TERRE HAUTE —
In my mind’s eye, it will always be Memorial Day Weekend and Mr. Tilford will be cheerfully scrambling to keep artificial flowers and wreaths on the shelves and display poles of his 12 Points variety store.
A Puccini opera — or maybe Duke Ellington — will always be on the sound system.
Reality will be bent and Tilford’s Variety Store and USPS contract postal unit will bustle into an endless future, selling stamps and money orders, sewing notions and kids’ puzzles, Adam’s Clove Chewing Gum and alarm clocks, and polyester flowers for all seasons.
The store’s proprietor, Cecil Tilford, will always be behind the counter, his pale blue eyes focused on a column of figures or dancing in amusement at yet another long yarn spun by a customer who’s forgotten what she or he came in for in the first place. A pot of coffee will always be on the warmer plate and, outside, an American flag will always be snapping in a strong breeze.
Time will fly and stand still at the same moment. What it will not do is run out.
In truth, Mr. Tilford has not been in his store since April, when long-simmering health issues landed him, first, in the hospital, then in The Waters of Clinton, a long-term care facility at 11th and Elm streets in the home of next weekend’s Little Italy Festival.
For the record, he looks and sounds great. (Amazing what three squares a day, physical therapy and someone to help navigate a maze of prescription meds will do for an 85-year-old guy.) And his roommate is someone he’s known and loved most of his life, his little “twin” brother, Wayne, who was born on the same day as Mr. T, only five years later.
Mr. Tilford said the other day that for a few months after his hospitalization, his business neighbor and friend, Rich Curtis, tried to hold down the fort in the variety store and post office. But Curtis lost his own piano shop lease and had to move out of 12 Points. The post office closed at the end of June. Last weekend, all the fantastic and amazing items in Tilford’s Variety were auctioned off.
The 42-year term of the Mayor of 12 Points was over.
As might be expected, Mr. T is not happy about this. Despite his physical pain, he cherished coming to his store. “I’ve enjoyed every job I’ve had,” he said the other day after lunch at The Waters. “Except when I was first married and I worked at Stran Steel. I did not like that job.”
His beloved wife, Doris, didn’t like it, either. Sometimes, she deliberately let him sleep through the start of a night shift. So, in his 20s, he went into retailing — for F.W. Woolworth downtown on Wabash Avenue — a field he stayed in for the rest of his life.
Doris’ beautiful photo is on Mr. T’s night stand, next to the plaque he was given in 2008, commemorating his 40 years in business in 12 Points. A full-size Marine Corps flag hangs over his bed. On the window ledge nearby is a desktop name plate that says, “Mayor Tilford,” another gift from his many admirers.
As sad as he is about being forced to call it quits in his store and post office, Mr. T characteristically channels his energy toward remembering the good times and being grateful for such a long, rich run. “I’ve always been an optimist,” he said.
Instead of obsess over not being able to get to the store for the auction, he chooses to emphasize the sizable turnout.
“The Shadow people gave me copies of all the sales — 192 people bought merchandise,” he said, shaking his head in wonder. “That’s pretty good. And they included all their names and phone numbers.”
In other words, if he feels like it, Mr. T can call some of those buyers to discuss their purchases and their plans for them, catch up with the folks he knows (probably all 192) and talk business. One of his favorite parts of being in retail, he said, has always been interacting with people — customers, suppliers, the U.S. Postal Service employees he met over the decades.
Even when he talks about the disastrous 2002 fire that destroyed his original, big variety store across Lafayette Avenue, Mr. T tends to concentrate on how lucky he was not to be in the place when the front windows blew out from combustion. Things were never the same; he and Doris went from a sprawling space in which they sold everything from small appliances to jewelry, to a nook less than one-third the size.
And yet he says (and means), “I still really enjoyed every minute in the small store. I loved being around all the people.”
