He was still sitting there. Marvin peeked around the corner to check again, and there he was, sitting patiently.

Marvin wanted to spend some time downtown, but he was afraid that his friend would get hurt, so he told him to sit by the back of the small town grocery.

"Tippy, sit. Don’t move." he had commanded his friend as they walked into the back door of the grocery. Assuming that Tippy would go home after a little bit, Marvin snuck out the front door of the grocery store.

A couple hours later when Marvin returned to the store, his friend was still sitting by the back door waiting for him. Marvin felt bad, for his friend, but he did not want to tie him up at home. Marvin went back in the store through the front door, before reuniting with Tippy, so he would not know he had left him alone.

Marvin and Tippy were inseparable and best friends, and Tippy did not want to be left at home without Marvin. Feeling a little guilty for leaving his friend by the back door , Marvin got a bone from the grocer and gave it to Tippy for patiently waiting for him. Then boy and dog bounced happily together back to Marvin’s grandparents house.

Marvin lived with his grandparents, who took him as their own child and raised him. The safety of a small town atmosphere at that time, and having older people as parents, gave Marvin a strong sense of independence and entrepreneuralism.

This led to Marvin developing several small jobs, the most unique being the "rhubarb" business. If you are not familiar with Rhubarb, you are missing a very unique plant.

Honestly, I don’t know if it is fruit or vegetable, but it is used to make pies, sauce, pickles, and just for eating raw. The taste is very tart and tangy, and it is long and crunchy like celery.

We used to chew on it in the summertime as a boy, but I honestly don’t see why people eat it.

Since the plant grows as easy as weeds, it was easy for Marvin to harvest the plant that grew around his grandparents house. He would bind them into one pound packages, load up his wooden wagon with the removable sideboards, and head off to town with Tippy following behind.

The first stop was the grocery store to see the current price of rhubarb. Marvin then marked his rhubarb down to 10 cents per pound below the current selling price at the store. Then door to door he would go, careful not to miss one house or business offering his rhubarb at the current market price.

So thorough was Marvin at selling rhubarb, that soon many people around town just started calling him "Rhubarb."

"Here comes Rhubarb!!" They would exclaim.

Marvin also delivered 4 kinds of newspapers, collected pop bottles, shoveled snow from sidewalks in the winter, and mowed lawns in the summer.

Marvin’s goal was to have 50 cents each week so that he could go to the movies on Saturday, see a show, buy a coke and some popcorn. Part of the fun at the movies each week during intermission, was an auction they would hold for all the children.

Using the caps from Nesbit Orange soda pop, or Coca Cola, children could bid on really neat things such as Roy Rogers record albums, or cap guns, T-shirts, and other great things.

Since these caps were in such high demand, it was hard to come by them, so Marvin may only have a few for the auction, and usually not enough to win the bid on any of them.

And then it happened, the great pop bottle cap adventure! Marvin was standing in line, getting jostled back and forth by older high school kids who seemed more concerned with impressing each other, than little Marvin’s comfort of waiting in line.

The line was long, and the day was hot. Marvin closed his eyes and saw that cold Coca Cola and hot buttery popcorn just waiting inside for him. As he stood there next to the high school kids, patiently tolerating their giggles and laughs, and horseplay with each other, he noticed one of them had a large bag in his hand.

Marvin wondered what they were going to do with that bag, and what was in it. What kind of large bag do you take into a theater? Soon enough, one of the kids playfully pushed the one holding the bag, and a few pop bottle caps spilled out. They hurriedly grabbed them and put them back in the bag.

Imagine that!! A large bag full of bottle caps! Why they must have been millionaires! The richest high school kids in town!!

Finally they reached the front of the line, but the doorman turned the high school kids away. "Don’t you know you’re to old to attend the matinee!" The man barked.

Grumbling, the high school kids turned to leave. The one with the bag of bottle caps looked down at Marvin, slapped the bag into his belly and said, "Here kid, have a great time!!"

Marvin could hardly believe it!! All those caps!! All for him!! It was hard to sit through the first half of the movie, anticipating the intermission when he would get to be the great bottle cap king of the auction!!

Finally intermission came. Each time an item would be auctioned, the winner got to go up front to pick it up, and say something on the radio.

That day little Marvin won every single item auctioned, and was the only kid to talk on the radio. It was bottle cap Saturday for Marvin!

Such a great day it was!! Marvin ran home with his loot, and picked up a special bone for Tippy who was waiting at the back of the store for him.

Tippy and Marvin were friends for years. One day while playing outside his house in the yard, Tippy found some raw hamburger and started to gobble it up. Curious, Marvin ran over and picked up what Tippy had not yet gobbled, and looked at it. Something pricked his finger.

Glass!!

Someone had thrown hamburger over the fence with ground up glass in it! Panicked, Marvin grabbed Tippy, but it was too late. The hamburger had been consumed.

Marvin held Tippy tight to his body, crying. Tippy whimpered and licked his face.

And then...

Tippy was gone.

Marvin insisted on being alone to bury him, and say goodbye. His grandfather wanted to help, but Marvin said, "A man’s gotta do, what a man’s gotta do," and carried Tippy off to be alone for one last time.

Those neighbors that threw the hamburger over the fence to get rid of a pesky dog, will never know the heartbreak they caused.

Even today, 50 years later, my father still feels the loss of his best friend.

You can read all the chapters of "Tims Home Town Stories" by going to http://timshometownstories. com. Other stories written by Tim are at http://salessuccessmagazin e.com These stories are copyrighted by Timothy L. Drobnick Sr. 1995,1996,1997,1998,1999,2000. Any person using this article must publish it without modification and include authors bio and links.