Can you describe your father and mother as you remember looking at them when you were young?

Since I was the baby of eight kids and my oldest sister was seventeen years old when I was born, I always felt that my parents were old. When I was five years old, my Dad went into business for himself running an auto repair shop. He was one of the best, if not the best mechanics in our town. I still have people tell me that they wouldn't let anyone else work on their cars. It seemed to me that he always had grease under his fingernails. He was also a born car salesman. He would trade cars at the drop of a hat and always made money on them. I can remember when I was old enough to get my driver's license, he always made sure I had a car to drive but I never knew what kind it would be or how long I would get to drive it. I have had him to meet me on the road and stop me to swap cars because he had sold the one I was driving. He was tall and always skinny, but for some reason his nickname was "Biggon" and most people didn't know his real name. I never knew who gave him the name or why. I was his pet and I knew it and used it to my advantage. But he could be strict. I never remember him raising his voice to me or spanking me but when he told me to do something I did it with no questions asked. He loved fishing and would go early in the morning before he went to work. Every year in October he would start working jigsaw puzzles and would work them until Christmas Day, then he would wait until the next year. He would work on the bottom of the puzzle and I would work on the top! I was thirty one when he died and I still miss him today.

My mother was almost forty when I was born. By the time I was a teenager, my older siblings were already married. My youngest brother married when I was fifteen so my mother and I spent a lot of time together. She was older but she was cool when other mothers weren't. This was during the early days of rock and roll and she loved music and Elvis as much as I did. She would let me buy 45 rpm records, listen to rock music all day, would even watch Dick Clark and Bandstand with me every day! I was so lazy and spoiled, and she waited on me hand and foot! She would cook my breakfast, make my bed and have me something to eat everyday when I got off the school bus. She was without a doubt the best mother anyone could have. She would get mad at me sometimes but she had the softest voice and sweetest smile and all my friends loved her too. My mother lived to be 96 years old and when I look back now, I regret that I didn't visit her more, call her more and tell her I loved her more.

I always knew I could count on my mother and daddy to be there when I needed anything. I loved them so much!