Moving back home

When we moved back to Missouri we stayed near my Great-Grandparents till my parents decided to move to the “big city” when I was three. One of the stories I remember from this time was my brother attacking the cactus. My Great-Grandma loved Cactus’; she was born in New Mexico Territory and spent most of the first half of her life in Desert type areas. She somehow had kept several cacti alive even though Missouri winters get really cold. My brother was walking by her flower garden one day and one of the cacti was in bloom. He reached to touch the pretty flower and got a sticky surprise. He was always short tempered, like our Dad, so he hit the cactus. Needless to say, he got stuck some more. Not sure who all was watching this, but I do know Mom said she was laughing so much as he continued to bat the offending plant that she couldn’t remove him from the area. She said they spent hours picking the needles out of both of his palms. I think my parents were both working at the country store again during this time; my Great-Grandparents babysat us. That’s all I know for 1976.