February 15, 2004
Dear Tami and family,
I am honored to receive your invitation to Paul's 80th birthday celebration and so sorry that I will be unable to attend. On Feb. 29 I will be in Austin visiting with my son and family. Please let Paul know that although he left Garrison nearly 50 years ago, memories of him and his drug store days are still alive for those of us who remember the glorious days of the 1950's. It was a perfect world back then, and Paul Young and his drug store were perfection personified!
Although I was just a kid in junior high school, I remember the buzz of adult conversation about the new pharmacist moving to town. Everyone in town was anxious to meet him and within just a few weeks Paul Young was a Garrison fixture. The old saying is that it takes at least one-half century for a new-comer to become accepted into East Texas culture. That was not the case with Paul. Acceptance for him, in his pharmacy smock standing behind the counter helping all who entered the door, came immediately.
During the early 1950's the Garrison Square was THE hub of activity and the drug store was truly the center of everything that happened. Continental Bus Lines stopped there to deposit and take on passengers and to pick up and deliver packages and supplies. People were in and out of the drug store all day long whether to fill a prescription, to stop in on their way to and from the Post Office, to buy a gift or greeting card, or to refresh themselves at the soda fountain with a cherry coke, a coke float, a banana split or an ice cream sundae. The soda fountain could accommodate a person's most decadent request for whatever ice cream concoction their heart desired. You could sip a coke while sitting on a stool next to Mrs. Ruth McDuffie who was generally there several times a day. You had a choice. You could prop your feet on the fountain rail or hide away in a booth at the back of the store just to the right of the pharmacy.
On Saturdays just before and after the picture show, the drug store was so full of folks that you had to stand in line to get a seat and place your order. If there were customers making gift selections for a Saturday afternoon baby or bridal shower you could expect nothing short of a mob in the store. The chrome and black fountain shined and sparkled with customers reflected in the mirror. My memory of the store's gift section with all of those bottles displaying Cody, Faberge, and Evening in Paris perfumes is now comparable to the expanse of items displayed in a Bloomingdales or Dillards department store. The smell of the place was a combination of antiseptic medicines, ice cream and perfume, and the store was always cool and inviting even before the days of air conditioning.
I knew Paul as a pharmacist but I also knew him as a father and family man because over a period of several years, I baby sat with his children. Paul would always pick me up at my home and upon arrival at his house I was greeted by an excited and energetic little Vickie. Paul would brief me about where he was going, how to get in touch with him and when he would be home. He then gave me a tour of the refrigerator and the pantry which were both filled with SNACKS. My mother never bought SNACKS. Our pantry was filled with potatoes, beans, flour and sugar, but in Paul Young's house there were COKES. They had RITZ crackers and CHEESE WHIZ and little jars of pimento and pineapple spread, and they had store-bought cookies.
If my memory serves me correctly, I must have been in the 9th or 10th grade when I went to work for Paul after school and on Saturdays at the Drug Store. Bonita Patterson had the job before me and when she graduated and left for college, I was hired. I loved the job. I loved Rachael Harris. I loved talking to all those folks who came in every day.
I realize that I must have asked at least one million questions, and I know that I was somewhat flighty and impulsive, but my most memorable experience of gross irresponsibility was brought home to me loud and clear one Saturday afternoon in Stripling Drug Store in Nacogdoches.
What made me think I could go to Nacogdoches with my friends, run around all over town and get back to the Drug Store (Medical Center Pharmacy) in Garrison by 2:00 P.M., when I was scheduled to go to work? We were in Striplings Drug Store talking to Dora Lee Peterson who worked there, when I felt a firm tap on my shoulder. I looked around and there was Paul Young standing right there beside me.
"What are you doing here, Emily," Paul questioned? "You are supposed to go to work in 15 minutes. How do plan to get home? What are you going to do about your job," he said, and he wasn't smiling either. Well to say the least, I was embarrassed, and for some reason Paul didn't fire me. I know he was mad, but true to his nice guy image, he let me slide by that one. Paul, I know you haven't forgotten this incident, and I want you to know that I haven't forgotten either. As I write this story, my face still burns red with embarrassment.
Well, I got in his car and we quietly rode home together. When we got to Garrison, I went inside the Drug Store and went to work and kept my mouth shut for the remainder of that day and several days well into the next week.
Paul Young, you are still a Garrison fixture as far as I'm concerned. Your mark on this town is as indelible as that of the tomato shed, the cotton gin, the depot, the old wooden school gym and the Methodist Church. Thanks for the memories. Have a great 80th birthday.
Love,
Emily Nail Weatherly Adams
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