My older brother and I were out hunting one fall day and was headed back home. As we walked down some railroad tracks, a sheriff pulled over at the crossing. He waited for us to get to him.
We were around 13 and ten respectively. Our shotguns were broken down. We figured we were in trouble for trespassing on railroad property. When we got up to the sheriff, he asked for our ID. He informed us we weren’t allowed to hunt on the side of the tracks. People were known to shoot at the trains, but we had already known and done this.
He radioed our information in. Then, he handed my brother back his ID. He got back on the radio with his dispatcher. After what seemed like forever, He said there must be a mistake. All the while, I’m getting scared. I didn’t do anything to get into trouble for. He slowly walked back over and handed me my ID. He gave us a stern warning about walking on the tracks while carrying guns. “He left without explaining himself, leaving me feeling increasingly anxious.”
Forward ahead about twelve years, By now I was used to experiencing the long arm of the law. Jail became a bad habit for the next ten or fifteen years. Whenever I would get out, Andy would bring up that day on the tracks. He would tell me I was destined for life behind bars and we would laugh it off.
Back in 2020, not the T.V. program but calendar year I retired and had the pleasure of dealing with Social Security. Back in 1965 I got my first SS card without a hitch. If you have ever had to deal with this office, first I’m sorry. OK, I sign up for benefits and they tell me my social security number had been changed, What? I didn’t change shit but they insisted I had.
I handed them my original card. It is red and white instead of blue. The lady tells me it is fake. My fuse is burning down by now as I have spent most of the day arguing with these people. Soon enough, a supervisor comes over. After looking at my card, he informs the lady that it is indeed real, just antique.
This is when I find out about the long forgotten day of that sheriff on the tracks. I had to argue, beg and threaten my way into retirement. As Paul Harvey said, the picture below tells “the rest of the story.”
Ernest Federspiel
Birth 11 Jan 1908
Death 15 Jan 1999 (aged 91)
Garry Owen, Jackson County, Iowa, USA
Bernard, Dubuque County, Iowa, USA Burial
Saint Patrick’s Cemetery
Garry Owen, Jackson County, Iowa, USA
Without being related or meeting, we shared our journey for forty-one years. Evidently we both had sinful ways at one time or the other. How wild is that?
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