Lavern
Lavern was raised by his grandparents who
were elderly and really too old to raise a child,
especially a retarded child. Although Lavern was mentally
handicapped he had an uncanny reasoning ability which made
some of his actions and comments surprising and amusing.
My daddy liked his grandfather, Mr. Dan. Since they had few
of the modern conveniences of life, no automobile not even
inside plumbing and lived on a very limited income; Daddy
thought they would enjoy a special trip to Atlanta, where
he went each week to make a report to his company.
Walking down the street in Atlanta they passed a store
selling popcorn. The aroma of freshly popped popcorn filled
the air. Lavern turned to his grandfather and said,”Papa, I
smell popcorn.” Mr. Dan, a very compassionate grandparent,
stopped and bought a large bag which Lavern quickly
consumed. Lavern’s size testified to the fact that he loved
to eat. Farther down the street they passed an ice cream
store. Lavern turned to his grandfather and said, “Papa, I
smell ice cream.”
There are many similar Lavern stories like this one:
Lavern owned a Snapper lawnmower and had a business cutting
people’s lawns. One day I was cutting grass on a very large
yard and Lavern walked by. He stopped and came up to where
I was cutting and motioned for me to stop. He then went to
several corners of the lawn and aimed over the top of his
finger as though he were surveying the yard. I waited
patiently until he came over to me and described how the
lawn should be cut. “ Go this way, and turn that way... and
so on.” He said this would make it easier. Trying to be
nice to him I agreed to cut the lawn just that way.
I still can’t figure why, but it was a great deal easier!