How I became Pop and Why Tucker doesn't like The Beach Boys song; Barbara Ann

Being a grandparent changes you. You have all kinds of decisions to make, but the first and most important one is what that grandchild is going to call you.

When Tucker (my oldest grandchild) was born I realized that I needed to make a plan for my new grandparent name. Wow, this is a big decision. I didn’t want it to be some silly name that Tucker might start saying by himself. I wanted to pick my name.

It didn’t take me long to come up with Pop. I called my grandfather on my dad’s side, Pop. I have very fond memories of him. We even started calling my dad Pop, as he grew older. Besides there is Pop Corn, Pop Tarts, Pop Cycles and the list goes on. When ever Tucker wanted a treat, there was always one out there with Pop in it. This really made Carla mad and she started calling Pop Cycles, Grammy Cycles.

And, Pop is a one-syllable word like mom and dad. This should be easy. Every time I held Tucker, I would start telling him that my name was Pop.

Well, I like music a lot and I have lots of old records that I often play. I would play them and hold Tucker and dance with him. One day I was playing one of my Beach Boys albums and they played “Barbara Ann”. There is a place in the song where they say, Barb, Barb, Barb. That was all it took. I played that song over and over to Tucker and at that point in the song, I would sing Pop, Pop, Pop. I know that I did this at least a 100 times in the first years of Tucker’s life.

Now, Tucker knows the song and can’t stand it. I think I wore him out with it. But, I was very successful with it; he learned to call me Pop almost as early as he could say Mom or Dad.

The name has stuck with the other two grandkids Willie and Emma. So now I am Pop and I’ll answer to that anytime.

Coming Tomorrow: The dreaded flip flop

Leroy Carlson, My Dad

My dad passed away at the age of 85 on August 16, 2007. He was a truly wonderful man that got better with age. I have so many stories about my dad, that it would take a years writing every day just about him.

My dad was a full-blooded Swede. My grandfather came to America from Sweden in the early 1900’s. East of Austin, the Germans and Swedes settled the area. From Manor to New Sweden and Elroy and places in between.

My grandfather, Gustav Carlson, had some kinfolk that had come to America a few years earlier and sent for him. He came along, going through Ellis Island on the way to Elroy, Texas. My grandmother, Ruth Carlson, (that’s right her maiden name was Carlson) came to America first through Minnesota and then came down to Texas.

My grandmother had 4 children, before she died in childbirth with the 5th child. The baby died also. My dad was the second oldest. He had an older brother, Edward, a younger sister, Ethel and the youngest, Leonard. My dad was about 10 years old when his mother died.

My grandfather was a tenant farmer in Elroy. He farmed some of Judge McAngus’ land. When I was a teenager we use to go dove hunt on the McAngus property and I saw what was left of the house that my dad grew up it. It literally was a shack.

When my grandmother died, my dad quit school. He was in the 6th grade. He had to go help his dad out in the fields. My Aunt Ethel, who was about 8 or 9 at the time had to take up household duties. Washing clothes and cooking and cleaning. My dad was always very protective of his sister. He would fight anybody that crossed her.

My dad was to first to leave the farm, he was about 20 when he came to Austin to work at the old Brackenridge Hospital as a porter. He cleaned bedpans and waxed the floors at the hospital. It was hard work and not much pay, but he wanted off of the farm.

I am not sure when he went to work for Binswanger Glass in Austin, but he started out learning how to install auto glass. He liked the work. He had a friend that worked for Binswanger in Fort Worth and his friend wanted him to go work there. Dad transferred to Fort Worth and worked at Binswanger there, but he didn’t like it. His family were all back in Austin. When he tried to get his job back at Binswanger in Austin, they didn’t have a place for him.

Not knowing what else to do, dad opened up his glass business. His first was a leased stall at the old Austin Top Shop on West 5th street. Billy Pannell owned that shop. They installed seat covers and convertible tops. I’ll have another story about the Austin Top Shop.

Well dad was in several locations. The first location that I remember was on Riverside Drive between South Congress and Barton Springs Road. Before he left that block in 1969, he had a shop in 3 different locations on that same block. They were right next to one another.

Well, my dad married my mom on April 9, 1949. I am the oldest of 4; I have one brother Larry, and two sisters, Diana and Lisa.

As you can tell from the early life of my dad, he really didn’t have a childhood. All he knew was work. He could fix practically anything. If he didn’t fix it he probably tore it up.

Dad really didn’t know how to deal with kids. Mom was a stay at home mom and she took care of us. She administered most of the punishment. If we were really bad, she threatened to tell dad. I can only remember him spanking me one time, but the threat of his punishment got us kids to straighten up.

