Grandpa Shelby

By Andrea Tadpole-Broussard

12/20/19

What do I say about a man that was always around, busy doing something, yet quiet for the most part? He worked as a switchman for the Sand Springs Railroad and retired from it. He worked evenings and lived right across the street from the tracks. When we were kids we would always run out to the porch to wave at him when the train made it's way from Sand Springs to downtown Tulsa in the evening. He was always there, hanging on the side of the train to wave at us. We all looked forward to it.

I have heard stories of him being an angry drunk in his younger years but I never knew that part of him. When I got sober at 23 years old, one day he sat me down and said, "Andi, I don't know anything about this A-A-and A thing you're doing but don't stop if it's keeping you sober. I'm proud of you." Then he told about his own redemption story. Many years before he had heart problems and had to get a pacemaker put in. Back then they were new and it was a risky surgery. He told me the night before surgery he said a prayer and made a deal with God. If he made it through the surgery he promised God he would stop drinking, go to church and change his ways. He lived and never drank again. That was one of the few deep conversations I had with him and I remember it like it was yesterday. I will treasure it forever.

My grandpa did not attend church every Sunday but went as much as he could. He was always doing things like tithing and donating to others. He would give the shirt off his back to help someone. I always knew that his home was a safe place to run to when I needed shelter from life's storms. There was always a hot cup of Taster's Choice instant coffee to drink and food to eat, and a place to sleep no questions asked. As I grew in my sobriety I started to understand, he did the things he did because it was all part of the promise he made to God; but even more out of gratitude for the life he got to live.

My grandfather and grandmother ran a concession business. I grew up riding around in the sno cone truck with my grandpa. He would buy blocks of ice and grind the ice himself. This was before icemakers. The day he got a crushed icemaker was a big day! My grandmother made the sno cone syrup, cotton candy, caramel and candy apples and popcorn balls to sell. My grandpa also sold cotton candy and balloons at all the Christmas parades in this region. Everyone knew him as the sno cone man or cotton candy man.

He was the ultimate salesman. One Saturday in the winter, they needed money for food. It was snowing hard. He had me go with him to sell sno cones. I told him he was crazy, no one would buy a sno cone in this weather! Sure enough, he pulled to this one neighborhood, turned on his music and sold enough to buy groceries. That's why I always say he could sell anything, even sno cones in a snow storm! My son had that gift of selling too.

We never did without, even in the hardest times. I remember one time he went to an auction and brought home so many pairs of shoes that it filled a bedroom. There were all sizes from kids to adults and many styles. None of us went without shoes for a long time. I remember one Christmas he and grandma bought us all bicycles. The two of them were far from perfect but they always gave what they could to take care of us all the best they could.

It is funny the things we remember about someone. My grandfather was like a gentle giant to me. He never said much and he moved in a slow, kind of clumsy way. He always asked me to tie his shoes because it was too hard for him. He always taped his fingers because they cracked. In his later years he had Parkinson's but it never slowed him down. One of my fondest memories of him was when I was about 7 or 8 years old. He was at my house visiting and there was music playing. He jumped up, grabbed me and danced me around the room like Fred Astaire! Who knew he could dance like that?!

The older I get the more I understand how fortunate I was to have my grandparents around so much. All 4 of them planted seeds of wisdom in me that are still with me today.

Today is my grandpa Shelby's birthday. December 20th, 10 days after mine. We shared December birthdays just like I share with my little grandson Michael now. I hope to be as awesome to my grandchildren as my grandpa Shelby was to me. Happy birthday grandpa! Kiss my grandbabies that are in Heaven with you for me. I love and miss you!! Your little Andi. 💜