Mom & Dad are both buried up in the Pleasantville Cemetery. My Aunt thought is was terrible when I said I only go up there hunting rabbits.
I told her that all that’s up there are two holes in the ground. Mom & Dad ain’t there. They live on in my heart and in my memories every day.
Now here’s the kicker.
The last thing The Old Man said before passing in 2010 was, “I’ll see you boys on the Big Rock”, spoken directly to me and my brother Dave.
The “Big Rock” is a boulder the size of a house, that sticks outta the side of Pleasantville Mountain.
It’s steep up there, and if you get out on that rock, you can see a helluva lotta territory.
When I was young, that’s where we hunted, and one of us always went to “The Big Rock”. Between The Old Man, us boys, and a few cousins, we killed a pile of deer up there.
This was in the early ‘70s, and now the deer have moved down into the valleys and farm land along the creek bottoms. It’s pretty hard to find tracks up there now. Probably been 10 or 12 years since I killed one up there.
But every year in Deer Season l, I make a trip up to “ The Big Rock”, and leave a cold beer and a cigarette for “The Old Man”.
I’ve told both Wifey and Ben, when I die, to cremate me and put my ashes in a mason jar, then take them up to “The Rock” and give me a Chuck.
Hope somebody brings up 2 cold beers and 2 cigarettes after that!
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