My Grandpa Was A 7 And 7 Kind Of Guy

Here are 2 stories about my Mother’s Father...

 

Grandpa’s house was divided into several different living sections. Most of his family lived there after they got married. Some lived there for a short period of time and some lived there for many years…

Ø My own family lived there before I was born.

Ø Uncle Leon’s family lived there a long time.

Ø Aunt Josephine’s family lived there twice.

Ø Uncle Guy’s family lived there.

Ø Aunt Carmela lived there before her marriage, during her marriage and after her divorce.

Ø Aunt Sarah’s family lived there.

Ø A couple of cousins lived there.

Ø The Little French Girl lived there. I never knew her name. The family always referred to her as The Little French Girl.

 

Grandpa even lived there.

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Why was he a 7 and 7 kind of guy? That’s because he raised 7 children by delivering Ice, Coal and Wood Door To Door and he played cards 7 nights a week.

 

My cousin, who lived in Grandpa’s house, told me this story…

Ø One night Grandpa got a Royal Straight Flush.

Ø Another player got a very strong hand that he thought could not be beaten.

Ø They started betting against each other.

Ø Neither would give in.

Ø They kept raising and raising the bet.

Ø It got to be a really big pot (probably about $10).

Ø Eventually they laid down their hands and the garage went crazy!

Ø All these Old Italian Men (I say “old” but they were probably far younger than I am now) got up and started dancing around the table and around the garage.

Ø They eventually took the Royal Straight Flush and nailed it to the garage wall.

Ø Then they nailed the pot to the wall also.

 

The Hand and the Pot stayed there for many years to come and I bet they all smiled every time they looked at what they had nailed there and thought about the Night My Grandpa Got The Big One.

 

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

 

Lagniappe: I contacted a cousin of mine before I published this Blog. He and his brother (also my cousin) grew up in Grandpa’s house. I asked him if there were any inaccuracies in these stories. He replied, One night the card game was raided by the police. Uncle Johnny talked to the police and they went away. They shut down the game for that night but the game was back on the next night. 

 

Lagniappe Another: As I pecked out the above Lagniappe I could not help but wondering if those cops’ 50 pound blocks of ice were not a little light the next morning.