The "I Promise To Tell The Truth, The Whole Truth, And Nothing But The Truth!" Story

Foreword:  My story yesterday told about a friend of mine, Terry Diehl.  I hadn't seen Terry in years since he moved from the Lancaster area to Florida.  Today, while reading the Sunday Newspaper I came across Terry's obituary.  He died on July 4 of complications from Parkinson's disease.  My sympathy goes out to his wife and two sons.  Terry was a great guy who supplied me with an endless wealth of stories which you have read over the years.  I'll remember him for ever!

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting next to my wife, striking my keyboard, while she is watching some judge show on the TV.  During a commercial she asks me, "Do people really believe everything you write?  That can't all be true.  At least some of the stuff I have read."  Well, to my knowledge, just about everything is true.  Yeah, I might exaggerate or enhance things a bit...like in the story yesterday about the two French girls Terry and I met on the beach in Atlantic City.  They probably thought we were duds and they were the ones that wondered off instead of Terry and I.  But I promised to tell the truth, the whole truth, years ago when I began writing my blog.  I may stretch the truth a bit, but it's still the truth...I swear to.....now wait a minute, a big  thunderstorm has just arrived outside my window and that lightening could easily be meant for me...so I better stop right here and head for the basement.  

The real life Calamity Jane

But, there are a few stories that you were told years ago by your parents, or perhaps a teacher you may have had in school, that were thought to be "Tall Tales" that really are the truth.  One is the story of Calamity Jane.  Remember her?  With a name like that you just assume that the story was a fictional tale passed down from family member to family member.  According to the legend of Calamity Jane, she was an adventurer and performer who worked as a laborer on the Union Pacific railroad, scouted for General Custer, served as a teamster and busted her back as a dishwasher at Fort Bridger.  (My apologies to my English teacher, Mrs. Eisenhart for typing the word "busted").  Her husband was said to have been Wild Bill Hickok and she had a child with him.  Her life was filled with adventure.  But, it wasn't as glamorous as it seemed.  She loved attention and began to tell stories of her life which eventually led to severe alcoholism.  She added quite a few fabricated stories in her autobiography before she died on August 1, 1903.  Then there was the tall tale told about a guy who had a big blue oz.  Guy by the name of Paul Bunyan.  He was said to have taken five storks to deliver him as a giant baby.  And, his giant ax helped create the Grand Canyon while his big blue ox made footprints that became Minnesota's 10,000 lakes.  No way could that have happened.  But, the origins of his story have a connection with a French-Canadian timberman, Fabian Fournier.  He was only six feet tall, had large hands and was murdered in 1875.  After his life many thought him to be the real life Paul Bunyan, with some minor changes.  Could it have been true?  And then there was Johnny Appleseed, the barefoot traveler who shared his perfect apples wherever he roamed.  

The real life John Chapman

Guy's name was actually John Chapman who took his orchard apples and made it into hard apple cider.  When he learned of settlers moving into new territory, he wold get a head start on them, enough to plant his orchards.  When the settlers arrived, he would be prepared with the completed batches of hard apple cider.  According to Howard Means, author of "Johnny Appleseed: The Man, the Myth, the American Story," cider was a big part of frontier life.  So, Johnny Appleseed was a hero in the old West.  Most tales are just that, but at times tall tales that we thought to be just tales....well they were real life stories.  And, so are mine!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.