ONLY A MEMORY

As I look out my kitchen window I see corn growing high, green beans hanging on the vines, tomatoes red and ready to pick and then I realize it is only a memory.

I hear the chickens chuckling and see the feed bucket swinging from the hand of a man wearing a billed hat and a blue denim jacket then I realize it is only a memory. 

I walk down the hallway and I see a light coming from the computer room, a cup of coffee and an open Bible on the desk and I realize it is only a memory.

As I walk into the living room I see someone sitting in the wing chair in front of the fireplace, flames flickering, coffee cup in hand but then realize it is only a memory.

I hear the basement door open, it is barely daylight. I hear the sounds of the boat being hooked up to the truck and then I hear the truck as it pulls out of the driveway and realize it is only a memory.

I hear the strum of a guitar and a soft voice singing a song written just for me. I hear the words  "You're the Sunshine in my valley, you're the fragrance on the rose. You're the melody of Springtime, you're the sweetest flower that grows. Somewhere in time the angels smiled and destined you for me. You'll be my love forever dear throughout eternity."  As the music fades I realize it is only a memory. 

I feel the hand brush my cheek as it places in my hair the first rose that has bloomed on the rose bush by the back door then I realize it is only a memory.

I go to bed my feet are cold and I feel someone put their already warm feet on mine and pull me close and I realize it is only a memory.

MY MAMA

Mama and Sue 

Have you ever had anything so precious, beautiful, lovely, wonderful that it is hard to explain? That is my Mama. My mama had 8 children and I was number 5 in the line of brothers and sisters. I was the first one born after we moved to the country and the first one born in a hospital. I do not know a lot about my mama's childhood but I do know that she was born in Knoxville, TN over on Forestdale Avenue according to Aunt Mabel. Later they moved to Lincoln Park and my Grandpa worked for the McClain Nurseries. Mama went to Inskip School and she went through the 8th grade. Here are a few pictures of my mama when she was young.

 

My mama had 7 brothers and 2 sisters. This is the youngest picture I have of  my mama. She is sitting on her moms lap there in the middle of the picture. That is her dad sitting to the left of her mom.

Playing the piano Mother's Day 1992

My mama must of been between 12-15 when she began to play the piano. She said they had an old pump organ shut away in a room and she would go in there and taught herself to play.  My mama had a gift for playing because she never had a lesson but played in church for over 60 years not only for the choir but for different groups to sing. She would make that piano talk. And look out if she ever got "happy" the piano might just walk when she was playing it.


                                                                                                                When my mama was 15 years old her life changed in many ways. Her mom died. At the time they said she had consumption but my mama said she knew later it was cancer. When her mom died her four older brothers and sister had already married. So the four younger brothers and sisters went to live with the ones that were married. My mama went to live with her brother Paul and his wife Ella. They lived in the Forestdale area and went to Forestdale United Brethern Church on Forestdale Avenue. And that's where my dad came in. My dad was related to the Warwicks and they went there to church also. So my dad met my mama at church when she was 15 years old and he was 17. They got married when she was 16 so they must of know each other only about 10 months. Mama probably turned 16 in July after her mom died in May. My dad probably turned 18 in February before they married on March 15, 1928. Not sure when this picture was taken but the youngest one I have of them.

Mama and Daddy

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From what I understand Papa Spencer gave them a place to live over on Oak Hill Avenue in the Lonsdale Community. John, June, Phyllis and Jim were born while they were living on Oak Hill. Mama used to tell about walking from there to where Papa and Granny lived down on Spencer Street in the North Hills Community. She talked about passing houses that had lamps in the windows and how pretty they were and that she hoped one day she would have lamps in her windows. My dad used to talk about walking to work at Albers Drug Company on State Street and how his shoes were so thin he could step on a dime and tell whether it was heads or tails. But that is a tale for my dads blog that I will get to later. Mama and daddy must of been married about 3 years before they had any children because John was born in May of 1931. I know lots of memories were made in the house on Oak Hill but that was before I was born. From my figuring they lived in the house on Oak Hill for about 13 years before they moved to Edmondson Road in 1941.  Here are a few pictures of my mom when she was younger.

