This past weekend, my daughter and I headed south for a special family event. My grandfather, Marvin Gall of Lake Andes, turned 99 years old.
It was a very special event, as it is every year when you get to celebrate such a special man. Grandpa is certainly no spring chicken anymore. His days of geriatric water skiing are well behind him, and he was using a cane this past weekend, but he still had a great time with his family. He is always full of smiles and good cheer and simply enjoys being among his family.
More than 70 family members attended the celebration, all of them direct descendants of Marvin and my late great grandmother, Mary Jane. The family tree that branches from the two of them is now 96 people strong, including their children, grandchildren and now many great grandchildren, with more on the way.
As I think about this birthday, it is fun to share stories about my grandpa because there are so many interesting and downright hilarious ones. A few years back, his children encouraged and assisted him in recording many of his stories. He has close to 100 of them recorded, something we are all truly grateful for.
I know I have shared a few with my readers in the past, but here are a couple more good ones about his life growing up on a farm near Scotland, South Dakota, in honor of his 99th year.
Marvin and the Bull
Marvin has a big, impressive nose, and he traces its history back to a certain event during his youth.
As Marvin tells it, the family farm was about a half mile from another pasture where the cattle were kept. Each day, the family would take the cattle out to the pasture and then bring them home in the evening for milking.
One day, the cows were already making their way home while an old bull was lagging behind.
“The bull was so slow,” Marvin recalled. “I decided I was going to sneak up from behind and scare him.”
So Marvin ran up behind the bull, slapped him above the knees on his hind legs and yelled, “Boo!”
The bull responded by kicking Marvin “smack dab” on the nose, knocking him unconscious.
When he woke up, his sisters were dragging him along, and he eventually realized they were almost back to the farm.
That, Marvin says, is the reason he has a crooked nose to this day.
People sometimes question the story, but Marvin insists it is true. He does, however, enjoy adding his own punchline.
He points out that bulls used to have hooves that looked more like horses’ hooves. After the bull kicked him in the nose, cattle had split hooves.
“Isn’t that a bunch of bull?” he likes to add.
Just Another Accident on the Gall Farm
Another great Marvin story happened when he was a teenager on a chilly night at the farm.
His brother Clifford had gone out hunting around the farm, and after a while Marvin decided to bundle up and go see how the hunt was going. He walked around the farmyard toward the windmill when Clifford came around the barn.
Jokingly, Clifford pointed his gun at Marvin and said, “Stick them up!”
Marvin responded by asking if he was having any luck.
All of a sudden, BANG! The gun went off.
Marvin immediately felt a searing pain in his hip. As he remembers it, the pain was burning like it was on fire. He grabbed his hip and discovered, in his words, “by golly, the pocket was gone from my pants.”
The brothers soon realized Marvin had been hit by the shot. Clifford begged him not to tell their parents, but Marvin knew there was no way around it. He also knew the shooting had been an accident.
When Marvin got into the house, his mother asked why he was inside so quickly.
“I got shot,” Marvin casually told her.
His father quickly came in, and the family checked Marvin’s wounds. There were five holes in his leg. They cleaned him up, but when the bleeding continued, they realized he needed to see a doctor in Scotland.
It was Sunday night, but the doctor took a look at the injury and determined that two of the wounds went in and out, while one BB was still lodged in his leg. The doctor numbed the area, removed the BB and sent the Gall family back home.
As Marvin tells it, “That’s just another accident that happened on the Gall farm.”
And somehow, through bulls, BB guns and all the other adventures of growing up on a farm, Marvin made it to 99.
Happy 99th birthday, Grandpa! I am so glad you made it through your crazy youth to still be here with all of us, sharing your stories and your smile.
