Daddy Con & the Drive-in

I don’t think my Grandfather, Daddy Con, ever learned to drive.  At least I never saw him drive.  He didn’t have a television for many years, and when he did finally get one he rarely watched it. He just got it because he knew that his Grandkids enjoyed watching it when they visited.

I’m pretty sure that Daddy Con wasn’t a movie-goer either, but I remember one time when he went to the drive-in movie with us.  My own memory of the actual event is very hazy, but I well remember Dad telling the story.

I can’t really say what year this happened, but it was before Kim was born in 1962.  We all piled into our car, probably the green & white ’56 Ford Fairlane.  Mom, Dad and me were probably in the front seat with Daddy Con, Helen & Chris in the back.  I have no idea what movie we saw that night, and by the time the second feature rolled around all us kids plus Daddy Con were asleep.

'56 Ford Fairlane

Now, as I said, Daddy Con didn’t spend a lot of time in cars.  We kids were sleeping restlessly and causing the Ford to move about a bit.  And of course Daddy Con had had a few bottles of “Old India Pale Ale” so our movement probably made him think that the car was moving.

As Daddy Con dozed in the back with us kids he felt “nature’s call.”  He sat up against the front seat and looked out the windshield at the movie in front of us.  That apparently increased his feeling that he was in a moving vehicle, because he tapped Dad on the shoulder and said, “Bill, if you see a good spot, pull over.”