Grandpa Pratte had mean neighbors

July 3, 2010 | Posted by GrumpDaddy

My Mother’s father, Jesse Pratte, was crippled from birth. Although he could walk, he had a severe limp in one leg that made it difficult to do simple work. His wife died of tuberculosis when their five children were quite young. Consequently, they were scattered among family, leaving him alone for most of his life. My first memories of him were during the 1950′s, when he was in his 60′s.

He couldn’t drive and relied on friends/relatives to help him get groceries and supplies. Because of cataracts, his eyesight required him to wear thick glasses. One of his “friends” gave him some “special” paper to clean his glasses. He complained to his daughter a few days later that he hadn’t been able to read since he got the new paper. When she looked at his glasses, she found them coated with something that obscured his vision. The “special” paper he was given was wax paper! If I remembered his “friend’s” name, I would put it here to embarrass him but he probably wouldn’t care anyway.

He was very poor and seldom had anything new but he once bought a new metal wash tub, of which he was very proud. He hung it in a small shed that enclosed the base of the windmill that drove his well pump. Some time later, a “friend” came over to show off a new rifle. Knowing where the tub was hung, the man painted a bulls eye on the shed wall directly in front of it and offered to let Grandpa fire the rifle at the target. After a few shots, the man said “Hey! The bullets are going through the wall. You don’t have anything that might be damaged in there, do you?” Of course, the wash tub was damaged beyond repair. I don’t think Grandpa ever forgave the man for that mean trick- with good reason!