{"id":58,"date":"2013-04-24T03:01:51","date_gmt":"2013-04-24T03:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lynn-knight-writer.com\/?page_id=58"},"modified":"2013-04-24T03:04:06","modified_gmt":"2013-04-24T03:04:06","slug":"the-stetson","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/lynn-knight-writer.com\/?page_id=58","title":{"rendered":"The Stetson"},"content":{"rendered":"

What to buy for the grandpa who’s seen everything, including an outlaw’s execution?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sample:<\/p>\n

After we played a warm-up hand of Coon Can, Burton and Bess wanted a story from Granddad. It was always the same one: the hanging of the train robber, Black Jack Ketchum. Granddad had been an eyewitness to the big event. We knew the story, but we always asked for another telling, because Granddad would add a little something each time.<\/p>\n

As usual, he wasn’t too talkative, so Bess had to pump him. \u201cI forgot, Granddad,\u201d she said, \u201cDidn’t you say they sold little Black Jack dolls at the hanging?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYep.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you buy one?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNope.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bess said, \u201cI wish you had, ’cause then you could’ve saved it all these years and given it to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Granddad picked up a card from the discard pile and worked it into his hand. I asked him, \u201cWhat were his last words?\u201d I knew what Black Jack said. I just wanted to get him going.<\/p>\n

Granddad wiped his mouth with his handkerchief. \u201cAll’s he said was ‘Good bye. Please dig my grave very deep.’ And then, ‘all right, now, hurry up.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Burton said, \u201cHow close were you to the hanging?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cClose enough that I don’t ever want to see one again. Whose turn is it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMine.\u201d Burton picked a card from the pile. \u201cTell us what you saw, Granddad.\u201d<\/p>\n

After some begging from Bess, Granddad adjusted his glasses and said, \u201cI don’t want to give you children nightmares. Your mother would be mad at me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burton and Bess swore they wouldn’t tell Mom. Granddad smiled. He looked over our heads, looked back into the old days. Burton and Bess scooted closer to hear him better. \u201cWell,\u201d he said, \u201cUnderstand that nobody in Clayton had ever hanged a man before. And they miscalculated. The rope was too long.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened?\u201d Bess asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlack Jack was decapitated when he dropped through the trap door.\u201d Granddad went on neatly arranging his cards.<\/p>\n

We kids stopped playing while we absorbed this gruesome information. Burton asked, \u201cWhat’s it mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means his head popped off,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

Burton was impressed. \u201cWow! Did you see the head?\u201d he asked Granddad.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I didn’t,\u201d Granddad said. \u201cI understand the doctor sewed it back onto his body.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy?\u201d Bess asked. \u201cHe was already dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause it was the right thing to do.\u201d Granddad sat back in his chair. \u201cAll right, now, that’s enough of Black Jack Ketchum. Whose turn is it?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What to buy for the grandpa who’s seen everything, including an outlaw’s execution? Sample: After we played a warm-up hand of Coon Can, Burton and Bess wanted a story from Granddad. It was always the same one: the hanging of the train robber, Black Jack Ketchum. Granddad had been an eyewitness to the big event. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":11,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_wpcom_ai_launchpad_about_page":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_gallery_page":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_contact_page":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_events_page":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_video_page":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_portfolio_piece":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-58","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/PhpFj8-W","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lynn-knight-writer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/58","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lynn-knight-writer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lynn-knight-writer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lynn-knight-writer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lynn-knight-writer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=58"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lynn-knight-writer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/58\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61,"href":"https:\/\/lynn-knight-writer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/58\/revisions\/61"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lynn-knight-writer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lynn-knight-writer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=58"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}