 The house they moved to on Edmondson Road was a new home. I don't know how many homes were built but it was called the Highland Homesteads. I know there was already some homes in that area because the Reeser house was a log house and the Langston house and Warwick house was old and the one at the end of the road was old. The house had a kitchen, living room and 3 bedrooms. It had a back porch and a front porch and an outside toilet. It had a well with a hand pump on it at the back porch. It had a basement that was partially dug out. Mama and daddy had a bedroom, I guess June and Phyllis had one and John and Jim the other. After four more children were born I know at one time Jim and Bill and me and Mary slept in the same bed two at the top and two at the bottom. Some additions were made to the house over the years including a bathroom and a living room. The original living room became a bed room and one of the bedrooms became the dining room and the wall taken out between the kitchen and dining room. The back porch was enclosed and became the laundry room. I haven't been in the old house since 1992 when my mama died so there may be other changes now. That was my home for 19 years. The home I grew up in, the home I loved and the home of my memories. I have no bad memories of my childhood. I was loved and knew I was loved by my mama and daddy. My mama was a beautiful lady. She did not wear makeup except for just a dusting of powder. I never saw her with lipstick or eye makeup of any kind. My mama never wore pants. She always wore a dress or skirt and blouse. One time when she went to the beach she wore a bathing suit. One of my most precious memories of my childhood was my mama being home. When I got up of the mornings she was home, when I walked up that hill from school in the afternoons she was home, when I went to bed at night she was home. Every morning she would fix breakfast. It was usually gravy and biscuits, oatmeal or pancakes and syrup. Homemade syrup made from sugar and water. I never went to school hungry. Mama always fixed a big supper. It was usually beans and potatoes cornbread or biscuits. I have seen mama many Saturdays go out in the back yard and wring a chicken neck off and scald and pick feathers off of a chicken to have for Sunday dinner. One of my favorite things she would fix for Sunday was banana pudding. I would stand at the kitchen cabinet watching her make the pudding and when she would turn her back I would get a vanilla wafer and a slice of banana and eat it. I still remember it so vivid. Also she made the best chocolate cake with white boiled fluffy icing that you ever tasted. And her chocolate pies and chicken and dumplings were to die for. At Homecomings you better get in line if you wanted some of my mama's chicken and dumplings. When my brother Jim would come home she made sure to make him a French Coconut Pie. She made the best Peanut Butter Fudge. So needless to say my mama was a good cook. I remember mama washing clothes in the kitchen on the old wringer washer. After she would wash them and run them through the wringers she would take them outside and hang them on the lines in the back yard and up the fence that went from our house up to the Haires house. The line would be flapping with daddy's white shirts. My daddy wore white shirts not only to work but to preach in so she had a lot to wash. She would also starch, sprinkle with water and stand for hours at the ironing board ironing them. With 8 kids she spent many hours over the ironing board. I remember she would wear the old worn out white shirts as aprons. I can see her now as she would go through the kitchen flapping that white shirt apron running the flies out of the kitchen. It seems like every time it was wash day it was also pinto beans day. I can still smell them cooking. My mama also knew how to use a switch. My daddy corrected with a belt but my mama used a switch. I am sure I must of been the perfect little angel because I don't remember many switchings. but maybe I just knew how to hide. I not sure which ones got a switching when she pulled over at the cemetery on Adair coming from Aunt Mabels.  Probably Mary and Ron. She also knew how in church to reach over and not only pinch but put a little twist into that pinch on the leg. On Saturday nights my mama would prepare for Sunday. She would lay everybody's clothes across the back of the couch with their shoes and socks on the couch. Sunday was always a big day at our house. We never entertained the thought of not going to church. My daddy was the Pastor and my mama was the pianist. My mama had many jobs in the church. She taught the YWA's (Young Women's Axulitary) the WMU (Women's Missionary Union) at Highland and taught Sunday School for many years at North Acres.  She was the pianist at every church my dad Pastored playing until she was 80 years old. Most of my memories of my childhood with mama was just growing up and her being the greatest mama in the world. I never heard one bad word said in my presence about my mama. Also she never talked bad about anyone. If one of us did she would always say "now girls, lets not say that". Below is a picture of me and mama at my wedding. Mama would babysit for me when my kids were little if I needed to go shopping or somewhere. My kids all loved her so much. Pam and Byron were the only ones that got to know  my dad.

Mama and Sue June 2, 1962

 In 1972 my mama's world changed. My dad was diagnosed with Lymphoma and only lived a few months passing away in December of 1972. I only seen my mama cry 3 times in my 75 years. Once was when she was told her brother Charles had cancer, the second was when my brother Bill went to Vietnam and the third was when my daddy died. I am sure there were other times but this was all I ever seen her cry. This is the last picture I have of my mom and dad together. This was just a few months before he passed.

