BILL CADY Word Count: 149,227 - At My Friend's Place

Bill Cady, The Early Years … by Bill Cady 31
Lynn also liked to touch black guys on their privates, right there in the street.
Attitudes today are one thing, but that behavior didn‟t really play all that well in the 50s
and 60s.
We played a lot at the Armstrongs‟ because they had a huge backyard, big enough
for a baseball game. They also had about 900 trees, some with fruit. I‟d get up in that
cherry tree and be gone for hours. When I got home and didn‟t want any dinner, I‟d get
my ass chewed.
That was another serious spot of contention with my old man. That jerk could eat
anything. I mean anything. He actually liked liver and onions. The only thing that saved
me was Mom. She couldn‟t stand it, either, and wore a cloth mask on her face when she
cooked that crap for him. Anything else, I had to eat. Not just what I wanted on my
plate, but a little bit of anything Mom made. His directive? “Your mother made it. It
won‟t kill you. Eat it or I‟ll smack you in the mouth.”
Talk about “encouraging words”? Still, I must admit, I eventually learned to
enjoy spinach. Perhaps once every year or two. Maybe, in part, he had a point.
Another family lived cater-corner to us, the Opdykes. They had four kids. Sonny
was three years older than me, Barb two years older. Richard was a year ahead of me in
age, but in the same grade. (He wasn‟t even on the list for class valedictorian). Linda,
the baby, was my age.
I believe their heritage, (the kids), was Dutch from their father, Portuguese from
their mother. I have to note: she was “a mom”, extremely old, (in her 30s-40s), and
gained weight after all those kids, but that was a beautiful woman. Her name was Josie.
She worked as a practical nurse at the nearest hospital, St. Lawrence.
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