Introducing Billy
Henry’s Stories
By Delbert Blickenstaff 

My brother Henry likes to tell stories but he doesn’t like to write them down.  So I decided to write some of them and Henry said it was OK. 

When Henry was 5 years old and I was only 3 we decided to run off to the store to get candy.  We had been playing in the front yard and Henry knew the way to the grocery store, only 2 blocks away.  Of course I don’t remember any of this because I was only 3. 

The lady at the store knew us because we had been in with Mom.  We asked for candy but of course we didn’t have any money.  The lady immediately called Mom and told her where we were.  Then she gave us some candy and told us to go straight home. 

When we got home Mom was waiting for us with pieces of clothesline rope.  She tied one end around each of us and the other end around a big tree in the front yard.  Whenever a car would go by Henry would hide behind the tree but the people would see me and laugh.  Henry likes to tell this story because it shows how clever he was.  I don’t remember any of that. 

A couple of years later Henry got to visit his friend Gary who lives on a farm and has a pony.  Henry doesn’t know much about riding but will try anything.  So he decided to ride the pony sitting backward in the saddle, looking towards the pony’s tail.  He did OK walking the pony away from the barn but when he turned the pony around it started running and Henry couldn’t control it.  It was all he could do to hang on to the saddle horn behind him.  The pony was running along the side of the road and Henry’s right leg hit a road sign.  It’s a wonder Henry stayed on.  When he finally got off he could hardly walk. 

When Henry got home he showed his injury to Dad and me and explained how it happened.  Dad checked his leg carefully and told Henry that the bones were not broken.  Then he put some ointment on the scrape and covered it with a dressing.  Henry’s leg healed just fine but Henry says he’ll never try that again. 

Another story that Henry likes to tell happened just last month.  Henry is really good in Math and his teacher arranged for him to compete against other kids his age in a regional Math contest.  It was held in Celina on a Saturday and since Dad was not on call he decided to drive Henry to the contest.  It had started snowing a little and he didn’t want Mom driving in snow.  I wanted to go along but Dad said no because they might get stuck in the snow and have to walk five miles.  He was joking but I thought it would be fun. 

According to Henry they didn’t have any trouble going up but by 1 PM the snow was much heavier and the wind was worse.  So everyone was advised to start home.  When Dad and Henry got out on 127 going south they realized that the storm was much worse than in town.  Dad called it a white out and he couldn’t even see the road.  The only way he could tell where to drive was to watch the tops of the telephone poles and drive half way between them. 

They had to drive slowly, about 15 miles an hour.  A few miles outside of Celina they saw a car stuck in the snow.  The driver was a woman who really needed help.  Dad decided that he couldn’t do anything about the car but he could help the woman.  So he invited her to ride with him and Henry.  When they got to North Star she asked to be let out at a restaurant that was open.  Dad knew she would be safe there. 

But there’s more to the story.  A few miles south of North Star the highway was completely blocked by a big semi which had jackknifed.  That means that the truck was headed west and trailer was headed east, as Dad explained it.  So Dad turned his 4 wheel drive SUV around and drove back north to the first road going west.  He had to be careful because this road wasn’t as wide as 127.  But they finally got on 118 and arrived home safely. 

Henry had lots of fun telling this exciting story first to Mom, Emily and me, and again to Grandma and Grandpa.  I wished that I could have gone along and been caught in our first blizzard. 

Billy