Last picture of Mama and Daddy

 For the next 20 years my mama lived by herself. Once my brother Bill lived with her while they were building their house and another time my brother John before he moved to Florida but mostly she was on her own. My sister June lived just behind mama and could walk out there and could see her house from where she lived so I am sure she looked out for her many times. But as I have said we all have our own memories but these are mine. Mama would go to visit my sister Mary for a few weeks at a time each year. Every summer mama would come to my house and help me shuck and cut off corn and break and can beans.  Mama continued going to church and playing the piano. I was working at this time but I was usually off on Monday and Tuesday and that would be the days that we would go out to eat. I would pick her up and before we got down the hill past the Resser house she would be rummaging through her pocket book looking for us a coupon to eat with. Mama was not a big shopper I am sure due a lot to not having extra money to shop with. She rarely bought a new dress but still wore the polyester dresses that June, Mary and I made for her. My mama was a very good manager. I don't know how much her SS was but it was not much due to the fact that the churches my dad Pastored had not paid into SS for him. And because of that fact the church my dad was at when he died gave her a little money each week. I think when it started it was $50. I am not sure if it was ever increased or not. I also know I had some brothers and sisters that helped her some each month. But even at that she did not have a lot of money. She never went in debt unless there was no other choice. One of the big things me and mama had in common was going on a diet. Especially on a Monday morning. She liked the diet where you could eat ice cream. She loved her ice cream. She looked for a dress for my niece Melissa's  wedding and found one at Proffits that was a size 12. Probably the smallest she had ever bought. This was the dress she was buried in.


My mama loved her sisters Mabel and Irene. They would go out to eat and mama would pick up Aunt Irene and they would go to Aunt Mabel's house and she would drive them to Shoneys or where ever they would go. The pizza place out on Merchant knew them by sight and when they would walk in the door they would put them a jalapeno pizza in the oven. My mom was a writer. She wrote many poems and prose. Most of her poems were religious. She had poems written on every thing. Especially the white cardboard that would come with stockings. After she  passed away my niece Judy typed all of her poems and had them put into a spiral notebook for everyone. My sister June also had a CD made of her playing the piano and gave to each of us. Only having an eighth grade education I never realized how smart my mama was until my later years. She was an avid reader and also a Bible scholar putting lots of time into studying for her SS lessons. She would watch TV and she liked Murder She Wrote among other shows. Below is a poem my mom wrote about her and her sisters going out to eat and a picture of the three of them.

Aunt Mabel, Mama, Irene

AT SHONEYS

I have two sisters, Mabel and Irene, they are the nicest sisters you have ever seen.

They call and say, let's go out and eat. So to Irene's I go and get on her street.

I honk on the horn, and she comes a humming, And to Mabel's we go for that supper we're hunting.

We hop in her car and to Shoney's we go. We go in the sunshine, the rain, and the snow.

We give our names before we can pass, The great supper's waiting, we've got there at last.

We go in a room and sit down at a table, Me, Irene and sister Mabel.

The waitress says, how are you this evening" We are just about starved, but she stands there just beaming. What will you have on your order tonight, The fish is good, but the oysters are just right.

So the oysters we order with a salad so green, And a baked Irish potato, such as you have never seen. And the coffee galore, But we always ask for more, And with this supper so big, We act like the three little pigs, Which thought they would get no more, The waitress asks "no dessert"? We all answered and said no, we already hurt.So we took our bill, And our money to the till, And because we could eat no more, We went out the door. And we could hardly wobble, And all of us said, what makes us such a big gobble? So back in the car we went, Because we are not thru eating yet. At Mabel's house there's apple pie, And then we all begin to cry, For ice cream to stack way high. So at the store once more, Irene hops out the door, And goes hurrying inside with a smile and a sigh, And brings out ice cream for our good apple pie. We will be sorry in the morning, And this ends our supper at Shoney's. 

For Christmas mama always tried to get each one of us a little present. It was usually a handkerchief or pair of socks. Just something to show us she loved us. Mama always put up a Christmas tree and we would usually always have a get together. She would put all of her Christmas cards on the buffet so she could look at them. She would keep a jar of candy corn with  peanuts in it on the table or buffet in the fall. Thanksgiving was another big thing at my mamas. We would all go home for Thanksgiving. Mama made the chicken and dumplings, I made the turkey and June made the ham. Along with that we would have every side dish imaginable. Mama always made an apple cake. After mama died we all started having Thanksgiving at our own homes. Mama was in fairly good health most of her life but in 1992 following surgery she was diagnosed with gall bladder cancer. There was nothing they could do. My mom did not complain and continued going to church and enjoying life as much as she could. We all went to church with her on that Mother's Day. 