Mr. T met Doris Harbrueger at Fontanet School when he was in the second grade. “She was this skinny little tow head, and I went home and told my mom about her and said, ‘I’m going to marry that girl.’” And so he did.
During his 26 months of active duty during World War II, most of it in the Mariana Islands of the Pacific, Mr. T carried the photo of Doris that sits on his night stand. All of his Marine buddies said no one that pretty would ever wait for him, especially since he was sending her most of his pay for their nest egg. The boys were wrong. Doris waited and stayed married to Mr. T until her death in 1999.
“She was my one and only, of course,” he said, swallowing a little hard.
Other than doubting pals, the Marine Corps fit Mr. T like the proverbial glove. One of 10 children, he’d learned his fierce work ethic from his mother and coal miner dad. The Marines honed his determination and toughness.
“Semper Fi,” he said. “I believed that in the Marine Corps, and I believe that in almost every phase of life. Ever faithful — to your spouse, your family, your work, your friends, your morals, everything pertaining to your life.”
That credo carried him the last several years, when men half his age would have hung it up from the physical pain and the frustration of watching big box retailers grind local independents to dust. Even now, pretty much confined to a wheelchair, Mr. T pictures his store and post office and weighs a reopening.
“I really think I could do it,” he said, “but I’m afraid I wouldn’t do a good enough job.”
For now, he and Wayne and some of the other guys in The Waters take meals together and often gather to discuss current events. As he rolls down the hall toward his room or the dining room, Mr. T is greeted with “Hi, Cecil!” by aides and residents of the facility. It’s as though he has switched from being the Mayor of 12 Points to the Mayor of The Waters.
Yes, he confesses, he gets bored and sad and, always, he misses Doris. “But, otherwise, everything’s fine,” he said. “And whatever’s around the corner, well, we’ll see.”
Fortunately, Mr. T has one of the finest collections of great memories any man could own. Old friends from 12 Points who might care to share them need only drive to Clinton. Mr. T will start up the time machine, and you can go for a ride to a favorite day in either incarnation of Tilford’s Variety Store.
I’ll be taking a pack of clove chewing gum on all my trips.
Stephanie Salter can be reached at (812) 231-4229 or stephanie.salter@tribstar.com.
Stephanie Salter
Related Photos
-
Tribune-Star columnist Stephanie Salter.
Discussion
STEPHANIE SALTER: The Mayor of 12 Points has relocated his office
- Stephanie Salter
-
-
STEPHANIE SALTER: The more things change, the more they … change
What the late, great Pittsburgh Pirates slugger knew, so knew the ancient philosopher, Heraclitus, the Buddha and Andy Warhol.
-
STEPHANIE SALTER: Making room for the least among us — and their kin
Christmas. Quiet time. Down time. Not exactly the kind of day most folks tend to contemplate their fellow Americans behind bars. And yet, the United States leads the world in percentage of population in jail or prison, far ahead of second-place Russia. About 2.3 million people — nearly one in 100 adults — are incarcerated in this country.
-
STEPHANIE SALTER: Carols for the worn, weary and wigged out
For those who are agog and aglow with “the season” — you who start bouncing and humming in Toys R Us at the intro guitar notes of “Jingle Bell Rock” — better search elsewhere for a soul mate.
-
STEPHANIE SALTER: Times change. Things disappear. Toilet paper here to stay
You may have seen an email going around with “Nine Things That Will Disappear in Our Lifetime.”
-
STEPHANIE SALTER: What I learned on election day
When I identified myself as a volunteer for the non-incumbent mayoral candidate, the woman on the other end of the line cut me off. “Save your breath, dear,” she said.
-
STEPHANIE SALTER: Of politics, protests, coupons and e-wishes
It’s roundup time again, that periodic hunting down and herding together of items that have but one thing in common: They grabbed me.
-
STEPHANIE SALTER: ‘Understandable’ not the same as ‘wise’
Because I’m not running for office and don’t plan to, I figure I am free to publicly question the designation of some 30 stretches of city streets as “memorial ways” for police and firefighters killed on the job.
