The Elba Store

When I lived with my grandparents at age 10, I learned how to wait and serve customers who came into the store. I greeted them, took their money and made the correct change.  My grandfather had a calculator in his head; I never met anyone who could add and calculate like he could. I even pumped gas for customers.

I learned two other skills in grandpa's store: He had two pool tables in the back of the store.  There were no sidewalks in this small country town so I learned to roller skate around the pool tables. I learned how to shoot a pretty good game of 8 ball too. Now my grandfather, J. Roy became quite an expert player - after all he made extra money playing pool.  It was a quarter for each game whether he won or not.

J. Roy Playing Pool

He and I were both ambidextrous - we could shoot pool with either the right or the left hands.