Mother's Day 1992 

Mother's Day 1992

We gave her an 80th Birthday Party in the Fellowship Hall at North Acres Baptist Church on July 23, 1992 and by Thanksgiving she was not able to eat much and she passed away on December 8th 1992. My mama loved God, her husband, her family and her church.  I currently  carry the Bible that her SS class bought for her and take notice of the things that she has underlined. A couple of Sundays ago I noted that she had underlined the verses in Philippians about "in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content", "I can do all tings through Christ which strengtheneth  me", "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus". I think she truly relied on these particular verses from the Bible to pattern her life by. There will never be another like her.

July 23, 1992 Mama's 80th Birthday

Greenwood Cemetery 

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of mama.

MY MAMA'S HISTORY

My mama was born on July 23, 1912 to John Henry Ramsey and Neppie Louanne Ramsey.  She was named Conilee Texas Ramsey. There was another Conilee in the family but I have no idea where she got the name Texas.  She was one of ten children of John Henry Ramsey and Neppie Luanne Ramsey. Her brothers and sisters were born in this order. Joel Edmond (Rilla), Paul Madison (Ella), Claude Ernest (Georgia)  Sarah Mable (Jim), John Howard (Nora) , Jacob Clifford (Edna), Conilee Texas (Edd), Flora Irene (Harley) , Albert Alexander (Margaret)  and Charles Leroy (Jewel). My grandfather was a relative of the Ramsey's from the Ramsey House. I have been told at one time they owned all of the property where Chilhowee Park is, I do not know this for a fact but I was told that somehow his brother 'beat' him out of the property. But true or not my grandfather was a tenant farmer and never had much of anything.  My mother never talked a lot about her days growing up. In 1927 at 46 years old her mother died. Mama would of been 15. At the time they said she died of consumption but mama said she knew later it was cancer. So at 15 years old and with 9 more brothers and sisters my mom was basically without a home. Some of her older brothers and her sister Mable had already married and the ones still at home went to live with some of them. She went to live with her brother Paul and his wife Ella down on Forestdale Avenue and that is where she met daddy.

Mama's daddy John Henry Ramsey

Mama's mother Neppie Louanne Ramsey

Grandpa and second wife 

Back Row: Mabel,Edmond,Paul,Ernest,Howard, Grandpa
Clifford, Mama, Irene, Albert, Charles

MY CHURCH LIFE

Original Highland Baptist Church

First finished Highland Baptist 

Before I was born I was a part of the church. When Highland Baptist Church was established on July 5, 1942 my mom was expecting me. My mom and dad were Charter members of Highland.  I was born in February of 1943 and my dad was ordained and called as Pastor of the church on July 4th, 1943. . So I have never been without connections to a church. So lets start with the first church I remember and that was Highland Baptist Church on Babelay Road. I never realized until I started searching my memories just how much is instilled in a child in their early years. I have so many memories of my early days at HBC. Especially the people. We lived on Edmondson Road which is just through the woods to Babelay Road where the church was. In those days the community was the church. Cars were few and we did not go miles just for church. Many Sundays we walked to church or my dad would load the car with the neighborhood kids even riding in the trunk of the car. Some of the people who lived on our road that went to Highland were the Landsons, Hairs, Warwicks, Reesor kids, later the Ogles and of course all the Spencers. Then down on Babelay Road were the Greens,  Thompsons, Kecks, Big Earl Johnsons, Atchleys, Davies, Smiths, Silveys, McGinnsis, Kirklands,  Then you go over to Harris and there was the Halls, Jones, Spears, Atchelys, It just goes on and on. All of these people I remember very vividly. Church was very different in 'my day'. Life centered around church. We did not plan any activities that did not put church first. As Pastor of the church my family was invited many Sundays to members homes for Sunday Dinner. Many memories and friends were made during that time. Now a Pastor is seldom asked to a members house for dinner. Maybe taken out to a restaurant but rarely to a home.  My dad was the Pastor of  HBC for 5 years the first time and you would think I couldn't of remembered that much but I do. First the people. I remember Mrs. Davis making me dresses out of flour sacks. The Davis's lived on Babelay Road and it was in their yard that the church was established. I also remember Mrs. Thompson giving me socks. They were new socks. The Green's had a dump up behind their house where they would dump things from where they had been picked up in the city. I am not sure just exactly what Mr. Green did but when they would bring things out and dump them my family would get "new" shoes out of the dump. So I have worn many pair of shoes out of the Green's dump. I also remember going home with Charlotte Keck on Sundays and we would eat cold sausage that her mom had canned out of the jar. I also remember going to Mrs. Fair's house that lived over on Millertown Pike and the women all gathering around the quilting frame and making quilts. I remember going to the Jone's over on Harris for the Sunbeams. Next I remember so clear a lot of the messages that were preached. My dad was a very demonstrative preacher. I remember the tent meetings, the calling of sheep from the basement of the church, the hunting of the coin from the furnace register, the Santa Clause coming up from the basement of the church with gifts for the children. My SS teacher Mrs. Henry giving us money for memorizing Bible verses.  I remember riding the bus around Harris Road and other places picking up families to come to church. I remember telling on one of the girls and boys for doing some smooching on the bus and she told me my big mouth would get me in trouble and I am sure she was right it has got me in lots of trouble over the years. Then in 1948 a change took place. 

