Sonny's Life
In His Own Words
[Sonny was Sid
Robbins' and Mable McDaniel Robbins' first-born son… Sidney Eugene Robbins. He
died in December, 2001, of lung cancer. This brief memoir was given to me by
one of his step-sons, who found it in his papers. Jenny Dahl, 2006]
Life wasn't easy in
the 30s in Kansas. The country was in the deepest part of the depression.
Parsons must have been particularly hard hit.
Sid worked for a
furniture store at the princely salary of $9.00 a week and Mable was a
housekeeper for a state senator named Payne Ratner1 in a huge
mansion on the west side of town. The mansion still stands.
Being young and full
of life, they picked probably the worst time to get married and start a family,
but they did, in April of 19312. Things didn't improve but they
struggled and survived.
In January of 1933,
Sonny came along and in May of 1934, here came Bub. Bub got his nickname
because Sonny couldn't say 'brother'. Mable said that she would give both boys
a bottle and set them in a rocker and Sonny would drink his real fast and trade
it empty to Bub for his full one. Bub would soon fall asleep and Sonny would
thump him awake and make him keep the rocking chair going.
In 1937, in the
winter, things were pretty bad, so Sid rode the rods on an M.K.&T. freight
to Oklahoma City to find work. His brother was the engineer on that train but
Sid was too proud to ask to ride in the cab where it was warm.
After he found a job
with Lee Thaggard Music Co. at $50.00 every two weeks he sent for Mable and the
boys. Mable cut up one of Sid's old suits and made clothes for Sonny and Bub.
After living in small
apartments for awhile we moved into a duplex at 1118 N.W. 2nd. We
lived in the west side and Sid had a small shop in the east.
In 1940, here's
sister. Donna was the most happy, always smiling and laughing baby you ever
saw. The jewel of the family.
Next place we lived
was 310 N.W. 4th. And in January of '42, Jim joined us, another
happy, good baby.
Sonny and Bub gave him
the mumps while he was still in the crib but he survived.
Next we moved to the
place where Sonny and Bub enjoyed life as kids the most - a little house on an
acre of ground at 4201 N.W. 8th. We had chickens and 2 pigs and a
huge vegetable garden. The only bad thing was they had to clean the chicken
house every weekend.
We were probably poor,
but we didn't know it. We found that 3 clothespins made a neat airplane and a
field next door was plenty of room to play. Donna and Jim were growing like
weeds.
At the end of 1944 or
early in 1945 Sid and Mable bought a house at 3435 N.W. 11th. Sonny
and Bub figured that the family was rich.
By September of '45,
the war was over and adolescence had attacked Sonny and Bub.
Sonny
with one of his many loves, 1995.
Sonny discovered
motorcycles and girls in that order and Bub found out that girls weren't soft
boys. He found out real quick that you couldn't smell like a boy and look like a
hobo and make out. Time for a change of lifestyle!
Uniforms work pretty
well, so Bub joined the National Guard. Surprise, surprise, surprise! He woke
up in Korea.
By now we lived at
8349 N.W. 23rd way out by the lake and Bub was in college. Sonny
just kinda wandered around and rode his motorcycle 'til 1953 when he got
drafted into the Army.
19543
brought a big surprise to Sid and Mable. The surprise got named Jenny and
proved to be the smartest of the tribe.
For a family that was
never very close to one another, we got along pretty good.
Sid's source of
greatest pride was that none of us ever got into trouble.
I'd say he and Mable
did a pretty good job of raising 5 of us. Gary and Jim became the most
successful of the bunch. Jenny ain't no slouch by any means. Donna raised 3
that turned out pretty damned good.
Ol' Sonny must have
found a strange bug in the gene pool. Not much of a success, but in going his
own way he was happy for the most part. Worked for wages all his life and paid
his bills. Tried to be a good man, so's Sid and Mable would be proud. Succeeded
at being a step-dad to 2 girls and a boy some say that they can see where some
of him rubbed off on these 3. Hope so.
Time's runnin' out.
Diagnosed with lung cancer in November of 2000.
Sonny'll finish this little note by just saying
something none of Sid and Mable's issue ever found easy to say to each other: I
love you all and I'll meet my maker and holler 'Let me in. I'm a Robbins'.
The
End
Notes:
1. Payne H. Ratner (b.
1896 - d. 1974) was, as many politicians are, a lawyer. He eventually became a
Republican governor of Kansas and served from 1939 to 1943.
2. Actual date: March
28, 1931, in Gerard, Kansas
3. Actually, it was
1953 that Sid and Mable got their 'Big Surprise'.
Clarence Robbins Family
Memoirs
Stephen Alva Van Cleave
Memoirs
Tales of the Van
Cleave Elders