The Old Worn Guitar Kept In Tune With The Times -- Short Story--Fiction

Sam was a kid who grew up on a farm in Indiana. He had two sisters, Mary and Jo, plus two brothers, Eddy and Chris. They were a typical country family, poor but happy. His mother, June and his father, Thomas raised them to worship God and be thankful, even though there was never enough money for extras.

When Sam was six years old he'd gone to town with his father. They passed a pawnshop with an old worn guitar in the window. Sam stopped and looked at it with a wishful look in his eye's. Thomas was pretty sure he couldn't afford it, but the look on Sam's face prompted him to say, " Let's go in and see how much it costs. " Sam was thrilled when the owner said, " Ten dollars " but looking at the glum look on his father's face, he knew it was out of reach. It didn't make him mad at his father. He understood that times were hard. The year was 1940 and there was talk about a possible war. They looked around the shop for a bit and as they were leaving the owner said, " You really want that old guitar don't you son? " Sam spoke up and said, " Yes I do Sir " The owner saw the wishful look on his face and said, " I'll tell you what, if you have five dollars, it's yours. " Sam looked at his father reaching in his back pocket for his billfold and a big ole grin covered his face. He was a happy boy when they left the shop with the guitar tucked under his arm. He learned to pick out a tune in a couple of day.

After the war and beyond.

The kids all graduated and each one left home in search of a job. Sam only had one ambition he wanted to pursue and that was definitely music. He loved writing lyrics and playing his guitar.

His destination when he left home was Nashville, Tn. Oh, he was no singer, but he was darn good at putting rhyming words on paper.

He found work at a farm market that sold homegrown flowers, vegetables and sweet honey that tasted as good as his mother Junes'. He spent most of his evening's listening to country music and writing songs.

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Fast forward, Sam explaining to his grandchildren how and when he met their grandmother.

It was a Saturday night and just up the street from the market was a country nightclub. He decided to go, and of course, he had his guitar tucked under his arm. He was sitting and listening to the music when one of the band members asked him if he played? He said, " Yes " They asked him to join them,he did and had a blast. They invited him to play with them every Saturday night.

One night a pretty redhead sat down close to the stage. She asked them if they needed a girl singer. They told her to come on up and asked what song she wanted to sing? She said, " How about Coal Miner's Daughter? " The crowd loved her singing and she became a regular.

It wasn't long before Sam fell head - over- heels for Marlene. They dated about a year before tying the knot.

Nashville was booming and they both found good jobs at The Ford Motor Company.

They had two children, a boy Sam Jr. and a girl Tina Louise. They settled into raising a family. Occasionally they would get a baby sitter and go to the club where the crowd still enjoyed listening to him playing the guitar and Marlene belting out a good old country song. They belonged to a small country church and raised their family the same way Sam's mother and father raised him.

Sam Jr. asked his grandfather if he could hold the old guitar and Sam said, " I was wondering when you were going to ask me. He gave the old guitar to him and thought back to the time his father bought it for him, thinking, " My how time flies. "

Sam Jr. was a natural just like Sam knew he would be. After all he came from a bloodline that lived through poverty, a war, some good times and a few bad times, but most of all they loved country music and the guitar sound that was as sweet as his mother's homemade honey. He could almost taste it all these years later.