The Story-teller....A Man to be Missed....

There are times that something will happen that leaves a vacant spot in our lives.  One of those things happened in the wee hours of the morning.  I got a phone call..one of those phone calls that makes your heart sink.  In the early morning hours of August 14th, a gentleman left us.  My heart aches..not just for my family's loss..but for the world's loss.  My dad's youngest brother died and so many shall mourn his passing.

Uncle Lucius and Aunt Betty several years ago at a cookout at the Little Bayou House.

Lucius was the youngest of six brothers and one sister.  He grew up on a farm just down the road from my house and spent his entire life living not far from his childhood home. One of my favorite things about my uncle?....This man had an knack for story-telling!  I always loved it when he would get that twinkle in his eye and words would start tumbling out of his mouth.  Stories from his time in the military or stories of times on the farm with billy goats, mean bulls, tomcats and wild dogs, he could capture anyone's imagination with his vivid tales!  I remember one tale of how he and my dad were supposed to be hoeing the corn field but they slipped off to go fishing.  During the story, they caught a good mess of fish but then realized that their dad would not take lightly to their "playing hooky" from their chores.  The string of fish was tied off to a stake and they hurried to finish that work.  Later that evening, they informed my grandpa that they were heading out to fish.  Within just a short time, the two rascals came home with their fine catch...Grandpa knew something was amiss!  The whupping they caught was (in later years) a source of a good laugh.

Another tale had some of the brothers gathering frozen fish from a time when the entire Bay froze.  Great baskets of fish of all sorts were gathered by this adventurous group.  When Grandmother saw those presumably dead fish, she told them to "boil them up for the hogs".  A great fire was built under the old washtub and once the water started heating...the fish started wiggling!  Those fish were still alive!  Another great tale in the making!

If my memory serves me correctly, there was also an adage of how a canoe was taken out in the midst of a hurricane to salvage a boat that had broken loose in the intense winds! (What a ride that must have been!)  I can only imagine at the time this adventure was quite scary but later as the story was retold, that twinkling eye and broad grin made it amusing! Each of the brothers had their own version and all were met with guffaws and pshaws!

  Stories of "frogging" in the old fish pond (where more than once a huge Cottonmouth Moccasin was gigged instead of a bullfrog) would never cease to amuse me!  It is a wonder these boys ever reached maturity with all of their escapades!  Another bullfrog story was told how one of the brothers rolled marbles down the sloping bank.  That old bullfrog, thinking the marbles were tasty bugs, slurped up each and every marble!  After twenty or thirty marbles, the frog could hardly jump!  The lad grabbed the frog, shook it upside down to retrieve the marbles, then tossed the frog in the sack!   Soon an entire meal was caught using the same marbles!  (Yep..they did eat the frogs!)

There were tales of catching poisonous snakes to be sold for the venom,  of tapping pine trees for sap to be made into turpentine, of catching baby alligators to sell to tourists..(you have to remember that this was some seventy-five years ago), of showers taken under the old (outdoor!) artesian well where the water was ice cold and of walking or running the miles to school after their chores were done.  Careful listening could find one learning of "banking in sweet potatoes",  "shocking corn" and "smoking fish".  The mere mention of a word could evoke a story-telling fest!  One tale would lead to another until hours had been spent just listening!  But now, years and years of pranks, jokes, tales and just all around fun times have come to a halt.  I will miss the story-telling as none of the brothers nor the sister are still alive to pass on this lore of times on the farm.  Oh, how I wish I would have written down these tales or at least paid more attention!

Lucius Hengen...born September 20, 1924..died August 14, 2012.

 A man from an era of  good men..true, proud, humble, honest, brave, trustworthy, compassionate, sensible, honest, hardworking men.  He fit all of these traits to a T!  After receiving the call this morning, I sat on the pier in the pitch-black darkness of before dawn.  I needed to think..I needed to reflect.  As I sat there staring at the brightening eastern sky, I thought of how Uncle Lucius was like a sunrise..bright and enlightening.  His smile could light up the world! He brought a certain goodness to this old world and to my life.  I will miss you, Uncle Lucius...I will miss you.