-
STEPHANIE SALTER: Where have all the protest songs gone?
A telling moment came during the annual Eugene V. Debs award banquet late last month, when the career protest singer and songwriter, Anne Feeney, implored a huge Hulman Center audience to join her for the refrain of “We Shall Not Be Moved.”
-
STEPHANIE SALTER: It’s business as usual, but what does it cost to stay angry?
As painful and profoundly sad as the 10th anniversary of 9/11 has been, I found the actual day a balm.
-
STEPHANIE SALTER: The unfortunate bottom line … St. Ann’s will close
Ever since word came down that St. Ann Church and Parish have less than a year to live, there’s been much invoking of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’ five stages of grief.
-
STEPHANIE SALTER: The Economy: One complex, thorny, bedeviling issue
No matter how much time and energy I spend trying to understand the Hydra we blithely call “The Economy,” I often worry that its mystery will forever elude me.
-
STEPHANIE SALTER: Thinking, now and then, about now and then
I am lying, poolside, in a plastic chaise lounge, listening to pop music and watching water droplets dry on my skin.
-
STEPHANIE SALTER: Thousands of things she would have missed
For several years, until she received an official information packet in the mail, my mother planned to donate her body to medical research.
-
STEPHANIE SALTER: Marriage? There’s an app for that ... but it’s tricky
As I watched all the happy people celebrating passage of New York’s same-sex marriage law, I couldn’t help but project to a time when Indiana adopts a similar statute.
-
STEPHANIE SALTER: Back in the saddle — with the usual burr under it
I really didn’t expect to be gone nearly six months, but then, that’s par for the course these days: What I expect to happen and what actually occurs are often about 180 degrees apart.
-
STEPHANIE SALTER: On the other hand … we’ll have a lot fewer leaves to rake
Editor’s Note: Former Tribune-Star Assistant Editor Stephanie Salter’s column resumes today in freelance form and will appear on this page every other Sunday.
TERRE HAUTE — My neighbor, Andy, had just lowered the bamboo blinds on his front porch when we heard a mournful sound. -
Memorable victories
This was about as much fun as a doubleheader split could get for Rose-Hulman’s baseball team.
-
STEPHANIE SALTER: Another batch of my status-quo-defending misinformation on schools
The day after state schools chief Tony Bennett responded to my three-column education series, a longtime friend and veteran teacher called.
“I just read the superintendent’s rebuttal in the Tribune-Star,” my friend said. “All I can conclude from it is that you are a dumbass. Welcome to the club. Anybody who doesn’t buy into his vision of education reform is considered a dumbass.” -
Stephanie Salter: One person’s roundup of significant folks lost in 2010
Every late December, as I comb through lists of notable deaths, I swear I will never repeat the process. It takes days of Internet research, mostly because I get distracted by looking up people about whom I know nothing.
-
Stephanie Salter: I've got some really good news for some of you guys
Of all the sentences I’ve imagined writing in my long, moss-covered newspaper career, this is not one of them: I am quitting my job to get married.
-
Stephanie Salter: A little history of mandated intermingling among U.S. troops
Back in July 1948, when President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981, predictions for its effect on the U.S. military were dire. Sen. Richard Brevard Russell Jr. of Georgia echoed the sentiments of millions of Americans in an address from the Senate floor.
-
Stephanie Salter: Another wronged woman becomes the nation’s paper doll
A few hours after the death of Elizabeth Edwards last week, the creepy, contemporary American ritual of vicarious grieving began in cyberspace.
“You are with your son now. Rest in peace.” -
Stephanie Salter: You’ve heard from me — now, listen to the teachers
As e-mail from Indiana teachers and principals continues to pour into my box, the portrait of this beleaguered group grows more poignant each day.
