Why aren’t you dating

 

Why aren’t you dating



    I have always sworn that in our hometown and especially in our small neighborhood the women were the engines that drove our lives. While we had good male role models like Roy Whitney or John Sheehy it was Margaret Knowlton, Imogene Stanley, Kathy Carroll, Charline Creason and Olivia Whitney who literally were the show-runners who raised us to adults who stayed out of prison or the flophouse. This tape title comes from the powerhouse Mom we respectfully called Big O, also known as Mrs.Whitney or Olivia which I never called her. Olivia had opinions that today would be called conservative but she had a heart of gold that had nothing to do with politics. Big O was kind and generous to us despite not getting hip with the hippy stuff we tried to adopt later in our childhoods. She was quite liberal with the Whitney's friends and fed us, let us hang out in her home and gave us plenty of advise. Olivia with her soulmate Roy came out to South Gate from Shelby, Montana, one of the strong daughters of a Basque immigrant of the Hasquet family. Whatever she experienced as a girl she was not afraid to take charge and make sure everyone was happy in her home. She also was encouraging to us in some less than traditional ways and often complained about our lack of success with the opposite sex. We had a tight-knit group of boys who spent a lot of time together including her son Bob, Big Brownie (Steve Breen), Johnny and Paul Knowlton and myself. She called us the "queer corps" because we did not have steady girlfriends but it was in fun as IF we showed up with a girl she would be treated well by Big O. A question she often bluntly asked was "why aren't you dating," not in a demeaning way but as a reaffirmation of her belief in our worth as mates for the opposite sex. When we did finally find our way to the altar Big O was always at the top of the list of invitees. Olivia Whitney was absolutely the salt of the earth and in the big picture she was an overwhelmingly positive force in all of our lives. Big O loved coffee, Winston cigaretttes, martinis and lived a full life stretching out 79 years.



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