can describe the scene better and you "had to be there" to understand truly how comical and cunnin' it was, but that's one of the fondest memories I have of my grandparents and is truly a metaphor for the kind of relationship they had...symbiotic, a team (kind of a quirky team) made up of the strengths and weaknesses of the players.
And it seems to me these rides also involved tea on a saucer and maybe a donut, a newspaper and a fair amount of fussing and grumbling; but I think you get the picture, especially if you too had the pleasure of riding on the Breakfast Express.
(Editor's note: Right now the stories are centered on Stan and Geneva but please feel free to volunteer to contribute stories about other aspects of being a Basford, whether it centers around them or not, whether it takes place on Basford Rd or not. Right now I miss them both terribly but I think we owe it to them to put forth the effort to share their memory. I think we also can use this as an excuse to bring the family closer together. If anyone has a picture of either car, please email me.)
3 comments:
I love this story... it says sooooo much about who they were as a couple and how they lived and loved one another. Thank you for the example!
Shelly
I don't think I ever saw this but can completely visualize it. Must have been interesting because as I recall Grampie was a "stop sudden" not "slow down' kind of driver. Thanks for sharing
Love Karen
This is priceless, Zeb.
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