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gifts from fans: baseball bats, hats, artwork, and that huge get-well card that Roy likes so much.
Then
he takes me to the museum, past the yellow convertible, letting one
hand trail affectionately along the side. He put 100,000 miles on that
car, one of about 50 that he owned in his lifetime, from sports cars to
station wagons.
Do you always wear a western hat? I ask.
“When you’re taking pictures, I do,” he smiles broadly.
That’s all your own hair, isn’t it? I venture.
“Yup,” he says. “Do you want to feel it?” He gives me a mischievous grin and takes off his hat, ruffing his hair. We both laugh.
Roy & Dale (continueD)
my family. I love life.
“When
I’m traveling to speak or do a concert, people help me, which is nice.
Not only that. When I get on a plane, I just take myself a deep seat
and say, ‘Lord, I am with you, whatever. If you want to turn this plane
upside down, that’s your business. If you want to get me where I’m
going, that’s your business, too.”
Dale
and Roy have pacemakers and monitor their health carefully. “I walk,”
she says. “We have a big house. I walk when I have to make connections
on the plane. I also take vitamins, a LOT of vitamins. I do the best I
can to eat right. Right now, I’m on a gout diet. I have a gouty form of
arthritis, so I’m restricted to two ounces of red meat, twice a week. I
don’t miss the meat. I can have cheese for protein instead. I’m a great
cottage-cheese person. The diet’s working. I AM feeling better. And I
take medication.”
“Dale
tells me I don’t eat enough to keep a bird alive,” says Roy, smiling.
She looks at him affectionately. “I weigh 158 and that’s low for me. I
guess I used to be 165, 170 when I was working all the time. But when
you get old and don’t do the exercise you did, the physical work, what
do you have to burn up? I just can’t eat very much. I fill up quick!” He
laughs cheerfully.
“I
also take several types of vitamins, and I have certain pills that my
doctor gave me for my heart situation. I don’t do anything to push
things since this last close call. And we don’t drink or smoke. Neither
does Dusty.”
Dale excuses herself for her next appointment, and I ask a fnal question. Is being flexible important to stay young?
“Oh, yes,” she says quickly. “We try to stay flexible in our everyday living. You don’t
What do you think of today’s young people? I ask.
He
heads back to the office, turns serious and shakes his head. “A lot of
them are in big trouble,” he replies. “It depends a lot on how they
were raised. If they didn’t learn right from wrong when they were
little, they’re going to choose whatever they want to do when they get
to be teenagers.
He
settles back into the sofa. “That’s what moms and dads are for. There
are a lot of single-parent kids that don’t have the golden time they
need when they’re little. A lot of them end up in serious trouble. I
feel sorry for them.
“I
don’t know what the answer can be except the way that Dale and I feel
about our church. If you don’t get the right guidance at home, at least
you get it from your minister at church.”
He doesn’t like the amount of sex depicted on television.
“There
are a lot of pictures on TV I wouldn’t even want Trigger to watch!” he
exclaims, laughing and shaking his head. “It seems like the only thing
left in the world is sex on some of those shows. They always talk about
it, and a lot of kids are too young to know about those things.
“They’re
going to learn about it sooner or later, because they’re human beings,”
he goes on. “But it’s confusing to them when they’re little. They hear
it and try to put two and two together. Sometimes they get in trouble
experimenting with something they don’t know anything about. It’s rough
on the kids who don’t get guidance from their parents.”
Roy’s voice becomes loving when he speaks of children.
“There are a lot of pictures on TV
I wouldn’t even want Trigger to watch!” he exclaims,
laughing and shaking his head.
“It seems like the only thing left in the world
is sex on some of those shows.
They always talk about it, and a lot of kids
are too young to know about those things.
“They’re going to learn about it sooner or later,
because they’re human beings,” he goes on. “
But it’s confusing to them when they’re little.
“We
used to play a lot of shows for children in hospitals and orphanages,”
he recalls. “We adopted four children and a foster child. We also had a
child of our own named Robin. She had Down syndrome and lived for two
years.
“Dale
wrote a book about Robin, called Angel Unaware. That book brought
little Down syndrome babies out of the backroom,” he says with pride.
“We played a lot of shows, at Madison Square Garden, the Chicago
Stadium, and before that book, you very seldom saw a little Down
syndrome child in the audience.
“After
the book came out, we saw those children ALL OVER THE PLACE. So it
opened up the doors. A lot of people were ashamed of their Down
syndrome babies, but we loved ours and maybe they did, too. They was
helpless about doing something about it. So we decided we would keep
Robin and do something about it.”
Dale
has written 22 books on family, religion, spirituality, and personal
guidance. She also hosts a weekly television talk show Date with Dale
on Trinity Broadcasting, a Christian cable network.
know everything. You might think you do, but you don’t. To me, life is a growing process.”
“And a learning proposition,” says Roy.
“I think we’re supposed to learn as long as we live, as long as we have breath,” she adds.
I
ask to take a photo and immediately they move together like
synchronized swimmers, striking a pose with their headsnearly touching,
smiles bright and natural. Roy wants to show me the warehouse. “Come on
back and take a look. It’s got everything you can think of.” He leads
me through rows of shelves holding movie reels, record albums, clothes,
and
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