Mama was a smart woman

I love this picture of mother, as a young woman. Mother asked daddy about building us a new house. He was a carpenter and certainly knew how to do it. The old one is in the back of the picture. She said, "We will buy what we need every two weeks and pay for it, and you can build it." Well, she is sitting on the evidence of the beginning of the house. She made about $75.00 every two weeks working at the Kinston Sewing Factory, Kinston, AL. He would tell her the supplies they needed and that is what they bought. They worked together to build the house and I even helped! What a day that was when we moved into one house and slept in the other. Mother was a wise woman, a smart woman, and one I will forever admire and love. Mother's Day will always be hers to me.

And they call it a "bong"?

I was about to water the Schefflera plant on the front porch when I spotted it. Laying on the left side next to the old metal rocking chair was this thing. 

From the distance I thought it might be one of my black measuring spoons but immediately wondered how in the world it had gotten there. Upon looking closer and picking it up, I saw something I had never seen before. What was it? Where did it come from? Why was it in MY flower pot? Questions, questions, questions. All I knew to do was go to Facebook and pose the question with a picture. Here is the post on FB that I posed:

"Please look at this thing and tell me what it is. I was about to water our plant on the front porch and it was laying on top of the soil. You can blow air through it and it comes out the hole in the round end. I thought it was a black measuring spoon and picked it up to discover I have never seen anything like it before."

Hmmmm, immediately answers came flying back to me. A crack, meth, pipe, a bong. That's not good. My husband is a full-time preacher and we've lived here ten years. Our family doesn't need anything like that laying around! Douglas gently slipped it into a used paper coffee cup he had and off to the police station we went. We left it with them. 

Now where did it come from, you ask? We had a visitor the night before who came to our door. We knew him, but we couldn't understand anything he was saying. Doug sat with him on the lighted front porch. I was scared and called the police. When they came easing down our street they had their spotlight shining on each house. It hit our front porch and they stopped. Our unwanted visitor immediately knew he was about to be in trouble. Without doubt, he laid his pipe down in my flower pot and walked off and left it. 

I hope he doesn't come back to get it!

Treasure found in Perry's Store thrift store

This morning I had a Dr.'s appointment in Elba. I had asked Doug to go with me and asked to come back and tour the old Perry's Store to see the thrift store in it. I had heard it advertised earlier. I recall as a little girl mother and daddy taking me to Perry's Store and purchasing my first pair of 401 overalls. I was so proud to have overalls like my daddy wore, and believe me, I wore them proudly.

First of all, when inside the old building I was stunned when the owner came up and started talking to me. He introduced himself as Bob and kept talking. I thought I recognized him as a fellow classmate from Elba High School. Obviously, he did not recognize me but to make sure, I asked his last name. He said "Stuckey."

The three of us rambled around the what some might call "junk store." When almost at the front of the store again, Bobby went outside to his truck and brought back a picture album. He said his wife didn't want him to sell it since she felt bad getting rid of the pictures. I thumbed through the album and immediately started recognizing some of those pictured. Imagine my surprise to see my grandmother's family members pictured and possible even her as a little girl. I can hardly put it down. In the picture with this post, I believe the lady named Alice pictured on the left side of John in the center, to be my Grandmother Alice Nancy Kendrick Williams. (I wear her name!) John Kendrick was her brother. Some of the pictures in the album are the same as I have seen for years.

Can you imagine my joy for only $5.00?

Memories are sweet after over seventy years

I was looking through my jewelry box yesterday and ran across the little ring which I wore as a little girl. It is made of copper and has a "G" on it. I remember being disappointed when it broke underneath and mother told me I needed to not wear it anymore but to put it up and save it. That memory was so precious to me.

Then a little later I decided to put mother's afghan in the cedar chest and laying on the top shelf was my little dress. Mother had saved the dress. So I would know about it she left a note in the pocket. Mother made the little dress for me. The note says I wore it when I started walking. Though it is worn and tattered now and wouldn't be treasured by anyone else, it is so precious to me. On the collar she embroidered little rosebuds I think. She put piping around the waist which is no small thing. She appliqued the little ship on the bodice front. She took tiny rickrack and added it in just the right places.

 I look at it and see her handiwork from long ago but most of all I see her love for the little girl she wanted after having two boys, After she gave birth to me in the front room of the small government house between Elba and Opp, Daddy said to her, "You have your little girl now. You won't ever have to go through that again." So their family was complete. The memories are sweet.

Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief. Doctor, lawyer, Indian Chief

Grandma Williams came to mind this morning as I was getting ready for the day. I can see her now sitting in the old wooden, green rocker with her legs crossed. She had on a print dress with an apron. With beautiful white hair balled up at the back of her head, she was beautiful to me with her brown eyes. She'd rock and look out the door across the green yard at neighbors houses. No air-conditioning back then, just hand fans from some local funeral home. Grandma's dresses were shirt waist styled with buttons all the way to the bottom, or tail as some would say. She liked to take a dip of snuff as she sat and rested. I stayed with Grandma in the summers while Mother worked. I liked to sit on her little love-seat and talk with her. We didn't sit on the piazza very much due to the heat. Oh, that's what Grandma called the front porch. Strange that I've never heard that word since Grandma passed away. But Grandma taught me something about figuring out the boy I was going to marry and I've never forgotten it. She counted the buttons on her dress and said, "Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief, doctor, lawyer, Indian chief," as she went from one button to another. The one she ended on was the one she would marry. Why I'd say that little rhyme as I searched for buttons trying my best to get to a doctor, but it didn't work out right for me. Strange there wasn't a preacher in the mix somewhere. That's where mine should have stopped and that would have been a good thing. It has been nearly 52 years now and it's been a good life.