days in the life of a
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Mama's Memories
October 12, 2010
MAMA'S MEMORIES
Part 1: Humble BeginningsEver since I was a little girl, I have heard Mama tell stories about her childhood years in North Carolina. She comes from a big family, very poor but good, hard-working Christian folks who didn't own a lot but they always had what was most important.
She has countless family stories and a history that I don't want to ever be lost or forgotten, so recently I asked Mama to videotape her as she recalled some of her childhood memories.
The next couple of weeks I plan to share some highlights from my Mama's Memories videos, sprinkled in with some of my regular daily posts. I hope you enjoy this peek into her life as a little girl growing up as a southern sawyer's daughter in rural North Carolina.
Mama has very few photos of her early life, but she does have this picture of the house where she was born. This photo was taken in 1996, 60 years after Mama made her way into this world right inside these very walls.
October 13, 2010
MAMA'S MEMORIES
Part 2: Early Years in Sawmill ShantiesThis is Mama's daddy (and my grandpa) Andy. He only went to school through
5th grade, but he was a smart man and able to fix and do anything he set his mind to.
For nearly all of his working life, Andy was a sawmill man. A sawyer. He worked at and eventually ran sawmills in eastern North Carolina, taking the timber logs that were brought in and turning them into lumber which was then trucked out. It was hard, hot, back-breaking labor, but Andy was never afraid of work and I remember how solid and strong he was, like a man chiseled of rock, even in his later years when I was a child.
Andy's growing family moved with him as the sawmills moved and much of Mama's childhood was spent living in little sawmill shanties. In today's video, Mama shares some of her earliest memories as the daughter of a sawyer.
This second video I threw in, just to give you a feel for what a sawmill was like. Taken in 1962, of course the machinery was much more sophisticated that what Grandpa Andy had used 30 years before that, but the method was much the same.
It's old home movie quality (with no sound...it seems strange to watch a movie without sound these days...) that Mama took when our family visited Grandpa's sawmill and watched him work. I know it's difficult to see, but Andy is in the dark clothes and cap running the saw. Later in the clip you will see my dad Bud holding my infant sister Maria, Grandma Hazel holding my 2-year-old sister Barbara, my uncle Jeff who was 5 years old, and at the very end a glimpse of blond-headed 5-year-old me.
October 14, 2010
MAMA'S MEMORIES
Part 3: School DaysIn today's video, Mama shares some of her school days memories...
(There are several more "Mama's Memories" yet to come, but after today I plan to post them every other day or so and stick some of my ordinary daily posts in between. Check back on Sunday, October 17 for Part 4)
October 17, 2010
MAMA'S MEMORIES
Part 4: Teacher's Pet...and more School MemoriesSchool sure has changed since Mama was a little girl!
Apparently Mama was quite the teacher's pet in second grade! And she shares more school day memories, about working in the cafeteria, and how her teachers introduced her to new, strange foods she'd never even dreamed existed.
October 19, 2010
MAMA'S MEMORIES
Part 5: Visiting GrandmaThis is how my great-grandmother, my grandpa Andy's mother, looked as I remember her in 1976.
I don't have any photos of her in her younger years, but I've a notion she looked much the same only with blacker hair. It's just the way "grandmas" used to look! (Us grandmas look MUCH younger these days...)
From all the stories I've heard, Grandma B was quite the character. Guess she had to be, to survive such a tough life and keep a smile on her face. She was a woman of strong faith, with amazing resilience and strength...and as I remember and have heard others say, quite the colorful storyteller.
I treasure this photo I have of 5 generations of Grandpa's family. That's my great-grandma second from the left, with her mother, my grandpa, Mama, and me in 1959.
While Mama's family didn't have the time or money for real vacations, they did make regular trips from their coastal Carolina home to visit her grandma in the central part of the state. That trip itself was quite an adventure that created lasting memories for Mama.
October 21, 2010
MAMA'S MEMORIES
Part 6: Friends and AdventuresMama (on the right) and her younger sister Shirley were adventurous tomboys when they were growing up. They were always running off together, doing who-knows-what, but one of their most memorable expeditions was when they discovered a treasure at the nearby dump.
Besides her sister Shirley, Mama's very best friends in the world were these twins, Margie (on left) and Martha. (I don't know who the flirtatious fellows eating watermelon behind them are...that speaks of another interesting story...)
Martha and Margie lived within walking distance of Mama's house, and they had lots of great times together. Martha was the adventurous daredevil twin and Margie was much more cautious, and those personality traits are even obvious in the photo, don't you think?
In Part 6 of Mama's Memories, Mama recalls some fun adventures with her sisters and best friends.
October 23, 2010
MAMA'S MEMORIES
Part 7: Working TobaccoThis is one of my favorite pictures of Mama. She was 15 years old, just starting high school in September of 1951.
During the summer of her teenage years, Mama and her sisters "worked tobacco" for nearby farmers to earn spending money. Today's video recalls those days of hot, hard work with plenty of fun times and good food mixed in along the way.
This second video is a home movie (no sound) that Mama took on a visit back home in the summer of 1962 that shows what it was like to work tobacco.
October 25, 2010
MAMA'S MEMORIES
Part 8: High School TimesMama, Jones Central High School Class of 1954.
Mama recalls some memories from her high school years....
October 27, 2010
MAMA'S MEMORIES
Part 9: Baths, Lights, and GroceriesLife when Mama was growing up was difficult (to say the least!) by our standards, but for her family things just were the way they were and the family learned to make do. In today's video, she recalls their lack of indoor plumbing, the excitement of getting electricity, and trips to the grocery store.
part of the family in 1951...that's Mama in the middle back, with her mama and 5 of her 9 siblings
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October 29, 2010
MAMA'S MEMORIES
Part 10: The Hoosier MarineWhen Mama was in high school, in addition to working tobacco in the summertime she also got a job at a local diner. Many of their customers were young Marines who were stationed at nearby Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina.
It was working in this diner that Mama first met a handsome Marine from Indiana who would eventually become her husband (of 55 years and counting!).
In today's video, Mama reminisces about their first meeting and first date. Let's just say Dad didn't get off on the best foot with Mama...
This is the last of the "Mama's Memories" series, for now anyway. (I do have a couple more segments that I'm saving for later.) I hope you've enjoyed this glimpse into Mama's life and my heritage these past few weeks.
December 2, 2010
MAMA'S MEMORIES
Carolina Childhood ChristmasMama has some special memories of Christmas as she was growing up in North Carolina in the 1940's and '50's. Her family may not have had much money, but there was plenty of love to go around and magical memories for a little girl!
As Mama was sharing her recollections of those long-ago Christmases, I couldn't help but be reminded that the childhood enchantment of the Christmas season is precious and crosses the generations... I had those very same feelings when I was a little girl growing up 25 years later in Indiana!
Enjoy this Christmas installment of Mama's Memories...
1949 Coca-Cola billboard image from google.com
January 8, 2011
MAMA'S MEMORIES
Tarheel to HoosierIt was 56 years ago today that Mama and Dad stood beside each other at the altar of the little North Carolina church, said their "I do"s, and started their life together.
Mama said good-bye to her family and excitedly climbed into the car beside Dad to make the long drive to Indiana and the new home Dad had prepared for the two of them.
In this video, Mama shares about her early days of married life as she transitioned from Tarheel to Hoosier.
Happy Anniversary! Love you!!!
