Memories – Uncle Casey

My Mom was part of a large Jones family with both of her parents living well into their 90s. I remember Momma and Daddy Jones being interviewed by Marvin Zindler for their 75^th Anniversary. Mom was the 2^nd oldest of 7 children. The Jones Family remained very close through the years with family meals at Christmas and on other occasions. Today, the grandchildren continue to get together as often as possible. I could write many stories about memories I have for each of them. This one is about memories of Uncle Casey.

When I was a teenager, I loved cars and would buy “Hot Rod”, “Rod and Custom”, and other car magazines to read and admire the customized cars. Over the years, several of those cars had their interior work done by a shop here in Houston that was owned by Uncle Casey Jones. One of the pickup trucks featured in some of those magazines was owned by Uncle Casey and it was a beauty. Uncle Casey was into hunting, golfing, and a big Oilers fan, later supporting the Texans. He was younger than my Dad and involved with so many things my Dad was not into. I think that led me to think about those differences in a negative light about my Dad when I was younger. I was always interested in talking to Uncle Casey about projects he was working on or about hunting that I had never done before.

During my junior year in high school, I was working at a Henke & Pillot that was located in the area of the University of Houston after school and Saturdays. At that time Uncle Casey did not live too far from that area. Uncle Casey asked me if I wanted to go to a race at the Meyer Speedway Track with them for a Saturday race. He was a sponsor for one of the super-modified cars that raced at the ½-mile track. I was thrilled about going and Dad said it was Ok for me to drive to their house. When I got there, I found out that we were going to the track in his pickup. I was going to get to ride in that truck.

When we started to get in the truck, Uncle Casey handed me the keys and said “You want to drive to the track?” I cannot describe the emotions I had at that moment. I was behind the wheel driving a vehicle that everyone noticed because there was none like in Houston or anywhere. This was a Chevy Cameo Truck that was a totally new design for pickup trucks back then. It was customized with beautiful paint and the rolled & pleated seats, headliner, truck bed, and running boards all had that beautiful work. It was a head-turner and I was driving it. Before the race started, they had parade laps and some show cars would make a few laps around the track and Uncle Casey let me drive his truck during those laps as well. I forgot if his sponsored car won the race or not, but It was a night I have remembered all these years.

While I have other memories of Uncle Casey, that night meant so much to me that I always felt loved when I was in the room with him. Later in life, I began to understand my Dad better and realize that we need things that are different from what we want, to become what we could be. I loved Uncle Casey, but that was easy – he did some things that made me happy and gave me an opportunity to do something different. My Dad did thousands of things, all of which were important to get me to where I needed to be. Some of those I did not appreciate at the time but made me a better person.