family stories

What I Want To Be When I Grow Up

parents wedding pic

The first thing I wanted to be was not to be a girl, based on the difference in the lives I saw my parents lead.  This was long before I’d learned about penises, so it wasn’t penis envy.  That came later. Quite early on, I noticed Daddy had an enviable life, can Ming and going as he pleased.  Mother knocked herself out to do things just the way he wanted.  Should she guess wrong, she apologized and tried to make it up to him,, though that wasn’t easy.  Daddy hunted, fished, rode horses, and did whatever he wanted to with his friends, coming home when he was ready. Daddy was always able to come up the money for horses, hunting dogs, hunting gear, and find the time to enjoy them.  My brother and I loved tagging along with him since something exciting was always going on.  He lived a great life which I totally admired.

Meanwhile, Mother cooked, cleaned, did total child care, of course, juggled the bills to keep food on the table and the lights on, made all our clothes, and took care of the garden, canning and freezing the produce.  Mother never had to worry about leisure activities, since she had no leisure.  Everytime she sat down, she went to sleep.  I didn’t want anything to do with that situation.

Our social life revolved Daddy’s family.  We spent holidays and weekends together.  We saw Mother’s family once or twice a year, since they lived a couple of hundred miles away.l

When I was a kid, I had no intention of marrying to recreate the life of servitude my mother led.  I thank God I didn’t.

>a href=”https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/futures-past/”>Futures Past</a>

“I Wish I Had Left Whiskey Alone!”

Letter from Jail p1,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Letter from Jail p20070

 

I was delighted when a beloved niece made this family letter available to me.  An unfortunate gentlemen friend of Helen’s had become entangled with the law and needed her help.  According to family stories, she held influence with many judges, lawyers, and business men, since she ran a quite well-patronized house of ill-repute and had become quite wealthy as a bootlegger.  I don’t know how this gentleman’s difficulties worked out, but it is apparent for the moment, he regretted his involvement with whiskey.  Sad, sad story.  I hope his sweet Helen was able to assist him!

Floyd, the Cornbread, and the Attic Fan

imageFloyd Lewis was a holdover from another time.   Daddy hired him whenever he needed help clearing new ground, cutting timber, or work of that sort.  Illiterate, with no social graces, Floyd muttered an unintelligible answer if asked a direct question.  Considering our financial situation, I know Daddy couldn’t have paid him much.  It is doubtful Floyd ever attended school, since he was of the generation before attendance was Continue reading →

Are You Hungry?

gravyThat was the first question Daddy asked every person who entered his house, should they be a friend, relative, or Kirby Vacuum Cleaner Salesman who happened to be hopelessly lost on the back roads of rural Bossier Parish.  Raised during The Great Depression, always hungry, he frequently did a day’s work for no more than food.  He swore if he ever got grown, no one would ever leave his house hungry.  “Are you hungry?  Kathleen will fix you something to eat!”   The burden of his good intentions Continue reading →

Turned Out In The Cold

imageUncle Joe sent word he needed the boys to cut firewood one November day in 1934.  He’d be ready about ten the next morning.  They walked barefoot three miles through the woods, kicking at the fallen leaves, since it was a still a warm day as November often is in Nortwest Louisiana.  Shoes had to be saved for school, but the opportunity to get a day’s work took precedence over school.  They needed whatever Uncle Joe paid, whether it be a little money or food.  Maybe they’d get a meal or some cast off clothes, too. Continue reading →

Long Lost Treasures

Eddie SwainI’ve recently been writing about my paternal grandmother, Mettie Knight Swain, whose life I didn’t know nearly so much about as my mother’s family.  I reached out to my cousins who were kind enough to send me pictures.  I am grateful to receive these.  Pictures can tell you so much more about a person than you’d expect. The man in the hat is my grandfather, Eddie Swain, Mettie’s husband.  He died of a brain tumor at the age of forty-two.   The family picture is one of the earliest I’ve found with Eddie and Mettie Swain and their three children, Geneva, standing left, Parnell, and Edward in Mettie’s lap.  They had four more, Bill, Bessie, Esther, and Ola Bea.  This photo would have probably been made about 1922. Continue reading →

Fascinating Headstone

HeadstoneJust got back from a visit to family and brought this souvenir back to share with all of you.   In Mulberry Cemetery, between Amsterdam and Amoret, Missouri, this marker stands near the worn original marking the grave.  The epitaph reads:

Here Lies the Remains of Henderson B. Clark Born Dec. 4. 1847 Murdered For His Cattle Aug. 27. 1878 By Richard Isaacs Who Was Captured Sept. 5. Tried And Sentenced To Death Sept. 25. And Executed Oct 29. 1879.

Reportedly, Richard Isaac’s grave was in the same cemetery with a gravestone telling his story, though we could not find it.

Cousin Barbie Gets Married

imageA few years ago Mother got the thrilling news that her cousin Cookie’s daughter was getting married. When Cookie and Mother were young, they were dear friends, but time and circumstances had come between them.   Now the wedding of a distant cousin’s daughter normally doesn’t make a widowed lady in her late seventies jump for joy, but Continue reading →

Relaxing Weekend in the Country With Family

family6cousinsparents wedding pic

My mother found this hilarious letter among her things today.  My grandmother was in a foul mood when she wrote it.  I recalled this weekend like it was yesterday when I read the letter.  Grandma was nosy.  She like to get right behind Daddy, quizzing him about his business and his family.  He wasn’t a patient man.  That certainly didn’t endear her to Continue reading →