Dad – Cox Family Memories.com

Happy Birthday Carl – April 27

Well it is hard to believe, but Carl would have been sixty eight (68). He was born April 27, 1941, in Circleville, Ohio and died November 7, 1988 in or near Washington Courthouse, Ohio. Carl Edward Cox was the 2nd oldest child and 2nd son of Robert and Goldie Cox.

Carl was always a bit of a rennegade. He loved to go his own way and seemed to enjoy life to the fullest. I do remember him getting a few punishments at school. One time he stood up to some teacher. There was something to do with him getting the paddle at school and getting it again from Daddy when he got home for getting into trouble at school. I know that once he got a licking with a light cord. Lordee, we all were so upset about that. Daddy was bound and determined to make him mind.

I remember one time when Carl, as a teenager, had gotten into something and ran off into the field. Daddy drove his car down the lane and was standing up on top of the car looking for him. Carl was a character that everyone seemed to love. My husband, Pat, still talks about Carl being a lovable type rascal.

The funny thing is that you would have thought with all those lickings, he and Daddy would have been enemies. But I remember them hunting and butchering and doing all kinds of things together as Carl became a man.

We all remember the night Carl saved our lives. He came home from a date sometime late at night. As he is going up the stairs without lights and as the dog (can’t remember if it was Tippy or Ginger) was running back and forth, Carl felt the stair wall was hot. The inside of the chimney was on fire and as we all know, Carl woke us all up and got us all to get out of there. Some kids were a little reluctant to get up. I think Gary almost got left up there. Things are a little fuzzy, but I know we all got out alive, except the birds. We know if Carl had not gotten home when he did, we all may not have made it out. One thing for sure, Mommy did not want Carl to get water on her waxed floor. I do remember sitting in the car with the kids watching the house burn while the fire department was squirting water. I think they did as much damage as the fire.

Someday, I hope we all take time to write our memories of the fire, but this is a tribute to CARL.

Over the years, I do remember him being such a hard worker. He gave all the men a chance to work for or with him, but took no crap or laziness from anybody.

Tommy with Larry and Carl.

Carl over to the far left on a Sunday School outing with Aunt Ethel’s Sunday School class. I remember being driven there in the back of a truck. Don’t miss Shirley with her lady like leg position right out in front.

Carl 14 years old

Cox Gang – 1979

Carl with Grandma and Grandpa Cantrell in Kentucky

I hope everybody wishes “Carlie” a Happy Birthday. He is probably up there having a great time laughing and cutting up with them right now.

I added this next part from Carl’s page just to keep it over here on the blog part too.

Carl’s early childhood was spent mostly in Fairborn, Ohio. Here is a picture of Carl with Susy Bolin with her arm around her cousin, Annabelle Bolin’s daughter, Cathy Bolin. Annabelle is Daddy’s sister, Ethel’s daughter, our cousin. Carl was a skinny kid, wasn’t he.

We spent a lot of time with Annabelle and Bobby Bolin when we lived in Fairborn, in the Holten houses.

Carl joined the Army in …………..

Married Emma Joyce Leeth in …….

Carl and Joyce had 3 children

Easter Memories Past and Present with Pictures

Gary, Carl Williams, Bobby, Martha, Vickie – Easter 1960 (I used to love making clothes for the girls. Here they are in blue coats I made in 1960 – Linkhart house.)

Vickie, Myrtle, Martha – 1965, in their Easter clothes made by Myrtle.

: Martha, Jeff, Myrtle, Vickie – 1966

(Here is that white dress I originally made for me and passed to Vickie when she got to wear hose instead of anklets. I don’t remember that issue, but I remember the dress and there is little Jeff – so cute in his little plaid jacket and knee socks. I think this was at the Ferguson house.)

Hope everyone really did have a memorable Easter 2009. Yes, the memories are good. I remember as a young girl always helping Mommy make Easter baskets for the kids. We built them from scratch. We would, of course, color eggs with the kids. Every kid had their own egg or eggs they had colored with their own name on it. Then Mommy would buy a few bags of jelly beans, yellow chicks, chocolate eggs, and some candy kisses, and usually a little bigger chocolate bunny for each basket. Then after the kids went to bed we would put the eggs with the names into the baskets and add the goodies. After all the baskets were put together we would hide them someplace in the house.

Then, on Easter morning the kids went looking for their basket. Then most of us kids got all dressed up and went to church. There was always an Easter Egg hunt at church. I remember most of these were related to the Fairborn Enterprise Baptist Church. Someplace I do have pictures of Martha and Vickie and Mrs. Jean Bates, a Sunday School teacher and family friend, out in the field looking for eggs. I must find those pictures and add them later.

Then after the whole Church thing, we would go back home for one of those big Sunday dinners, pretty much as Carla Jo describes. We usually had another egg hunt. Daddy found great pleasure in hiding those eggs so those kids would have to work to find them. That was a lot of fun.

