DUSTY'S THEN AND NOW

          Well,the days were short,and school was boring and I knew,I was just looking for trouble. I tried,but it happened! Homework was done,dinner was over and the kids were all outside playing in the snow.

          "Grammy,can I go out with the kids?" "Go,put on the rubber boots tho!" I dressed as fast as I could and out the door I went.Pop was working the 3 to 11 shift at the steel mill so I knew I had time to play. Well the kids were building a snow damn at the bottom of the street. Now our street came down from the mountain and interesected the other street which was a bit level there.Perfect. We played for hours building that dam and were having a great time and the street lights came on..well we started for our homes. Not happy.

          I couldn't wait to get home from school the next day. Sister seemed to make the clock go so slow. Finally it was 3 O'clock. I started for the door with the rest of the kids and got caught. "Young lady,tonight you do the black boards and clean the erasers." Oh no! Well I told "Binky" to stop and tell grammy what I was doing,so that she didn't worry. "and come down and help us build the snow fort after you eat" Binky agreed. I finished doing the blackboards and the erasers.(had to go out to clap them,and it was cold!) Sister dismissed me and I started for home.

          As I got to our street I saw all the parent and grandparents standing at the fort talking. I walked up slow and easy. Then I got "the look" from grammy. "and you,did you have anything to do with this?" I knew better than to try and get out of it.."yes". "Well do you know what happened?" "No grammy I don't" "Well Mr.up the street came home with pop and they came on the street and stepped into water that was here because of the dam." Scared didn't describe what I felt."I'm sorry" was my reply to all who were standing there.Mrs. Kivadel ( don't try to pronounce it) said "Well she didn't lie" I just gave her a dirty look. She didn't like kids..Grammy looked at me and said "who else?" I refused to answer. "ok..in the house now!" Well I knew it,I got into the trouble I was looking for. I ran into the house and pop was in the kitchen. "Pop,I'm sorry! I didn't know that water would go in there" Well pop just laughed . " I know,but I sure got wet feet and trousers,and so did my buddies!"

          Well,do I have to tell you how bad I felt? Pop asked me again who was playing outside last night and I really didn't want to tell and I didn't. The next night I was playing with the same kids and they were building the dam even higher. "Boy was my dad mad when he came in last night! His shoes and pants were wet!" The kid laughed. The others told the same story. Then they said no one knew who did it but me. Well I really got mad and said"It wasn't right what we did. We should have broken the snow down.!" The whole gang laughed. "Well your the only one that got blamed!" "Yeah all our parents are mad at you!" "I don't care. I don't care. You have to go to confession and tell the priest ,I don't!" They all took off running and when I turned around there was a neighbor standing there. He just looked at me and shook his head." "You didn't tell for them?" "They are not your friends,or they would not have let you take the blame yourself!" I started to cry and went into the house. I didn't say anything to my grandparents and they didn't ask.

          When I came home from school the next day, Pop was home. It was his day off. He told me not to take off my coat but to come outside with him. We were out there for a few minutes and the kids were playing again! The dam was being repaired. Pop said "Now watch" I did and here came Uncle Mike with his car. He hit that dam hard and broke it open and kept running back and forth over the snow with his car. What a sight it was. The kids were running every which way and the parents were coming out of the houses and I never saw so many kids getting spanked at one time! It was a sight to behold. Boy were they crying. I just stood by my pop and smiled.I didn't know who I loved more at that moment Pop,Grammy( who I suspect made the phone call) or my Uncle Mike!