Text only version of "Amazing Jones"
"Guitar" Gordie Ham presents..."Amazing Jones"
"THE STORY OF AMAZING JONES" Amazing was one of the first anglo babies born in the Oklahoma territory in the mid-1800s. His parents were so certain that he would be a spectacular success at whatever he chose to do in life that they nick-named him "Amazing." Unfortunately, Amazing failed to live up to his parents' expectations and turned out to be quite ordinary. He came to despise his nickname, because it made him an easy target for ridicule. He married a fine woman who stuck with him through 60 years of marriage despite his heavy drinking and womanizing. On his deathbed, he made his wife promise that the name amazing would not appear on his tombstone. True to his wish, the tombstone in the local cemetary reads, "Here lies my husband, a man who never looked at another woman or harbored an evil thought in our 60 years of marriage." Today visitors who come to that lonely Stillwater, Oklahoma cemetery, upon reading the epitaph, invariably point at the grave and exclaim, "Hey, that's Amazing!" So you see, given names are often forgotten, but a nickname sticks forever. It'll even follow you to the grave. ..."The foregoing, author unknown, is another one of those bits of prose that miraculously appears on the office fax machine from time to time."
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