You know I really didn't realize what a privileged life I had growing up in the south until I was well grown! I guess that's pretty much the way it is with most kids no matter where they grow up you know? I was the oldest of three kids my parents had. They themselves were just barely grownups when they started having kids. Why, my mama used to say all the time how they grew up with us kids. She said that's just they way things were then. Everybody got married young and had kids. She used to tell me a lot of things when I was growing up. One of her favorite's require her to shake her finger at me as she say "Now don't forget......." Of course I haven't forgotten mama... I remember everything! Even stupid stuff I wish I could forget!
She would give me a book, wait let me back up a bit. She would BUY a book that no one in their right mind would read and tell me to READ it! Yep she sure did! Of course I read it! I am a good southern girl! And I do as my mama told me to just like every other good southern girl! Jeez how many times do I have to tell you people before you get it! lol Any who, it was like I would have to give her the info she desired but couldn't glean it as well as I could? Something like that I think. lol I retain strange things when I read boring books. Sorry I know all books should be wonderful to read but let's face it some are just down right bor-ing and how they ever made it to print is just beyond me! So I was her book detective! I remember one book in particular that must have been 4 inches thick. My only response to her when she handed to to me was "Really Mama? You really expect me to read this book?" And her reply was the same, "But of course, you are the reader in the family my dear...." I never got to finish that book before she died. I still have it marked right where I stopped.
Recently I found my baby book and I saw an entry she made when I was about 2 years old. It simply reads "Donna remembers everything". Through the years my memory has really worked in my favor. I found that all I had to do was pay attention in class and I could ace a test every time. No need to study! I also found if I took notes and re wrote just the notes right before the test I would ace the test even better! Amazed even me once I figured that out! Why I found no need to carry books home just take my notes! lol
As I got older I found that there was no need to remember a person's name just remember what their favorite hobby was or who their kids are or where they worked. Things like that would always lead me back to who they are. My memory has served me well through out the years. I can still recite the entire Hollibaugh Family Tree from memory so I'm good there.
So I guess you could say it is only natural that I became the storyteller. I do love a good story you know. Just makes my heart so warm inside to hear a good story. I have so many to put down on paper sometimes it is hard to decide which one to write first. Here is a little story from my uncle. Of course like any good storyteller you just never know if it's true or not! But I hope you enjoy it anyway!
After James came back from WWII, he found himself a young man with a lust for life! As soon as all the dust had settled his eyes turned toward his childhood sweetheart Edith. Now Edith and James had known each other all their lives, mainly because their parents were best friends. It wasn't so much that times were hard back then, I guess you could say it was more along the lines of impatience on James part to be married! All he could think about was getting married and using his GI bill to set himself up in a house somewhere with a picket fence. But first he had to have a ring. Now a young man fresh out of the Navy with a low paying job would have to wait a while before he could have that kind of money but not James! He had a plan! Yes sir! He was going to hitch himself up with a Moonshiner! What better way to make a quick buck in 1946?
Finding one wasn't a problem in 1946, talking a Moonshiner into letting you run his moonshine down the mountain for the first time was! But my slick talking uncle managed to do just that and how he did that we will never know but he did! But come along a certain Friday night he had a trunk full of moonshine and he was ready to drop it off and collect his money. So he cranked up his 1938 Chevy Master and off down the mountain he went counting his money of course.
What happened next came as a big surprise! Yep you guessed it! He blew a tire and he still had a trunk load of moonshine! And he was almost to the drop off place. As luck would have it, the county deputy stopped to help him change that tire too. Now this deputy had known James since he was a little boy so you can imagine how he must have been shaking in his boots when he pulled up. The deputy kept asking James "Where's yer jack boy?" and "Why in tarn nation would such a smart boy like you leave home without a jack?" Of course there was no way James was going to let the deputy open that trunk! So instead he took a stern lecture on how to be prepared at all times especially when traveling alone on "these back roads" at night! All the while James kept sweating buckets of sweat not to mention his underwear probably needed changing too! Why the deputy even took him up the road to get the tire patched. Nice deputy gave him a ride back to the car and put the tire on for him too. Finally the deputy sends him off on his way to deliver his illegal merchandise! Needless to say, James never ran 'shine again but that's not to say some of my other relatives haven't! We'll save that for another time, shall we?
Well folks there's your story for tonight, I hope you enjoyed it! And until we meet again, y'all be good to each other! Good night Betty!
Well done Donna. Keep up the great work.
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