For My Family
Hi everyone. This came about through a conversation with Amy and Laura. They said they wish they knew more stories about or family, I told them I would write down what I remember. Grandma told me a lot of stories when I was young and I do remember some of them. Some of the thigs will be personal memories of events I was present for, some will be decent stories and some will be just passing memories. Nothing is in chronological order, sorry.
Y'all enjoy.
Grandma and Grandpa had 9 kids, one of them, Claudia was born with a hole in her heart and didn't survive very long. So, there were 8 kids and 2 adults living in a house that today, would barely be big enough for just 2 people. Have Mercy!
Ok, the conversation that sparked this rambling was about my uncle Harold. Grandma told me (by the way, Grandma passed on in 1991) that uncle Harold was scared of fire when it was outside, but was always trying to light fires in the house, said she caught him trying to start on under the bed one day.
I remember when he married aunt Beverly, they had a little Scottish Terrier, believe his name was Scottie......I remember that dog did not like me. Every time we went over, he was bark at me the whole time. I really wanted to play with him, but, NOPE!
Uncle Harold and I had our own little inside joke when I was really little. He'd call me pretty and I'd say, Thank you. Then he'd say, yeah, you're pretty ugly. I'd laugh and tell him the same thing, even called him Uncle Ugly for a while. It was all good fun, nothing was said with malice or to hurt feelings. I think I was under five years old at that time and laughed like crazy every time we had that little exchange.
I believe it was uncle Harold who got his leg broke once. The elementary school they all went to (I went there as well) had those old fashioned slides that are actually pretty dangerous. Had to climb the high ladder and step on a little platform to sit on before you slid down. The hand railings were only on the ladder. I believe Grandma told me some other boys were picking on him while he was climbing up and he ended up falling off and broke his leg. Amy - Laura, you can ask him to verify this one.
Another story about that playground involves me and my uncle Toby. The school was just a block or two up from Grandma's house. One evening I was at Grandma's and uncle Toby and his first wife, Sissy, were there also. I was pretty little at this time. We walked up to the school, they were taking me to play on the playground. They had monkey bars. I had never been on them and was a little apprehensive, uncle Toby told me to go ahead and try to cross them, said he's catch me if I fell. Well, he picked me up and made sure I had a good grip on the bar. He asked if I was ready and I say yes. I took one hand off to grab the next bar........YEP! I fell! He had no intention of catching me. I remember I bit my lip and started bleeding a little.....Bless Sissy's heart, she yelled at him all the way back to Grandma's. I really love both uncle Toby, and uncle Harold. My other two uncles weren't around much. Uncle Bobby was in the Army in Viet Nam and Uncle Jimmy was living in another state, he was a submarine commander in the Navy. Didn't see either of them too often.
My aunt Nancy got married and moved when I was little, but I did spend a lot of time with her. Her in-laws had a big farm out in the country and her and uncle Kenny had a trailer on the property. I'd go spend a week or two with them during the summer. I loved spending time with them. Her mother-in-law was a sweet lady. One morning I was in the barn with her while she was milking the cow. She asked me if I wanted to try, of course I said, yes. She showed me what to do and let me sit on the stool. I was trying, but must not have done it right because the next thing I knew, I was seeing stars. That damn caw smacked me across my jaw with it's tail! Ever been smacked in the face by a cow's tail?? It's nothing but bone. Had a welt on my face for hours. Mrs. Smith??? She lost it and almost fell over laughing. :)
The man aunt Nancy married? Uncle Kenny. We shared a birthday, what even better, they had their first son on that day as well. All three of us were born on June 17th. Sadly both Uncle Kenny and their son Kenneth have both passed away. I miss them both.
Also Aunt Nancy was the first person in Tennessee to come down with Polio. They did a write-up in the local paper about her. Thankfully, she developed no long lasting issues from it. She made a complete recovery. She was blessed.
Mom told me a few stories, I guess I'll get to them now.
She told me about a 'pet' goat they had when they were kids. She said they had a little wagon/cart they would hook it up to and ride it around. Well, one day that all came to an end. Grandpa decided to have a BBQ, put the head in the shed they had out back.......All I'm going to say about that.
She also told me about one Halloween night when some of them went out tipping over outhouses......This was in the late 40's early 50's. She told me they tipped one over and it was occupied at the time. She said she didn't know they could run that fast.
Back to Grandma, she had three sisters and two brothers. Her sisters were Vasta, Lelia and May. Her brothers were Towel and Robert.
She told me one time when they were kids, they had like a home made carousel in their yard. They were all playing on it and Lelia fell off and passed out. They thought she was dead and panicked. They loaded her up in a wheelbarrow and took her into the woods to bury her. Well, as they were digging, she woke up. Talk about the makings of a real life horror story.
Grandma also had a bunch of little white scars on her back, she told me she got those when Vasta poured hot egg shells down the back of her dress. It's a wonder any of us made it this far!
Grandma once told me about her dad, John Taylor. He was what was called a walker, he'd get it in his head and just start walking somewhere. He would sometimes end up counties away. She told me he was married several times. Said he have a parcel of kids, get divorced, have another parcel of kids and get divorced. She told me he was married about three or four times and ended up with somewhere around 16 kids or more. I don't think they all ever met each other either.
I have a lot more family stories, but I'm going to end this here. If y'all liked this and want more, let me know and I'll try to add more each week.
I have stories about aunt Annette and aunt Darnell, and a LOT of stories about us cousin and stories about Grandpa.
One last note: Don't know if all of y'all know this, but we are descendants of the Hatfield's. I believe it was Grandpa's mother's side.
Thanks for reading, and let me know if you want more.
Karen.
