Each week, I answer questions about my earlier life for my grandsons.
Question: What do you remember about each member of your family?
Momma was the kindest and most caring person I’ve ever met. She had the gift of giving and freely gave of her time and money to help those in her family, church, and community. She was also very naive, especially where her brothers were concerned. Many times, they would take advantage of her giving spirit, making up stories about people in need only to pocket the money and laugh at her. She also loved her parents and brothers dearly, so much so, she overlooked their faults. She loved Daddy and us kids the same fierce way. She was devoted to the Lord and always in church, sometimes teaching Vacation Bible School, sometimes providing food for the sick or mourning. Momma was a great cook and Lord, could she bake! Her German chocolate cake was to die for!
Daddy worked hard–he was a tool and dye maker for Carson’s Tool before opening up his own shop. I got my smarts from him–he went to UGA for a year but didn’t finish because well, he was a newlywed and Momma had Tipsy(Daddy’s sister) and her husband, Donald over for supper and cards at night. Daddy never got to study, they had so much company! Daddy wasn’t as affectionate as Momma back in those days (it wasn’t until his heart surgery in 2002 that he started with hugs and I love yous) but we knew he loved us. He didn’t drink (he’d seen what alcohol could do in his family) or curse, and always had us in church any time the doors opened. And he stood up for us–when I was in sixth grade, I was bullied by two girls in my class. Daddy told me the next time one of them hit me to lean back and punch them as hard as I could. Well, the next day, one of the girls intentionally ran into me, and I did exactly what Daddy told me to do. I broke her nose. We were sent to Mr. Dowell’s office (the principal) and were told each of us would get a spanking. But my dad refused to give him permission to spank me–if fact, he told Mr. Dowell he’d told me to punch her. I never got spanked for breaking her nose.
Rose or Rosalind always had a smile on her face which is pretty amazing with all that she went through. When she was two, she fell off a sliding board and suffered a brain injury (cerebral palsy.) She had to learn how to walk and talk again. She was very quiet, mainly because she was bullied a lot.I can’t tell you how many people I fought for making fun of her. Momma always worried about her because she didn’t have friends as I did. Rose liked her own company.
By the time your Uncle Darby came, I knew he was the brother I wanted. He was a sweet little boy and so smart. The teachers told our parents Darby was so smart, he could do anything he wanted. And he was nosey–one Christmas, I was on the phone in my parent’s room and Darby came in. Of course, I ignored him which was bad. VERY BAD! He’d crawled under Mom’s bed and pulled out all of our Christmas presents. That was bad enough but he’d opened them and mixed up the pieces! I shoved them back into the boxes and put them under the bed. Still, it was hard to explain how Mystery Date game pieces got into Darby’s Chutes and Ladders.
Love to my boys,
Nana
