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My grandparents had the first television set in my young world.

But the first television set I saw was in the window of the Western Auto store in Eufaula. Aunt Eleanor took me see the moving picture in a box but it looked like radio static to me.

But, sometime later, my grandparents got a television set. To get a picture to show up, one of us would have to go outside and turn, what they called an antenna, until the picture showed up, then we would holler, ‘Stop!!’ and hurry inside to sit down on the floor, right in front of the television set.

We, Jimmy and me, got to watch the television two times a week — Liberace on Sunday night and Wrastlin’ all Saturday afternoon.

I would rather play outside than watch a big smilin’ man in his church clothes play the piano with a candle stick on top.

But, on Saturday, I got up especially early and was especially good so I could go down the hill to watch wrastlin’ at Mommie and Pop’s house.

Pop said he would rather watch bulls locking horns than watch wrastlin’, but he watched it anyway.  Mommie waited a whole week for wrastlin’ to come on the television set. Pop said, if the house caught on fire, she wouldn’t get up and get out until wrastlin’ went off the air.

We, ,Jimmy and me, couldn’t figure out why our granny liked wrastlin’ but would get a fly swatter after us when we would haul off and fight.

Mommie had her favorite wrastlers but she would get upset if any one of the wrastlers got hurt and would right away pray for his return to the ring. And, if one of the wrestlers had to be taken to the hospital, she would almost go to pieces.

Daddy tried to tell Mommie that wrastlin’ was all fake and that, after the match, the wrastlers would all be sitting up at J.B Bowden’s cafe eating fried catfish.

Mommie would have none of that. She said wrastlin’ was as right as rain and she took her ringside seat. 

Some years ago, ringside wrestling was an event in downtown Brundidge. I wished that my grandmother would have had a ringside seat to that. 

Wrastlin’ is not in my DNÅ. Or, I thought it wasn’t until it was announced that there would be a wrastlin’ match at Cattleman Park.

Good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, I’ll be there at ringside in memory of my granny.