Dale Smith
Platinum Member
Robert Horton or as we always referred to him as "Uncle Toad" was a war vet that met my aunt through mail correspondence because he was in the same platoon as my Uncle Raymond that introduced him to his sister (my aunt) . I thought that he was in WWII but it had to of been the Korean War because he was just shy of being 88...regardless of which war he was in? He was an incredible man. He was a fast pitch softball pitcher that even at 60 could throw a softball underhand faster than I could throw one "overhand". He loved having me around because I was so into sports and he would drive out to the parks where I played if I called him and told him that I was playing in his neck of the woods. I always wanted him to be proud of me and I always had better than average games if he was in the stands.
He might have been short and stocky in stature but he sure seemed like a giant to me growing up. He was the epitome of that Hank Williams Jr song "A Country Boy Can Survive" because he could skin a buck and he could run a trotline. He was "old time tough" and as old school as they came but he had a soft spot for his nieces and nephews. In 1987, after I got my degree from tech school, I packed everything I owned into a Datsun B-210 and moved to the DFW area to find a job. Uncle Toad and Aunt Annette gladly put me up until I got a couple of paychecks under my belt. Me and Uncle Toad went fishing, we went to Trader's Village on Saturdays...he taught me how to navigate the highways of a city that seemed so huge to me. He and Aunt 'Net' drove from Grapevine to Carrollton, Texas the day after my daughter was born just so that they could see and hold their grandniece.....I still have the pics.
Love ya, Uncle Toad....and thank you....still doesn't seem to do justice for what you meant to me.
He might have been short and stocky in stature but he sure seemed like a giant to me growing up. He was the epitome of that Hank Williams Jr song "A Country Boy Can Survive" because he could skin a buck and he could run a trotline. He was "old time tough" and as old school as they came but he had a soft spot for his nieces and nephews. In 1987, after I got my degree from tech school, I packed everything I owned into a Datsun B-210 and moved to the DFW area to find a job. Uncle Toad and Aunt Annette gladly put me up until I got a couple of paychecks under my belt. Me and Uncle Toad went fishing, we went to Trader's Village on Saturdays...he taught me how to navigate the highways of a city that seemed so huge to me. He and Aunt 'Net' drove from Grapevine to Carrollton, Texas the day after my daughter was born just so that they could see and hold their grandniece.....I still have the pics.
Love ya, Uncle Toad....and thank you....still doesn't seem to do justice for what you meant to me.