Martin's Gold Teeth
My cousins Martin and Harold Haptonstall came to visit us in San Diego, California in the mid-seventies. I was a cool teenage girl but these cowboys were beyond cool. We went to the rodeo at the San Diego Stadium, the first rodeo I had ever seen. That evening they told stories about riding bulls. Harold talked and Martin signed. Martin was born deaf and mute but never let that get in his way. I will never forget the story he told, signing and pantomiming the bull striking his face with his horns and proudly showing us his gold teeth and other scars. Harold embellished with words what Martin could not. They lived for the rodeo. My cousin Martin has since passed away and I do wish I could have known him better but will always remember this evening of story telling! My cousin Harold, cousin Sharon (also deaf and a champion barrel racer) and Aunt Opal still live in Washington. I'm just a city girl who loves the rodeo because of the stories she heard from her cousins. I can only imagine the stories that have yet to be told.