| When he got out of the car to visit, the man was handcuffed to himIt was a hilarious sight, because the inmate was huge; he must have been twice Poppy Als sizeBut Poppy Al spoke to him gently and respectfully and the man seemed to respond in kindAll I know is that Poppy Al got his man safely back on time
Poppy Al and Mama Clinton lived in a small old house up on top of a hillHe kept a garden out back, of which he was very proudHe lived to be eighty-four, and when he was over eighty, that garden produced a tomato that weighed two and a half poundsI had to use both hands to hold it
Mama Clinton ruled the houseShe was good to me, but she knew how to manipulate the men in her lifeShe always treated Daddy like the baby of the family who could do no wrong, which is probably one reason he never grew upShe liked Mother, who was better than most of the other family members at listening to her hypochondriacal tales of woe and at giving knock off chanel handbags sensible, sympathetic adviceShe lived to be ninety-three
Poppy Al and Mama Clinton produced five children, one girl and four boysThe girl, Aunt Ilaree, was the second-oldest childHer daughter Virginia, whose nickname was Sister, was then married to Gabe Crawford and was a good friend of MothersThe older she got, the more of an idiosyncratic character Ilaree becameOne day Mother was visiting her and Ilaree complained she was having trouble walkingShe lifted up her skirt, revealing a huge growth on the inside of her legNot long afterward, when she met Hillary for the first time, she picked up her skirt again and showed her the tumorIt was a good beginningIlaree was the first of the Clintons to really like HillaryMother finally convinced her to have the tumor removed, and she took the first flight of her life to the Mayo ClinicBy the time they cut the tumor off it weighed nine pounds, but miraculously it had not spread cancer cells to the rest of chanel coin purse her legI was told the clinic kept that amazing tumor for some time for studyWhen jaunty old Ilaree got home, it was clear she had been more afraid of her first flight than of the tumor or the surgery
The oldest son was RobertHe and his wife, Evelyn, were quiet people who lived in Texas and who seemed sensibly happy to take Hot Springs and the rest of the Clintons in small doses
The second son, Uncle Roy, had a feed storeHis wife, Janet, and Mother were the two strongest personalities outside the blood family, and became great friendsIn the early fifties Roy ran for the legislature and wonOn election day, I handed out cards for him in my neighborhood, as close to the polling station as the law would allowIt was my first political experienceUncle Roy served only one termHe was very well liked but didnt run for reelection, I think because Janet hated politicsRoy and Janet played dominoes with my folks almost every week for years, men's rolex watch alternating between our home and theirs
Raymond, the fourth child, was the only Clinton with any money or consistent involvement in politicsHe had been part of the GI reform effort after World War II, although he wasnt in the service himself Corky, was the only one who was younger than IHe literally became a rocket scientist, with a distinguished career at NASA
Mother always had an ambiguous relationship with Raymond, because he liked to run everything and because, with Daddys drinking, we often needed his help more that she wanted itWhen we first moved to Hot Springs, we even went to Uncle Raymonds church, First Presbyterian, though Mother was at least a nominal BaptistThe pastor back then, the Reverend Overholser, was a remarkable man who produced two equally remarkable daughters: Nan Keohane, who became president of Wellesley, Hillarys alma mater, and then the first woman president of Duke University; and Geneva Overholser, who was editor of dolce and gabbana uk the Des Moines Register and endorsed me when I ran for President, and who later became the ombudsman for the Washington Post, where she aired the legitimate complaints of the general public but not the President
Notwithstanding Mothers reservations, I liked RaymondI was impressed with his strength, his influence in town, and his genuine interest in his kids, and in meHis egocentric foibles didnt bother me much, though we were as different as daylight and darkIn 1968, when I was giving procivil rights talks to civic clubs in Hot Springs, Raymond was supporting George Wallace for PresidentBut in 1974, when I launched an apparently impossible campaign for Congress, Raymond and Gabe Crawford co-signed a $10,000 note to get me startedIt was all the money in the world to me thenWhen his wife of more than forty-five years died, Raymond got reacquainted with a widow he had dated in high school and they married, bringing happiness to his last gucci tote bag yea |
| 