A Boy Named Joe

July 22 ·

I couldn't sleep tonight. Too much pain and too many words in my head. I was thinking about this boy that my sister and I knew really well growing up. He lived on the outskirts of Jay with his Mom and Dad even though he was grown and had a job. He was so kind to me and Donna and we loved him. He was like an older brother to us, but looking back I think he was sweet on either one or both of us.

He did not seem to have a lot of friends and I think it was because he was bullied and made fun of as a child. He had what everyone called a "Harelip" back in those days but later I came to know it was called a Cleft Palate.

These are regularly taken care of today so that you almost never see one in our country, although we still hear of them in other ones. We have whole teams of doctors and nurses that go there to fix them free of charge to the families that can not afford them. Some of them are so bad that it is a wonder they survive at all and yet they do.

His mother talked about how she had to feed him so carefully when he was little and she did a good job, because he made it

Joe was a handsome boy about 5 years older than me and he had a brand new baby blue 66 Chevy Camaro and it was beautiful. He would pick us up in his car and we would go skating in Milton, or to Flomaton to eat and sometimes to the drive-in that was in Century.

I wish I could remember the name of that little diner where we would hang out in Flomaton. It was on the left side of the road past where the Credit union is now and it was a hot spot for teens. Donna will remember the name of it. It had a juke box and we would play a quarters worth of tunes. The owners let us blast it so loud that you could be outside and hear it. I don't remember a cop ever coming to break it up while we were there. We were just kids enjoying music, sitting in our cars eating french fries and a burger. My favorite one to put on was "Wooly Bully" by Sam The Sham and the Pharoahs. Their second hit was another favorite of mine too. " Hey there little red riding hood. You sure are looking good."

I could get 5 tunes for a quarter and those two were always on the list
.
There were such great names for groups back then. Herman's Hermits, Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Monkee's, The Animals, Tommy James and the Shondells and so many others. Some of the song titles were kind of funny too. "One eyed One horned flying purple people eater" is one that comes to mind and it was still hugely popular in 1966.

I could talk all day about the music of the 50's and 60's. Real music.. lol. But I am getting off the topic of our friend Joe.

I remember so many things about him. How shy he was. His laugh, the way he talked because of his cleft palate and the way that he always smelled so good. I think he took extra care because he had two girls in the car with him and it made it feel good. I know that other guys would look at us when we were out and he would puff out his chest a little because he had two home grown farm girls in his car and they didn't. lol

He drove us everywhere and often paid for us to have extra things if we didn't have the money. He had an 8 track in his car and kept a variety of tapes in there for us to sing too. He loved to hear us sing. Donna and I regularly sang in churches in the area but when we were out of church, we loved country music. Joe used to tell me that I sounded just like Dolly Parton and he thought I should go to Nashville and try to make it. We did go to Nashville later on one of our trips with Daddy but I never pursued a singing career and neither did Donna, although she could have.

We loved going skating and Daddy would let me drive his big ole black Chevy if I wanted to go to Milton even though I only had a learner's permit. Kids drove back in those days. Usually a tractor first and then what ever car or truck your daddy had.

We weren't molly coddled kids back then. We drove, we swam in snake infested creeks, sometimes there was an alligator or two and we did dangerous stuff. We got hurt, we healed and did some more dangerous stuff and sometimes we got in wrecks.

We had a little wreck in Flomaton near Nall's Store one night and instead of worrying about his beautiful car, he was worried about me being in the front seat and being hurt. Donna and I took turns riding shotgun and I was in front that night. It hardly made a scratch on his car cause we were only going about 30 mph and he had hit the brakes pretty good when the car stopped in front of him. We were not wearing seat belts as they didn't require them back then, but the car was made of Good ole American steel. A car could take a lickin and come out none the worse for wear in small fender benders, unlike today. You sit on a car now and you would dent it. lol

I wish that you all could have known Joe Kelley. Donna told me sometime ago that he had tragically died and I was so sad but I am happy that we had spent many Saturday nights together tooling around Jay, Milton, Flomaton and Brewton.

When I got my Mustang a couple years later, we did not see him as much as before. My attention turned to boys and I thought of Joe as a brother so I started dating and we started seeing him less.

I am so thankful for Joe. He was a perfect gentleman at all times, respectful and kind. When I look back on those times now with my memory eyes, I can see how mean some people were to him. They snickered, just like they do today at someone who is different. We think we have gotten worse today with bullying and maybe we have, but there were bullies back then too. Maybe not as overt or as many because parents would wail the tar out of you if you treated someone badly or made fun of someone within earshot of an adult. It didn't matter which adult it was. You were as likely to be cuffed by your older brother or your Aunt as you were your Daddy.

Joe deserved all the best in life and I hope that he got it. I seem to remember that he had a bad marriage but I don't know if he ever had any kids. If he did, I hope that they know what a special man he was.

I miss him and am so thankful that he took care of us for a couple of years. He made sure we were safe when we went out and he enjoyed himself also. I don't know if there are guys like him around today and if there are, if anyone would notice them, but I hope there are.

He was the best. RIP Joe Kelley. Two little girls from Jay will never forget your kindness and charm.
Love, Kimmee

I couldn't find a google image of a baby blue 66 Camaro but this is a 67 in a little darker blue, so people can kind of get an idea of what we were riding around in.

(Addendum: my friend Maria knew the name of that little one room dive that we went to all the time. It was the Telstar! Thank you so much)

Gloria at 17 with her Bishop In laws

Gloria in Indiana at age 16 on a trip with Daddy and Donna

Daddy and Donna in Holland Michigan 

Joe and his family. Photo courtesy of Dana Lashell