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Pocket Full of Quarters
Most kids don't look forward to the end of summer, but I couldn't wait.
That was when the whole family squeezed into the '55 Chevy Belair and
headed north to San Antonio. The drive from Donna, Texas, seemed to last
for days. With the temperature in the low 100s and no air conditioning,
I never felt like singing "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain." Yet I
knew that Saturday and Sunday would be worth the tortuous ride. I had
the same "No.2" for lunch at the same restaurant in Falfurrias, stopped
at the same gas station in Pleasanton for a "potty break," and stayed at
the same Park Motel for 15 summers. Saturday was the San Antonio Zoo in
Brackenridge Park and Joske's department store. Sunday was always the
Witte Museum.
However, what I remember most clearly to this very day are the Saturday
nights. While tucked safely in my rollaway bed, watching the greatest
scary movie of all time, with only minutes till the "horrifying"
ending--suddenly "blink," the TV screen would go blank. That was when
the timer expired on the TV set. By the time Dad came to the rescue with
a couple of quarters, the credits were rolling and the movie was over.
My older brother got mad and yelled; that scared my younger sister, so
she cried. As for me, I stole their covers and played "possum." Oh, by
the way, I never leave the house without a pocket full of quarters.
Thanks, Mom and Dad.
W. Craig Middlebrooks
Austin, Texas
Published:
November 14,
2005
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