My PawPaw was a fun guy to be around. He had such a happy spirit. Some of my cousins, my sister and I were sitting around reminiscing about the ""good ol' days"" when out of the blue my cousin Judy said, ""Chicka-mucka-hi!"" We all looked at each other in awe. It had been years since we heard that! We laughed and the memories starting coming like a hard rain.

Now, to this day none of us knows what Chicka-mucka-hi means. PawPaw would get that sparkle in his eye and do a little tap dance and say loudly, ""Chicka-mucka-hi!"" I think it symbolizes a good feeling. A happy feeling of accomplishment. The others may assume a different explanation. PawPaw would be telling one of his many stories and when he'd finish the story ~~~""Chicka-mucka-hi!"" would follow.

PawPaw was a great story teller. Everyone was intrigued to listen to his stories of the past. Most of them were not just stories either....they were the honest truth.

When we are young, we had other things on our minds besides retaining all the information our elders would try to relay to us. That is why I am keeping a journal of all the stories that I remember. It is difficult for me to remember now all the great stories my Pawpaw would tell. But I will never forget ""Chicka-Mucka-Hi""

Pawpaw and his family lived in Oklahoma for a short time during the early part of the 20th century. He lived around a lot of Indians and gained a lot of wisdom from them. I believe that he had a true Indian spirit. I haven't been able to trace any American Indian blood on that side of my family, but my Pawpaw fit the bill for a true American Indian Spirit. Who knows, he may of picked up ""Chicka-Mucka-Hi"" from the tribe.

When I was a very small girl I used to think my Uncle Levi was magic! He used to do all kinds of tricks that to a small girl was simply magical. He was a cool teenager wearing jeans with the cuffs rolled up and a white tee-shirt with the sleeves rolled up. This was so he had a place to put his cigarettes. Thats the way the guys in the 50's who were ""cool"" kept their cigarettes~~rolled up in the sleeve of their tee-shirt.

Gettin' back to the magic~~~Uncle Levi would be smoking and somehow manage to use his tongue and flip that cigarette to where the burning end was inside his mouth! Then flip it back on the outside. My eyes would grow as big as a full moon when Uncle Levi would blow smoke out his nose! I thought nobody could compare to my Uncle Levi.

When Uncle Levi taught me how to wiggle my ears, I thought I was queen of the World! It took me a while to get the technique down, but eventually I could wiggle my ears like a pro.

Scientifically, if you want to wiggle your ears your brain has to be coordinated to respond to the muscles around your face and ears. That's the best way I can describe the science of ear wiggling.

My Uncle Levi had such a warm and kind spirit. I miss him dearly, but his memory will be with me forever.

rgp

George' Levi Sechrest

1935-2002