Directions: |
Directions:Mama said the first time she saw Papa was as they were moving to Helicon. She was leading the cow and met Papa, riding a horse. She thought he was good looking. She said when they were dating he had a big, pretty horse and nice buggy and that was like a boy with a new car now.
I don't know when Grandma and Grandpa moved to Arkansas from Helicon, but they had a son, Bert, who told them the soil was so rich there no one needed to use fertilizer. I don't know if Mama had any children when they moved, but it was 14 years before she saw them again. When Jim was a baby they went in a wagon to Jasper and went by train to Arkansas to see Grandpa and Grandma. They said the train went so slow through Arkansas, that Papa got off one time, went in a cafe and bought a few hamburgers, then ran and got back on the train. Imagine traveling that far with seven children! Anyone would to see loved ones after 14 years. Osman remembers this trip. He said the train had stopped at the cafe but started up before Papa got on. He said they were all so scared they would never see him again. He said Papa was watching the train and knew he could get back on.
Here's a few things I remember about the grandchildren. Donald was the only grandchild for 6 years and we thought he was the cutest thing ever! He thought Papa was so special. He would get on the bed by Papa when he lay down to rest and also at night and say, "Tell me rabbit tales." Papa always made up his own stories for him. When he lived with us while Iva was in the sanitorium he wanted to dress like Papa. If Papa bought a new hat, Donald got one also. We were taking Donald to see Iva when she was in the sanitorium. We stopped in Cullman and Papa asked Donald if he needed to go to the restroom. Donald said, "No, I'm not tired." One day after Iva was back home Donald was walking to school and Papa was in the field near the road. Back then a nickel was quite a bit of money. Donald asked Papa for a nickel and he said he only had a dime. Donald said, "I can give you the change." He was in about the first grade. You have to realize how little money people had then to know how funny we thought that was.
Pat came along when Donald was 6 and we thought she was as special as he was. We had an Aunt Caroline Tarrence who had a different voice from most people. One day she was at our house and Pat came. When Pat went home she told Bernice she didn't know who the woman was, but she had a real northern brogue. Bernice knew immediately who it was.
Blanche and Bernice thought they needed to make Pat something new every week. Bernice made her panties out of sacks and every time she finished a pair she tried it on, then put it in her panty box under the bed.
Sherrie was in school at Double Springs and they were making school pictures. She was mad and didn't want hers made. She took both hands and flipped her hair back and forth. Bernice made her get in the chair for the picture and someone made her laugh. She hated that picture but we all thought it was so cute because her hair was a mess and she had that big smile on her face.
Nona could make everyone laugh. She really kept Roy on his toes when she went to Barton to school and he was principal. She would slip off and go home because they lived close to the school. She always loved Bertha and stayed with them a lot after Bernice died. She could change her voice after she got grown and sound exactly like a man. She was always playing jokes on people with that voice.
When Jimmie and I first married, we lived in Michigan 3 weeks. Gladys bought Nita her first shoes with a little heel. Of course, she couldn't walk too well in them. Gordon said, "Teach her how to walk." You had to know Gordon to know how funny he was.
One day before Doug started to school, Gladys made Nita a dress. They were about the same size and she tried it on Doug to get the length. He looked so funny she got him to try it on when Gordon got home. He laughed so hard at Doug he almost tore the dress up getting it off.
When Doug first started to school the bus came by and Doug wasn't on it. Gordon jumped out of bed, grabbed a pair of pants and put them on, and went to look for Doug. He was still at school. When they got home Gordon realized he had on Donald's pants and they were several sizes too small. When he tried to fasten them later they would not even meet.
We went shopping one time with Gladys, Nita, Doug, and A.G. I guess A.G. was 2 or 3 and Jimmie put him on his shoulders. Jimmy wasn't going where A.G. wanted and he leaned over and bit Jimmie's ear! Jimmie thought for sure he had bit a plug out of it. Gordon started giving A.G. coffee and letting him take a puff of his cigarette. We would laugh and say he would probably be the only first grader who needed a coffee and cigarette break.
When Drennon was growing up his best friend was Truman Montgomery. One day Blanche and Roy were looking for them when they saw smoke coming up out of a patch of broom sage. There were Drennon and Truman, smoking!
Our children thought Drennon was so funny. Sometimes he would go to our house in Tuscumbia to get ready for a date after work. He would jump the fence instead of going through the gate just to make them laugh. When he needed to get his license to drive his motor scooter, Roy had to ride the scooter to Tuscumbia from Barton. Roy said he was really glad Drennon passed the test so he wouldn't have to ride that scooter back home.
When Jane was little it had been a little while since the last baby and we thought she was so cute. Everyone has probably been tickled at the wrong time and wrong place. That happened the day Mama was buried. Blanche had Jane dressed so pretty and with a little tam (cap). She had it on just right and so cute. We were all on the porch as they rolled Mama out of the house. Following right behind the casket was Jane (who was about 4 years old) with her little tam pulled down over her ears. She looked so funny we could not keep from laughing through our tears.
When Rita Kay was about 2, I lived part-time with Edna and E.B. and taught school. One night I had a date and he arrived while Edna was giving Rita and Larry a bath. She dried Rita first and she went running to the living room as naked as a bird. Edna caught her just as she got almost to the door. Thank goodness.
When Lesley was in school at Helicon, Billie Guthrey was one of his teachers. He would go to school looking like he was scrubbed, he was so clean. He played so hard Mrs. Guthrey said she had never seen anyone go to school so clean and home so dirty. He always wished for a brother and when Bertha was living alone after Clovis's death she said she wished she had 15 children. She said then at least one could visit her every day.
