Final Interview

Walon Esters, my dad, has had a past like none other. This 53 year old man has had a the utmost memorable childhood which transferred into an insanely interesting adulthood. My dad grew up all up and around Louisiana as the middle child with his mom, dad, three brothers and one sister. His brothers had a large impact on his childhood, they surely made him the kind of guy who could hold his own. Especially after I sat down and took in the stories he told.
My dads story began in Jenna, LA, this is where he was born and raised for about 8 years. He first talks about the adventures he took with his brothers, most of them involving the game cowboys and Indians. In this game his stories range from accidentally hanging his brother in a tree to his younger brother jumping out of a tree and losing his two front teeth in the back of my dads' head. He said “I'll never forget the time John(his younger brother) jumped down to attack the enemy, which was me and smucked his teeth right upside my head.” Then his teenage years came about, this is when he met his best friend Clayton Hebert. Apparently those two had a death wish, due to the fact that they constantly went frog hunting in alligator and cotton mouth infested waters. The story I found most insane was his story of when Clayton dared him to wrestle an alligator. “One time we were out in our little wooden boat and we snuck up on this gator, we got really close and Clayton dared me to tackle it. And I couldn't pass up a dare and the water didn't look deep so, I was gonna do it. Luckily that thing saw us and swam away.” Afterwards, they stuck a paddle in the water to see how deep it actually was and they couldn't touch the bottom. According to my dad, him and Clayton were always out and about even though they were both pretty talented in sports they rather be outside doing there own thing. He decided “If it was nice outside and the fish were bitin' there was no way in hell I was gonna be stuck in a gym runnin'.” They were both very rambunctious and adventurous, they could do things there that you just can't do here in Wyoming.
Next, we discussed his mid-adulthood. My dad didn't attend college but he's a very good mechanic. Though he still lived in Louisiana he would fly out for months at a time to work on “big equipment for big money” in Alaska. Which had to get weird because for a month you would be in the smoldering heat and then the next month your in the dark and fridged weather of Alaska. Then one day his younger brother Rodger convinced him to come to Wyoming for a visit and just so happened there was a birthday party they had to go to. This is where he met my mom. “When I saw her I imediately liked her, but she...well she didn't feel the same. It took me a while to that phone number.” Eventually he quit his job in Alaska, married my mom, got a job at C&K Equipment and had me. A few months after I was born he goes to a regular day of work and has to work on this tractor. He starts it up and doesn't realize that the tractor is not in park. He gets under the tractor and starts working on it and suddenly the tractor begins to move. He starts to panic, as this enormous contraption is rolling across his body up and over his ear. He was then life flighted to billings where his right ear was snipped off, his left foot was found to be broken along with several ribs and a collapsed lung. But, something did come from that day he said, “The next morning I was all hurt and stuff, but then your mom brings you in and sets you on the hospital floor and I look over and you sit up for the first time.” I guess I've always been good at brightening up everyones day.
Now my dad is an old un' on the outside but a young un' on the inside. He tries to do things he used to but well lets be honest, that's not going to happen. I think he has had his fair share of dangerous activity and will do just fine being a chill old fella. He also has another kid, her name would be Mandy and she would be my younger sister who is two years younger than me. And though he's not that little southern boy anymore he still has his memories, his adventures and obviously his accent.