Dad Stories (Grover Wilson)

I tried to write some of the stories Dad would tell me.  Here are a few:


1.  Dad told me a story about when he was in his car and some guy came up and pointed a gun on him.  He said he was quick to tell the guy that he had a nice gun.  He kept talking complimenting him until the guy glanced at his gun and nodded and said yeah it was a nice gun.  Then dad said he pulled his gun on him and said, “But not as nice as mine.”



2.  Dad told me that when he was in the service, they used to have to hike a lot with all their gear.  He said one time he carried a light load.  In other words he didn’t take all his gear.  He said it started to rain and everyone was getting their ponchos out.  He said he was pretty nervous and kept fumbling around in his bag and luckily it stopped raining. 



3.  Another story he told me was again about when he was in the service.  He and his friend Paul Brown had to land a plane.  I know Alan and I had our doubts but here is a student pilot certificate I found.  

                                              
                                            This is a story From Alan  
4.  One time dad took me out to find food for Bo, my boa constrictor.   I was probably 15 at the time.  We went down to Pratt Lake and saw a bird up on the telephone wire.  Dad pulls out his rifle and was lining up on it when for some reason I told him that was a mugwump.  Well, he puts up his gun, we get back in the car and head home.  On the way he finally asks what a mugwump was.  I told him it was a bird with his mug on one side and wump on the other.  Tense moment there while dad processed this.  Then he just chuckled.  So we ended up having a good laugh and I survived.  Good times!

5.  Red was Grandma Gray's second husband.  Dad liked Mac (Russell Orr McKinley) but not Red. He also said he didn't like grandma Gray because he said, "she glares at you."  Mom said Red had made a pass at her when she was only 15 or 16 so that's probably why dad didn't like him.  Red asked dad for a ride back to Omaha.  Dad said Red looked over and saw that dad was doing 95mph in his semi and said he just need to get off at St. Jo.  Dad said that was the last time he saw him.

 6.  Uncle Richard and Dad went to pick Uncle Bab up at the airport.  Dad said he never said "hi" and the first this he said was, "where's the topless bar?"  Russell Lee (Uncle Russ) took them to a place that had reclining seats.  He said the dance floor was glass and the bar tender was running around with a flashlight while everyone was dancing looking up the women's dresses.  

7.  Dad said mom called Aunt Nancy the Queen of Sheba.  I remember mom always telling me to stop acting like the Queen of Sheba and that I wasn't the Queen of Sheba etc.  She always said it whenever I didn't like something.  Anyway, apparently Alan overheard this about Aunt Nancy and he asked her one time if she was really a Queen.  

8.  Dad hauled fish for Grandma and Grandpa's fish market.  It was under the bridge in Liberty, MO.  He said he was outside of Wisconsin or Minnesota and the bugs were a foot deep on the bridge.  He dad to wait for a high loader to clear them.  He said it was on the Mississippi river.  The temperature was warm in the day time and since the ground was frozen, the bugs would get on the bridge because it was warmer.  He told me the crickets would get on the highways in California and they would be so thick, the road would be slick. He said he hauled live fish to eastern Kansas.  10,000 lbs at a time.  He also hauled from the Carolinas and Georgia.

9.  Dad worked at the prison in Hutchinson outside the wall working on their vehicles and teaching the inmate about auto mechanics.  He told me that Shane was teasing dad about letting his hair grow.  (Dad was bald).  I don't know if he told Shane this story or not but dad was telling how he fired 400 inmate at the prison.  One time they sent him an inmate that had a nose ring.  He told them to get that guy out.  I guess the guy asked why.  Then he was talking about people with nose rings and piercings and then said, "and they vote."

10.  Before he died dad was admitted to the VA with Afib/aflutter and CHF, and LL edema.  His O2 sat was 74%.  Ph 7.3.  Wt 335
He would tell stories to his nurses or Respiratory therapist.  I heard him tell that he lived with his grandparents and had a wood stove and no electricity.  This was in Johnson County.  No isulation and some of the icicles went clear to the ground.
I heard him say he was stationed in Hawaii for a year.  In Delmar for a year and Pendleton off and on.  H was a supply sergeant for paper, pencils, typewriters, etc.
He said he got in trouble and it took 9 months to get private.  He was considered AWOL one time.  He couldn't get back to base because of the rail strike.  He turned himself in in Olatha and the first think they did was put him in the brig.  He said they called him back during the Korean War.

11.  Dad lived with his grandparents Norman and Annabell Sims Wilson.  His real grandfather's name was Floyd Wiggins.  I could never find any adoption records to show that Norman Wilson adopted Gene Wilson (Grover's father) but Dad always thought of Norman Wilson as his grandfather.  Dad said he overheard his grandpa (Norm) and Herb McCannon having an argument.  Dad said he just figured this out 20 years ago (2002) that Grandpa Norm was having an affair. I don't have a clue who Herb McCannon is or was but dad remembered the name.