Old Man Crabb - Both Audio and Text

Sixty some odd years ago, when I was just a kid, our home was on the very edge of town. The man that lived next door to us - a Mr. - O. M. Crabb - for years would wear the – “mean an' ornery” crown. If anyone in Pinkerton had cause to really hate him, and felt - at first - the guy was hard to like - It was me, ‘cause…havin’ left it sitting in his driveway…backin’ out one day - he crushed my trike! Well…quite a crowd showed up today to tell the man goodbye. Most of them were older folks, like me Who understood that those who felt that Orville was a miser, without a doubt were as wrong as they could be. So…later, at the diner - when some youngster made this comment: “Bet ya’ half the town is glad he’s dead!” I commenced to settin’ him - an’ all his buddies - straight… an’ this here’s pretty close to what I said: “All you young’ns figure that the crown was his to wear because you’ve never seen him laugh or smile, But each of you’ve, unwittingly, condemned him in your minds without so much as giving him a trial. “Each of you’ve convicted him on nothing more than hearsay, and joined the fools that called him, ‘Old Man Crabb’. But I have known the truth about the man since I was ten - when I observed him picking up a tab “For Henrietta Pendleton - to buy her children clothes…she’d lost her husband, Clete, in ‘42. Orville Crabb was always helpin’ folks to make ends meet…..which ain’t the sort o’ thing that misers do. “Fact is, most the older folks in town are sad as hell. They know some things you younger folks don’t know. Like…way back in the 20s - as the men returned from war - he’d look for those that had no row to hoe “And offer them positions at the fact’ry, or the cannery…..businesses he started - just for them! Today those peoples’ grandkids…unaware their want for nothing is due almost exclusively to him... “Tear the guy to pieces with their jokes and nasty comments, painting him a cold and selfish man. But if you’d care to listen to me prove it isn’t true…with much of what I know… I’m sure I can. “An only child, he helped his father work their tiny farm, which came to him the day his father died. He worked the place alone at first then - not far down the road - met the gal that soon became his bride. “Anna Mae and Orville cleared another twenty acres, and when his neighbors - north and south - retired, Orville wisely bought their farms…and why so many loved him stems from just a few of those he hired! “Some o’ these are tidbits that I overheard at Snippy’s., an’, when it comes to Pinkerton, I swear, Pret’ near every big event gets tossed around a while whenever them old farts ‘re cuttin’ hair! “Snippy’s been around since quite a while ‘for I was born, an’ now and then, while waitin’ for a chair, Somethin’ Orville did - when we were kids - ‘ll get discussed. Happens almost every time I’m there. “Like, Billy Burke - who’d planned to one day run his daddy’s place, but lost an arm while fightin’ overseas. Orville paid to put him through some auto schools - in Dayton…bought the lot just south o’ Norma Lee’s… “Built a brand new fillin’ station, named it, “Burke’s Garage”, and after redesigning half the tools Billy’d need to do the work he’d always wanted to and well prepared by what he’d learned in schools… “When his dad retired the place was handed down to Bill…and Burke’s Garage is still the best in town At everything from fixin’ tires to overhaulin’ engines…and you’ll never find a Burke who’ll run him down! “A bunch o’ kids in Pinkerton - most of them my age - were left with only mothers - from the war. Those mothers were the very ones the child-care place on Brady, built - young man - by ‘Orville Crabb’ - was for! “Eddy Joe Devine returned with half his groin destroyed…a wound that very nearly took his life. A nurse he’d met in England - while recovering - took his ring…and - ’til he passed, she nursed him, as his wife! “But, wanting children desperately but now no longer able to, and knowing of his brush with death in France, Orville figured - caring for a bunch of kids would help….and let them run the orphanage for the chance. “I forgave him years ago for boogerin’ up my trike. (I can’t believe I actually left it there!) Besides….he made it up to me. Ya’ see - ‘bout ten years back…Orville went an’ bought me this here chair! “I’d been lookin’ around for one ‘cause both my knees are shot…but couldn’t afford to buy one on my own, When Orville came an’ got me - wrote a check to make it mine - and told me, “Truman… this is not a loan!” “She’ll go darn close to 15 miles before she needs a charge! It ain’t the finest one I’ve ever seen… But it was FREE…no strings attached…so you boys watch your mouths, an’ don’t be tellin’ people he was mean. “Back when he was younger he was everybody’s buddy, workin’ side by side with Anna Mae. Always helpin’ needy townfolk, right up ‘til the end, when Anna had a stroke and passed away. “That was when he changed a bit - but that’s to be expected - and, if he rarely smiled, the reason why Is…just like anybody else…his heart was broke in two…the way a heart ‘ll do when loved ones die. “No sir….you’d be quite surprised to learn how many fam’lies say he was the finest friend they had. Oh…I can see how folks your age aren’t sad to see him go…but truth is - he was simply terribly sad. “Mean? No way! That man did more than anyone I know to minimize the pain in peoples’ lives. But - just like me - he got depressed…the way that most men do when a battle lost to illness takes their wives. “Best you learn the facts about a man before you judge ‘im… you’re far too ‘unaware’ to be a fan… But, take my word…there ain’t no mean or nasty words that fit him…. and I have never known a finer man. PS: I've now got 4 new Audio-CDs @ 4 1/2 hours each , listed on EBAY (“Mark Stellinga Poetry”) - or available by simply contacting me. mark@writerofbooks.com (We use safe and simple - PayPal) Cheers, Mark