Johnnie Golightley lived large.

 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 31

Prompt: Large

My Grandfather lived life large. He wasn't wealthy. He wasn't well educated. More than likely he would have been diagnosed with ADD in this day and age. He always told the best stories.

He was raised by his grandparents as his mother became very ill after his birth and even though she went on to have other children, he was more than she could handle most of the time. I suspect that even as a small child that he was a very active boy.

As a teenager,  Johnnie Golightley had a motorcycle. Once a traveling circus came to town that had a "Globe of Death".  Two, three, or more motorcyclist would race around the inside of the globe, barely missing each other as they raced upside down and around. The circus ring master challenged the locals boys to try it. Johnnie was the only one to take him up on the offer and raced around the globe.  Unfortunately for him, one of the police in town grabbed him as he was coming out of the globe. The officer lectured him and threatened to tell his Grandfather about his recklessness. Knowing that his motorcycle would be taken away from him, he promised to never do it again if the officer would just not tell his Grandfather.  But it certainly wasn't the last scrape that he got into with his motorcycle. 

As a young married couple, my husband and I traveled from Texas to Oklahoma to visit my grandparents. During that first visit with my new husband, Grandpa told us several stories that included his motorcycle, because we owned a Honda at the time. When they were dating and as a young married couple my grandparents had several adventures on his Indian bike.

Grandpa was upset with us when he found out that we had a sissy bar on the back of ours and was adamant that we should take it off immediately. He was  sure that if he had one on his bike that he and Grandma would not have survived an accident that they had. They were on their way to visit a relative in another town when they hit some gravel and were headed off the edge of a steep embankment next to the road. Grandpa slid backwards on the bike, pushing Grandma off backwards with him.  The bike sailed down the embankment while they tumbled in the grass before the embankment. They eventually hitched a ride to the relative's house and then came back later to get the wrecked bike. 

Once my Grandparents were traveling between Wellington and Belle Plaine, Kansas, when they saw something very strange.  A farmer on a tractor was plowing a field, going up and down each row as they normally do. Directly over his head about thirty feet in the air was a round saucer looking object. It was going up and down the rows with the farmer who did not seem to be aware of the object.  My Grandparents pulled over to the side of the road and watched the farmer and the object as they moved up and down several rows. Then all of a sudden the object shot straight up into the air and disappeared. 

Grandma was standing at the kitchen sink, while we were all seated at the kitchen table. She was always the rock of the family, the one who could be counted on at all times. I looked at Grandma and raised my eyebrow in a quizzical manner. Even though she was standing behind Grandpa and he couldn't see her, she carefully nodded her head.  I could think that Grandpa might exaggerate to tell a better story, but my Grandma wouldn't.  I know they saw something that day. 

Albert Johnnie Golightley, (1 Jan 1906- 29 Oct 1979)

Eva Maude (Lamb) Golightley (6 June 1902 - 18 Dec 1979)