When Larry was a tiny baby Edna left him on the swing on the front porch and ran into the house for a few minutes. She heard a bird making a noise and ran to see about Larry. A snake was in the bush by the swing and sticking out of the bush toward the swing. Edna called Mama and she tore up the bush but killed the snake. Edna and Larry lived with us while E.B. was in service. When Larry was 2 or 3 and they had moved, he spent a few days with us. When Edna went to get him he ran across the yard from her and stood and looked at her and cried. He was so glad to see her he just didn't know what to do. Edna and E.B. were living in that little old house between our house and the store when Rita was born. Edna was in bed with the new baby and she told Larry to do something. He just leaned back, cleared his throat, and spit at her. Another time Edna was cooking and a bowl of something was on the table near the edge. She turned around and Larry had his hand in it. He said, "I see if I like it."
Jimmie and I got home from Michigan the day Philip was born. We had been married 3 weeks. We stayed with Voyt and Renee a few days to help with David until Renee felt better. Jimmie would squat down to be on David's level to play with him. Every time Jimmie squatted down, David would squat, too.
Osman said he and Iva went to Voyt and Renee's often just to watch the children play. He said David could stand on his head in the floor and everything he did Philip and Lila tried to do. He said Lila stood on her head also. Osman said Zane is like Philip was at that age and does not like getting up in front of a crowd to do anything. Just before Christmas Philip and Zane came in our store. Our old Santa dressed in green is really looking his age. Zane asked Jimmie what it was and Jimmie told him it was Santa Claus. Zane asked, "Is he dead?"
When Ramona was in first grade they were studying about George Washington. She asked if we knew him and I told her he had been dead probably 200 years. She then asked if Jimmie and I went to the funeral! That shows what time means to young children.
Karen and Ramona were walking home from school one day when Ramona asked Karen something she didn't like. Karen took her lunch box and hit Ramona in the face and she had a black eye. Karen didn't want to go to school at all. I carried her to enroll in Head Start. When we got there she acted like I was taking her out to beat her, so I just brought her back home.
When Jay was little he was always playing jokes on me. He would be hidden in a different place and jump out and scare me every night. He had a big dog and one day I started to whip him and the dog almost came through the screen door. Jay really loved that dog then.
After Mama or Papa one had died, all of us girls were sitting close to the front at the Decoration. Mr. George Sisk was preaching down in front of the seats. He was waving his arms and hit Bertha's hat and knocked it off. He kept preaching and said, "Excuse me, Bertha, your hat's under the bench." Needless to say, we were all laughing while she got her hat.
When Voyt and Jim were young Mama or Papa measured their feet. Jim's were the biggest and Voyt cried. I think Jim wore size 13 when he was grown. He had overshoes that fit over his work shoes. Jimmie wears size 6 and when we were dating it had snowed and when he came to see me he wore a pair of boots that just fit his feet. He brought other shoes to put on and left the boots on the porch. Jim saw them and started laughing and said, "Whose little boots are these?" By the side of Jim's overshoes, Jimmie's looked like samples. One time he flipped Jimmie on the bottom with his fingers and Jim said it really stung but he figured Jim either liked him all right or really hated him.
Jimmie remembered Blanche's family getting ready to leave Bertha's one day and Jane sat down. Blanche told her not to sit down because they were going directly. Jane said, "That's why I sat down – I know how long directly is."
When I was a little girl I was at Bertha's and she was taking up the butter from the milk with her hand. I said something about it and Bertha said, "Mama takes it up with her hand." I said, "But Mama washes her hands." I'm sure Bertha had, but I just had not seen her.
One cold morning there was frost on the well bucket used to draw water out of the well. Osman talked Bernice into sticking her tongue to it and, of course, it stuck. Poor thing, imagine her sore tongue, but also how Osman laughed. She stood and cried until he got Mama to come get it loose. It's still funny.
Voyt and another little boy went to Grandma Cleghorn's house when she wasn't home. Mama probably sent them for some reason. Later her house burned and they asked the boys if they set it on fire. They said, "No, we didn't build that big fire – we just built a little one in the floor." They said they built a gnat smoke.
One day Mama, Voyt, Jim, Edna, and I were hoeing in the field behind the barn. Voyt kept telling me if I didn't work harder he was going to whip me. Finally he started toward me and I ran as fast as I could across the field until I got to the pasture fence. I couldn't get across it before he caught me so I lay down. To my sorrow it was under a peach tree. He broke off a limb, grabbed my feet, stood me on my head, and whipped me. I was screaming and Mama just watched and laughed.
Edna always helped Mama milk. The barn was between Bertha's and David's houses at that time. Edna would squirt milk in my mouth just to see if she could. She also got it all over my face. One day when no one was at the barn but Edna and me we got in a fuss and I was in the crib and Edna at the other end of the hall. She had a long ear of corn and told me if I stuck my head out the door she would hit me in the head with the corn. I didn't believe her, so I stuck my head out and she nearly knocked it off. She then promised me anything she had if I wouldn't tell Mama. I didn't tell her but years later I threw a cotton boll at her and hit her nose and her wearing a bonnet. That almost made us even!
The first time I ever ate English peas was at Bernice's. She had them with creamed potatoes and chicken. They were so good to me. We have them on Sunday often.
When Mama made a coconut cake it was so good. She made hers from scratch and I remember Clyde Sharpton talking about Mama's good cake because it was not a cake mix. She liked to get a fresh coconut at Christmas and use the milk in it for the liquid in the cake. She then scraped the coconut with a spoon while it was still in the shell and it looked like a big snow ball. She put 7-minute frosting on a yellow cake but she called it 40-minute frosting because it always took it so long to cook. The cake was so moist and delicious. Mama was just a good cook at anything she tried. |
This recipe for Things as I Remember Hearing Them From the Past is from