-
STEPHANIE SALTER: Have you heard Indiana’s schools are failing? It’s a lie
In Gov. Mitch Daniels’ recent state budget PowerPoint, he put up a comparison chart: The percentage of Indiana public school students who’ve attained an advanced level of math achievement versus “the world.” Hoosiers lag behind the national average, trailing such states as Massachusetts, Oregon and New York, and such nations as Poland and Latvia.
-
Stephanie Salter: Bashing teachers in the name of education reform
As I read the Tribune-Star’s recent Page 1 news packages about the governor’s push for education reform, I kept seeing faces.
-
Stephanie Salter: After the turkey and before the pie, a round of giving thanks
As my colleague Alicia Morgan wrote last week, there is no downside to taking time out now and then to list and truly appreciate our blessings.
-
STEPHANIE SALTER: A story of just one corporate lobby ‘investing in advocacy’
For those of you who know in your marrow that the president’s attempt to overhaul the U.S. health care system proves his socialist agenda, take the day off. What reporter Drew Armstrong of Bloomberg News shared this past week will be of no interest to you.
-
Stephanie Salter: Inside today’s grab bag …: Stamps, bands and GOP $$$
It’s time for another roundup of items, little ideas that can’t grow big enough for a whole column, but just won’t go away from my field of focus.
-
Stephanie Salter: Can’t make a decision? Consult strangers on the ’Net
A day after I heard screenwriter and director Nora Ephron talking on NPR about that moment in the aging process when you realize you are no longer cut out to be au courant, that moment arrived for me.
-
Stephanie Salter: The years may pass, but a friend will always ride shotgun
I should have known there would be a first-aid kit. Susan provided for every contingency.
How like her to have tucked a 106-piece, American Medical Association-approved kit under the passenger seat of her Honda Accord. How like me not to have discovered it until I was deep cleaning the car to get it ready to sell. - More Stephanie Salter Headlines
-
STEPHANIE SALTER: The more things change, the more they … change
Jodi Arias: Death Penalty Would Cause More Pain
Looking for Love? Take the Prague Metro
Raw: Costa Rica Volcano Roars to Life
First Person: Baby Falcons on a New York Bridge
Today in History May 22
Raw: Japan's WWII Atrocities Under Fire in Seoul
Raw: Students Clash With Police in Chile
Raw: New Video of Deadly Oklahoma Tornado
Oklahoma: Images of Devastation, Reunion
Crews Race to Find Survivors of Okla. Twister
Police Ram House to End Hostage Standoff
Reunited Dad, Son: 'We Just Praise God'
IRS Official Pleads 5th Amendment
Tim Cook Defends Apple's Tax Accounting
Protests Outside Cincinnati IRS Office
Slow Pokes: Acupuncture Helps Sick Turtles
Raw: Aussie Zoo Shows Off White Rhino Calf
Lawyer: Feds Investigating Susan Powell Case
Families Begin Returning to Their Homes in Moore
Moore, Okla. City of Reunions, Tears After Storm
Kim Kardashian Flaunts Pregnant Bikini Body in Greece
NBA star pledges $1M to help tornado recovery
Shakira's Shocking Talent
Morgan Freeman falls asleep on air
GRAPHIC: Blood-Soaked Machete Killer Caught on Tape
Elin Nordegren Furious With Lindsey Vonn For Parading Kids in Public
Camera Captures Climber As He Loses Grip And Falls
Helen Mirren Meets with Dying Boy in Queen Elizabeth's Place
Crowd Chants '¡Si, Se Puede!' After Passage of Immigration Bill
DWTS Crowns a Winner
Demi Moore a Rocks Bikini at Harry Morton's Family House
Anthony Weiner: I'm running for New York City mayor
Kate Middleton's Dress Flies Up
VIRAL: Baby makes epic soccer goal
The Hangover Baby All Grown Up
Olivia Munn Flaunts Her Bikini Bod
Britney Spears Under Fire Once Again For Being A Bad Mom
Arias Tells Jury What She'd Do if She Gets Life
