Carroll Is A Guy's Name Too by John Bolton
Everybody has some weird shit happen to them, but I've had more than my fair share, starting out the day I was born and my folks named me Carroll. Carroll is a guy's name too.
I live in a piss-ant little town. We got cheap housing, low taxes and one store, the Kwik Stop. I was in there one night paying for gas and this guy
with a shaved head walks in wearing a green tee-shirt that said, 'Carol Is
A Guy's Name Too.'
I mean to tell you, I was happy and surprised as shit to see that. Another
guy named Carroll - even if he spelled it different. But then it hit me, maybe the guys at the county barn were playing some BS joke on me. That made me a little leery, but I went up and said my name was Carroll with two 2 Rs and 2Ls. And that I really liked that shirt.
Carol looked surprised, but got over it fast and came back with, "My folks were kinda poor. They could only afford one L and one R."
Like they say in the movies, it was the start of a beautiful friendship. And the start of a great hobby too. Carol introduced me to making and playing cigar box guitars. I just wish it could have gone on longer. Six months later, Carol was dead and gone. Cancer. That was the reason for the shaved head.
Carol had bought the old Thompson place before the cancer came back. Bought it cheap as heck because a lot of potential buyers were put off by the fact that Charles Thompson hung himself in the wood shop. Carol came out from Omaha looking for cheap small town living and a place to build cigar box guitars and amps.
I had just retired from working for the county and was kind of looking for
a hobby. One that didn't cost a lot. I did a little wood working and fished a little, but that was pretty much it.
Quick as heck, Carol had me making pretty cool sounds on a cigar box guitar. I loved it. I never played a musical instrument in my life. At first I thought maybe I found my talent, but it's more like CBGs are just easy to play. Carol got me playing, singing and building CBGs. Man, it's like the best hobby there could be. I like to build shit, I like music and I like to sing. What's better than putting all that together?
Carol had a wicked good laugh and a great sense of humor. Just a good, kind, fun and funny person. One example was the tee shirts. Besides the Carol shirt there was a 'The Dude Abides' and one in Latin that said, 'I came. I saw. I want to go home.' And a bunch more funny ones.
Carol was pissed off and secretive about the cancer, but it was easy to see it was getting worse. One day I went to Carol's and there was nobody home. Same thing the next couple days. I started calling Omaha hospitals. I lucked out on the third call. The Nebraska Medical Center. I headed on down there and walked into the room carrying a bouquet made out of Snickers candy bars. Carol grinned and said, “Hey, buddy!”
Before we could say much more, one of Carol's daughters came in. I recognized her from a picture in Carol's shop. The daughter went over and kissed Carol on the forehead and said, “Hi, mom. I love you babe.”
Mom? What!?
Carol looked at me and said. “Ha! The jig is finally up.”
Well, shit. I guess the joke was on me. But there really wasn’t any joke intended. Carol apologized for not telling me sooner. She'd had her breasts removed with the cancer. And she had that low voice and laugh. She didn't realize I thought she was a guy until the second time we got together. By then, she just wanted to keep things simple and not take a chance on screwing up our friendship.
I made a friend. I lost a friend. I gained a hobby.
Sad story but some funny stuff too. I'm still the only guy I know named Carroll. And that kind of sucks... Because Carroll is a guy's name too.
Comment
Thanks, Matt. A sequel out this week.
Man was that good, unc, you sure can do it all. Really a wonderful story and yes kind of sad. Really glad I stopped by to read this....matt
Thanks, James. I have a 2nd Carroll story that I will blog post next week.
Nice story
Cheers, Unk :)
Good one, Jamie!
And what about Carol King ?! You need to be a guy to be a King, last I heard! :)
Thanks, Gary. I couldn't forget those fine cars!
Great story, UJ. But don't forget Carroll Shelby. I may have spelled it wrong. He was a race car driver and builder. Remember the Shelby Cobra and Shelby Mustang?
Started by Bill Andy in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by Southern Ray 11 hours ago. 11 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Bill Andy in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by Taffy Evans on Sunday. 6 Replies 0 Likes
Started by J. D. Woods in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 26. 8 Replies 1 Like
Started by Southern Ray in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 26. 6 Replies 0 Likes
Started by J. D. Woods in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by BrianQ. Apr 25. 4 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Rich Butters in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Crazed Fandango Apr 22. 4 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Nomad Jack in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by J. D. Woods Apr 17. 7 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Moritz Voegeli in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 14. 6 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Timothy Hunter in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Apr 10. 14 Replies 3 Likes
Started by Tom T in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 9. 9 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Southern Ray in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 4. 7 Replies 1 Like
Started by Timothy Hunter in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Mar 27. 1 Reply 2 Likes
Started by Taffy Evans in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Mar 10. 1 Reply 3 Likes
Started by Cigar Box Nation in Feature Articles. Last reply by BrianQ. Mar 9. 4 Replies 3 Likes
Started by Ghostbuttons in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 9. 5 Replies 1 Like
Started by Justin Stanchfield in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 8. 6 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Ken I in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Brian partington Mar 8. 8 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Southern Ray in Cool gear discussion - that's not cigar box related. Last reply by Southern Ray Mar 6. 5 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Taffy Evans in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 5. 4 Replies 2 Likes
Posted by Vlad on March 31, 2024 at 11:48pm 0 Comments 1 Like
Posted by Vlad on March 6, 2024 at 2:32am 5 Comments 2 Likes
Posted by billy jones bluez on February 28, 2024 at 2:09pm 0 Comments 0 Likes
Posted by billy jones bluez on February 17, 2024 at 11:00pm 0 Comments 0 Likes
Posted by Vlad on February 11, 2024 at 1:06am 1 Comment 1 Like
May 11, 2024 from 11am to 8pm – Speakeasy Grill
0 Comments 0 LikesMay 30, 2024 from 6:30pm to 10pm – The Casual Pint of Huntsville
0 Comments 0 Likes© 2024 Created by Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker. Powered by
Cigar Box Nation is presented by C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply, your one-stop-shop for Cigar Box Guitar parts and accessories!
You need to be a member of Cigar Box Nation to add comments!
Join Cigar Box Nation