Clifford Quinton “Joe” Clark
My Pap-Pa
When I was a little girl, it seemed like my Pap-pa was almost always working. From the stories I’ve heard all my life, it started when he was just a little boy…
His father, Ike, became sick, and eventually died young. I’ve never been certain what my great-grandfather’s illness was – but I do know that he suffered tremendously for many years. Pap-pa had to drop out of school to work the farm, care for his father, and support the family. He was young – but he was the oldest son. His sister Floy was four years older, but his brothers Woodrow and Dude were younger….so Pap-pa shouldered the responsibility. He grew up early.
He was only able to finish a third grade education at a little one-room school in rural Arkansas – but he had learned how to read and write, and thankfully he had a good mind for arithmetic. Those skills served him very well throughout his life.
I’m sure working the farm was hard enough, but Pap-pa had to carry even more responsibility. I heard stories as a child about how he alone was the one who cared for his father. From stories my grandmother would tell, it was gruesome work. Whatever the malady, Ike had dressings that had to be painfully changed and infections that had to be tended. His son, my Pap-pa, took care of it all. He was responsible for the family. I just can’t imagine.
He married my grandmother when he was only 17 and she was 14. They moved into a little house (more of a shed) behind his parents’ home. His father, almost completely disabled, required constant care – and Pap-pa continued to provide it. Working hard every day to support seven people would be grueling. Even more difficult, I think, was being responsible for so much at such a young age. In my entire life, I never once heard him complain about any of it. In fact, I don’t remember ever hearing him even talk about it. I heard the stories from others.
He got his first calf from a neighbor. He fed it, cared for it, and raised it to sell. That young calf became the first of many. Pap-pa found that he enjoyed tending cattle. He was good at it. For the rest of his life, Pap-pa earned a good living buying, tending, and trading cattle. He built and ran sale barns, he owned packing houses (a southerner’s term for a meat processing plant), and he raised cattle. When I spent time with him as a little girl, it was out in the pastures tagging along when he fed the cows, or hanging out at the sale barn he owned. He was happy to take me and my cousin Amy along when he tended his cattle. We would ride in the back of the truck (usually up on the sideboards) while he drove through the pastures to feed. It was fun – especially when he was out in the bottom land near the river. When he would drive over the levees, we would laugh and giggle – and hang on for dear life! Sometimes, Mother and I would ride with him to a sale. I loved the excitement of that! I would listen and try to understand what the auctioneer was saying……and sometimes Pap-pa might let me bid. It was big fun!
Those are good memories – but the best memories I have of Pap-pa are meals I have eaten at his table. You see, my Pap-pa also loved to cook. He mostly cooked at breakfast time – frying sausage, ham, and bacon. It was wonderful! He was very particular about the meat that he bought. He liked to get sausage from Atkins, Arkansas, because the recipe they used there to mix it is so very good. The ham had to be Petit Jean – because it is simply just the best there is. He bought slab bacon and hand sliced it himself with a sharp butcher knife. Since I grew up watching this, I never thought anything about it……until one day when I was in my 30’s I decided to try it. I bought a slab of bacon and nearly cut my fingers off trying to slice it. I finally admitted defeat – it was just too hard. Who knew???
The only recipe of Pap-pa’s I have today in my recipe box is his “Taco Dinner”. It’s really good! A couple of years ago, I made this recipe for guests at my home. My cousin Betty recognized it – and it thrilled me. She remembered an evening when she and her husband Billy ate supper at Pap-pa’s house many years ago – and he served his Taco Dinner. I love adding that memory to the files in my brain.
Pap-pa would have turned 101 last month. He left us in 1999.
Fairly often, I pull out his recipe and have his simple but delicious Taco Dinner for supper. Every time I prepare it, I think of Pap-pa……and I smile. In case you’re interested, I thought I would share the recipe with you. It’s a good one. I really hope you enjoy.