This year, 2009, I did a couple of Easter activities just because my Mother-in-law is with us. Usually the Italians make special things at Easter. Pat and I took Mrs. Sorge over to John and Nancy’s where there were about 20 people gathered to watch Johnny, Donny and Cheryl make the Easter Ham Pies. They made 10 of them so every family took one home. We talked and ate. It was fun – but oh what a heart attack waiting to happen – eggs, cheese, and more cheese in those pies.

Then I helped Mrs. Sorge make what they call Easter Spinach pies. Basically, it is a delicious spinach mixture of cured olives, garlic and spinach in a pie dough piece folded over. That really is good and not too bad for the heart. Then we made these orange ricotta cheese pies which are more of a dessert. Again, very good but oh so bad for the heart.

Then on Easter, we went to Pat’s cousin Dickie, the judge’s house for Easter Brunch which is more eggs, sausage, etc. Then later in the day, we went to Barbara Fratto’s for Easter dinner which was more of the same with some added on ham, shells, meatballs, salads, etc. I would venture to guess this would not be a good week to check cholesterol levels.

Well, I have so many more old memories to write too, but I must get going. Easter is a little sad for me because I would love to be home when Kim and Martha and Shirley and whoever else gets together to color the eggs.

Jayden, Daphne, Madelyn Easter 2009

Abbie Easter 2009

Uncle Walter

Vickie is correct in her story. I remember the perfect bow hanging from the waist, loose but perfect.

I believed that if I yelled really loud he would hear me I just new he could, but no he could not. We would make signs with motion for him to eat, or close our eyes to tell him we were going to bed. We would walk down that lane with the most beautiful trees on both sides making a tunnel when it was full of leaves. He would find Preying Mantis’s and Walking Sticks. Dad could really communicate with him, sign.

Roller Skating with Dad and Jeff, my Fractured Coccyx – such pain!

Daddy used to take us roller skating at the Fairborn Skating Rink. I remember him whizzing around the rink whistling. My goodness, he could do all kinds of fancy things on those skates – going backwards, turning around and all that stuff. Dad would often take us by the hand and try to help us get better or at least more confident. He did seem to love all that. Wonder where on earth he learned to do that.
I remember the different skating sessions being called out over the loud speaker – “all boys skate”, “all girls skate”, “couples only”, etc, etc. The lights were often dimmed and the lighted ball changed colors as we skated around or… some of us tried.

Well.. being the Aunt, I thought it would be fun helping little 3 year old Jeff skate. We got the tiny little skates on him and stood him up. I thought it would be a good idea to put him in front of me, with me kind of bending over and holding him under the arms so we could teach him to skate. I think we got about 5 or 6 feet oozing along the edge when all of a sudden my feet went straight out in front of me strattling around Jeff and kerplunk right on to my butt. Oh my goodness!

Don’t ask me if Jeff skated on out in front of me! Lordee, who knows. I remember Daddy coming along to help me up, but I don’t recall what happened to Jeff. Maybe he went on to skate the whole way around!

I had pain I couldn’t believe. Found out I had fractured my coccyx (tail bone). Nothing much could be done about it, but try not to sit flat down, and in those days, one never much thought of taking pain meds. But I had pain for about a year.

So, here’s what I learned about my fractured tail bone. (Remember I was going to be a nurse, so these things interested me.)

Causes of coccyx fracture include:

Falling on the buttocks—Skating and other activities that lead to falls in the seated position often contribute – Yes that fit the scenario!

(I think Martha might recall a fractured coccyx from childbirth – but that wasn’t my cause.)

Sitting can be very uncomfortable after a coccyx fracture.

Suggestions to make sitting less painful include:

Sit on an air cushion or doughnut pad.
Alternate between sitting on one side of the buttock or the other.
Try sitting on a hard chair. Sinking into a soft chair sometimes increases the pressure on the coccyx. (Maybe that is the reason to this day I prefer hard chairs and I tend to sit straight up almost on the front edge of a wooden chair.)
Slouch to move your weight forward and off the coccyx. Note: This advice holds only until you are well enough to sit properly again.
Sit on a telephone book, with the area of the coccyx hanging off the posterior portion of the phone book.

Yes that all fit the picture – but that pain is still a memory – but did Jeff learn to skate? If so, I guess it was all worth it. I thought it was fun at the time. Now, I think if I fell on my tail bone, I might die! “Not really”.

Fishing with carl wiliams

carl wiliams and i decided we were going to sneak into the water treatment plant. we had been fishing in the mad river, but decided we wanted to fish in the concrete ponds. we had to crawl under a fence every time we caught a fish to take it off the line, becacse the security guard would see us if we stood up. we crawled back and forth until we caught about twenty. that night dad said he tried to sneak in there and they threw him out, we sure enjoyed them fish.