A Chocolate Milkshake

 

I met "Tex" from a distance soon after my mom married my dad and we moved down to the farm. Tex was driving a tractor in the field across the gravel road from our house without a shirt on and was extremely obese. As the tractor bounced across the rough field, so did the fat and I was horrified in the same way one sees a wreck about the happen. You know it isn't pretty but you can't look away.

Tex and his wife Jeanne were one of the many casualties soon afterwards due to the farm crisis in the early 80's.  I don't know if they sold their farm as a result, but they moved to the "big city" where I now reside and managed a landmark inn in town that still exists though I don't think it is in business anymore. I have memories of visiting them at the inn while my grandparents, who were close friends of theirs, visited. I have a distinct memory of sitting in the managers area behind the front desk watching "The Man From Snowy River" and sipping on a homemade chocolate milkshake that Jeanne made for us. To this day, whenever I see that movie on television, I always think of that afternoon. Whenever I drive by the inn, Tex and Jeanne always come to mind.

Their youngest son who is about 12 years older than me is my second cousin and he drove the school bus for many years. It was on one such bus ride as we were traveling down the gravel backroads between farm kids that he told me that he was related to me. His father Tex and I were 1st cousins twice removed. I wasn't into genealogy at the time so it never really took hold though the memory of that conversation did stick so that when I started digging into that side of my family, I learned exactly how. My great grandfather Dewey whom I recently wrote about and Tex's father Albert were brothers. 

Despite being morbidly obese for a good portion of his life, Tex lived a long wife and died in his late 70's about 14 years ago. His wife Jeanne died earlier this week as I write this post. Despite it being the second funeral I would attend that day, I decided to stop in and say hello to Tex and Jeanne's kids who I still remember though haven't seen in nearly 40+ years. I'm glad I did. Tex's son and I had a good talk of old times and both of his sisters thanked me for coming and invited me to the family only dinner later on. The younger sister was a classmate and great friend of my mom. Later on, while updating my genealogical records, I came across many pictures of her and my mom both in the same photos. 

But the reason I am writing this post has nothing to do with all that. It was during the funeral service, that memories of Jeanne were shared and many times her grandkids mentioned visiting the inn that they managed and watching endless taped episode of Gilligan's Island and drinking homemade chocolate milkshakes. Despite being distant cousins, I was glad to know I got to experience those much talked about milkshakes and I guess since I remember that 45+ years later, they made an impression on me. I didn't get to share Gilligan's Island reruns with them but I still have "The Man From Snowy River" to remember.

Jeanne was 90 years old.