August 27 2010

It has been several days since I posted some writings...several things on my mind and cannot decide which way to go. Well our miracle with Miss Minnie ended Monday am when she blew her radiator or as the saying goes "she blew a gasket!" lol. Honey worked for 2 days working on that radiator. He got it out and had a shop to repair the leak. then worked furiously getting it back in...well, it works very well, no leaks, the  hot engine light does not come on , just the usual popping and creaking that God had taken care of but seemed to be back! Guess He decided that he had done all he could! We will put up with it for the time being. Really had a smooth move (!) this am, but when we unloaded our Sunday inserts which are in a mess that the Huntsville Times lets us fix, we found 3 papers left over! oh no! did we forget someone? Don't think so just over runs! We will know soon enough. PS: late note..no  calls YEAH!!!
Now about thoughts of other things. Dad came to mind and his life as a child. He wrote a short bio once didn't give too much info, wished I had interviewed him, but he probably would not tell me much. I have noticed that generation didn't want to talk about things of the early life .But he did speak of living with his father ( my favorite grandfather!) his 3 brothers and an uncle now and then. He spoke of how rough life was, having only one good set of pants and shirt that he had to wash out each night so they would be clean the next day for school. He graduated from high school and vowed that his children would go to college. He spoke of how he delivered papers ( humm) sold vegetables,  sold salt,  worked for a cleaners and held many odd jobs as a teen just to earn enough to buy  things he needed.  He and his family lived in a 2 rooms shack and I mean a shack down from where he later purchased a lot and built the home that I was  born in.
That  home was all they had, grandpa being a well driller which was hard work, did not make alot of money and I am sorry to say that he used alot of what he earned on alcohol. Mother told me it was home brew that he drank and that is what took his life. Evidently got some bad white lightening which poisoned him. That was in 1947 when my world came to an end with my grandpa. How I missed him.

Dad tells of surviving the hurricane of 1923 or there about. The winds were so strong, batting the house  which began to come apart at the seams, that his dad and uncle took the 4 boys out to the old truck that they owned got the boys inside and then his dad stood on one side of the truck on the side board and his uncle on the other side board, to hold the truck from blowing away.  Dad said the winds were whipping their clothes off when they stood up or tried to get in the house.
The Red  Cross came by later told them they could have money for their home but had to pay it back in a few weeks. Well did they have any money? No No...so they just put it back together best they could.
There wasn't any help in those days other than family working together.

When I was about 8 years old we traveled to Jasper Alabama where one of dads uncles lived. I look back at how ironic honeys and my paths came close to passing. In fact they probably did and we didn't know it.   Honey was from Winston County which is right next to Jasper. Many of my ancestors are buried there in Jasper or Walker County. One of our friends was named Jack Frost , who with his family lived in Miami but was from Walker County. We went to the Frosts  home when we visited our family. I remember them living by a Rail Road track and in a home that was kind of run down. Honey said that he also visited in their home many times. My thinking was that they lived in Miami for awhile then would go to Aabama for awhile. So ironic!

The uncle  that we visited in Jasper was very ill so that was the reason we visited them. Dad wanted to reconnect with his family. Uncle   Bascom was his name ( I think), his father was a Dentist, another uncle  was an educator along with other family members having other professions. They lived in a large home that was built on a hill with a number  of steps leading up to a porch. There was where we found Uncle Bascom lying there. He didn't live too much longer after our visit. Many years later when my nephew got married in Cullman Alabama, we drove over to the cemetery and checked out our ancestors. You get a sense of kinship when you visit the burial ground  knowing that they paved the way for the family.
Dad died in 1997 too soon for a great man. He had many stories to tell and I believe that he shared many of them with my brother and sister. I will share them here  when I get more insight.

Our heritage is is behind us and before us in our children and grandchildren. We must preserve the future by speaking of the past.
Grandpa you were  in my life just a short time but left a big imprint on me. I love you J