People loved my dad because he was caring and compassionate. Since he died, I have had more people tell me stories about my dad and the good things he did then I could have ever imagined.

But dad was one of those guys that really started to mellow as he grew older. My youngest sister is 8 years younger than my brother. She was the baby of the family. Dad was 44 when Lisa was born in 1966. His tenderness was growing rapidly after that. Then in 1976, I married Carla and dad got his first grandchild.

Then other grandchildren started to come along and I almost didn’t recognize the man anymore. He talked about those grandkids all the time and worried about them. Then, my daughter and Kelly (Diana’s daughter) begin to have children and give him great-grandchildren. I have a great picture of dad holding one of Christi’s kids at Gattitown. He was unbelievable. It was almost funny, but really was fun to watch this man age.

I’ll stop now because I just wanted to give you some of the basics about this man. You can see the other stories fit in place as I tell them.

Coming Tomorrow, How I became Pop and why Tucker doesn't like the song; Barbara Ann by The Beach Boys

My Daughter, Christi

I was talking to Rodney a high school classmate of mine the other day and he mentioned that his brother-in-law owned a wrecking yard south of town. Growing up in the automotive business, I knew most of those wrecking yard guys. He told me that Jim was his brother-in-law. I said that I have known Jim for 35 years or so. He’s a really good guy. I said his oldest son was the mascot at Bowie, my daughter’s senior year when she was the Head Cheerleader. Well, we talked about Jim for a while when Rodney said, he’s not actually my brother-in-law. My sister is married to Jim’s wife’s brother. But we have been so close over the years that we just call each other brother-in-law.

That’s the way it is with my Christi. I am not her biological father, but I have been in her life since she was 6 months old. Just days after Christi was born, I called Carla’s dad to ask about Carla and the baby. That’s when he told me that both were doing fine and the baby girl’s name was Christi. Cliff (Carla’s dad) was so proud. My wife separated from Christi’s biological father just months after Christi was born.

I still remember the first time that I saw Christi. Carla bowled at Austin Bowl-O-Rama on Monday nights with her mom and dad. I used to bowl with them before Carla married Larry. I was out with my college roommates (Chris and Phil) one Monday night and we drove by the bowling alley. I decided to stop by and see Carla and the baby. There Christi was in her little baby seat, she was beautiful. I think that was the day that my life changed and I decided to try and get Carla to marry me and that's another story in itself. I knew that Christi came along with Carla, but I thought that was the best thing that could ever happen to me.

Carla and I married when Christi was 2 ½ years old. At that point, she started calling me daddy. Prior to that she called me, “My Mike”.

Growing up, she called me daddy and never told her friends that I was her stepfather. Well, her last name was Cox, so her friends began to call me, Mr. Cox. I actually went by the name for years with her friends because it didn’t matter. I was Christi’s dad.

After Christi graduated from high school, I decided to become Mr. Carlson again. I remember talking to one of her best friends, Crissy and she kept calling me Mr. Cox. I finally told Crissy that I was taking my maiden name back and my name was Carlson. She said I know that, but being Christi’s dad, I just think of you as Mr. Cox. Thank goodness, she’s old enough now to just call me, Mike

I kept my Carlson name until Christi started teaching and coaching at Covington Middle School. Christi was a student there in the 8th grade when it first opened and was one of the first Covington Cheerleaders. I have other stories about Christi and Covington Middle School

Christi is a great volleyball coach and she coached basketball because they made her do it. Although, Christi had married by this time, she went by Coach Cox at Covington, because her biological uncle and my next-door neighbor was the Head Football Coach at Bowie High School.

Christi needed time keepers and score keepers at home games and she generally volunteered me (made me do it). Well you can see it coming. She told the girls that her dad was keeping score. She was Coach Cox, so I became Mr. Cox again. Not only did her players call me Mr. Cox, but so did her player’s parents. It was too hard to explain, because she had a new group of players for each sport and a new group every year that she coached there. I just became Mr. Cox. Even her co-workers called me, Mr. Cox.

That kept on until, Christi’s husband got a job in Houston and took Christi and my grandkids to Houston. I haven’t got to tell you about being Pop yet. I love my grandkids; Tucker, Willie and Emma Ray.

The moral of this story is that you don’t have to be blood related to be a dad. I have so many memories to tell about raising Christi. From the time we got carbon monoxide poisoning in a motor home to catching Christi busting curfew when she was in high school. From coaching her playing T-ball at five years old to seeing her participate in the Miss Texas pageant. We’ve had some good times, great memories and I love her. I don’t care what name you call me by, as long as you call me, Christi’s dad.