What now? What next? Where to?
We would make in back to Ohio but for me I was not in the best of shape. I felt I needed somebody around me that might, maybe help me in a moment like the one that just happened. Cliff and I had spoken throughout my stay in Pennsylvania and now he knew of what had just happened. For whatever reason I felt I needed to be with him. For whatever reason I felt I would be safer. While ma and Heath register in a motel and wait now for a mobile home to come in that ma had purchased and not to be a burden on her friend as this would take a few weeks to arrive.
Glenn and I would head out to be with Cliff who was staying in the deep south of Ohio. We would find a place that well let's say needed loving care and I arranged with the landlord that I would paint for a month of rent. He agreed and painting I did do. Cliff was supposed to be applying for jobs. Yes, I say supposed to be.
Then I find a job on a tomato farm. Picking tomato's in the heat of an August day. For this job we stayed at Cliff's sister's house and she would drive us there in the morning.
I have to admit I haven't really seen Cliff do manual labor other then fishing. This would be something new for me to see from him. We had no lunch,no water bucket. We just showed up. There was about twenty of us there and well, we had to register in the barn and wait to be loaded on the back of a wagon and hauled out to where the tomato's were. Along the way we get our instructions that if we do not pick off every tomato cap we will be not be paid for the entire basket. This sure seemed like an important part of the process to this man so I became obsessive with my caps and kept reminding Cliff to be sure they were all off.
In the heat of this August day the heat was in the 90's. It was hot hot hot....... !!!! Cliff and I soon figured out that the others had been there before. They came with lunches and water jugs. We would watch as they ate and drank and then lunch time came. The wagon came to take us back to the barn. But with no food we just laid in the grass hoping to recover enough from the first session to return for the second. The bending over for hours in the heat of the day would burn my back to the point of being burned for years to come.
Finally lunch is over and we all load up and head back out. Cliff and I were dying for something to eat and some sort of fluid. So, we hid behind a few big tomato plants and began eating the tomato's instead of picking and packing them. It was a heavenly moment. Yeah, there is nothing like a good home grown tomato and these tomato's topped any I would ever eat then and now.
At the end of the day the farmer calculated our earnings and although I don't remember the exact total it was little. I went to collect our money and he told me we couldn't get paid until the end of the week. Hmmm, no, no............. this was would not work for me. We did not have a penny and we had to have this money and now. I explained to the man the reason I am here is to get paid today for what I did. I will need this money now. Normally in the past I might have bowed my head and moved on saying meekly...ok. But, this was not ok.
He gave us our money and off we went. What we really wanted was an ice cold drink but we would have to walk 6 miles from the farm to the closest store after a day on the farm. We were worn, beaten, hungry, thirsty and now the walk. But, we walked on. We finally make it to that store, get that coke, mmmmmmm and have a seat for a while as we drink the refreshing cold drink. It was way over due.
As we got closer to home we got food for Glenn with most of the money that was left. And when we got home we collapsed on the couch. This was the hardest day ever that I have worked and I know it was ten times harder for Cliff. It was soooooooooooo good to rest. I turned the radio on and just laid there. But, something I would have never expected was announced on the radio. It would be like this.
"THIS IS A NEWS BREAK, WE HAVE JUST BEEN INFORMED THAT ELVIS PRESLEY HAD DIED."
OMG.............. omg omg............... I had to be in a delusional state and could not accept what I had heard. With my fragile aching body I jumped up off the couch, not sure where I was headed but in disbelief and kept saying, no, no, no. This can't be true. Yes, I remember where I was the day Elvis died.......and I cried. I just loved him so very much. And I cried............ and I cried.......... and I cried...!!!
Love "Patches"
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