The Wild Man (Touching)

My First Car

At the top of the hill where my great-grandparents lived, there was a dusty, black and white picture on a shelf. It could’ve been my grandpa or great-uncle, but it didn’t look quite like them. It was a dapper dressed young man leaning over the fender of a ’59 Ford car, posing. I never asked about this picture but it was kept in a back bedroom, somewhat out of sight from my great-grandmother, who I have no doubt spent many hours gazing at it, wondering how life could have been different.

My great-grandparents were married on December 20, 1936, in Vendor, Arkansas. They were to have five children: Stanley, Dennis, Glen, Shelia and Joyce. Stanley Wayne was the first born on September 29, 1937. He was a tall, lanky and somewhat scrawny kid. His family affectionately nicknamed him ‘Tom’, but around his ‘running buddies’ he was to get some more appropriate nicknames.

Due to his high pitched voice, some called him ‘Squeaky’, but the one that stuck was ‘Wild Man.’

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