Original House Mountain Baptist

House Mountain Baptist 

In November of 1948 my dad was called to be the Pastor of  House Mountain Baptist Church on Washington Pike. I was almost 6 years old and again you would think I could not remember those years but I do so much. The people at House Mountain were country, mountain people. A lot of them living around the mountain. Again as Pastor's family we were invited most Sundays to someone's house. And we would stay until time for the evening service. Everyone would sit on the porch and talk and the kids would all play in the yard, woods and creeks. Some of the people I remember the most were the Lawson's. They made up a lot of the church and if you weren't a Lawson you were related somehow. There were the Andersons, Earls, Brooks, Smiths just to name a few. As a 6 year old I didn't really make a lot of personal friends but the people made deep memories. I remember one Sunday we went home with a family and after lunch we were on the front porch and they asked if we had ever eaten any goat and my dad said "not unless that is what we had for lunch" and of course it was. I remember one Sunday we left my brother Bill asleep on the bench at church. He was two years younger than me and when we got home he wasn't in the car so we had to go back and get him. I don't remember this but my sister June met her husband there. Came down from Luttrell looking for a girl and saw my beautiful sister June. Must of been OK because they were married 60 years before he passed. My dad said when he went to House Mountain they were not able to pay him a salary so instead gave him the Sunday Night offering. A lot of people would wait and put their money in the offering at night so he was soon put on a salary. Lots of Sunday afternoons the men would go up on top of House Mountain and pray. Of course as a child I did not know the workings or problems of the church but my dad only spent two years there as Pastor and he was called back to be Pastor again of Highland Baptist on Babelay Road in February of 1950. 

Highland Baptist with more additions

Highland Baptist 

By this time I was 7 years old. The next 3 years were spent making many life time friends. Again each Sunday we would go to other members homes and spend the day. Different people had moved into the church during the time we were gone. Most of the old ones were still there but now we had the Ogle's, Mondays, Acuff family which consisted of the Simpsons, Parrotts, Copelands, Brooks. The Will Atchley,  McCarters., Speers, Chesneys, Newmans. I could go on and on but these stand out a lot because I soon became good friends with Patsy Ogle, Jean Copeland, Brenda Simpson, Ruthie Wolfenbarger, Barbara Chesney. My brothers had good friends like Bill Monday, Ronnie Newman, Carroll Chesney, Eddie Copeland. So many ties go back to this time in my life. Things seemed to be back as usual with the preaching, singing, shouting and all of the activities. This was the original building that had been added on to. Of course we didn't have air condition and I remember one night some of the young girls were singing and a bug flew in one of their mouths. We always had the windows and doors open. A lot of good services and times were had at that time but I didn't know there was controversy brewing. At this time the King James Bible was being taken out of the Sunday School literature and the RSV was being added in. Well this caused a big problem in our church. My dad was strictly for KJV.  So in 1953 my dad resigned the church. He stayed for a few months as a member then him along with 22 other people asked for their letters and begin to meet as a group of people at the home of W. P.  Atchley on Harris Road. 

W. P. Atchley Home on Harris Road

W.P.Atchley Home

The 22 people that left Highland began to meet at the home of W. P. Atchley on Harris Road for Sunday School and Worship Service on Sunday Afternoons. I was 10 years old at the time and I remember very distinctly going to their home. This was also the road that many of the other people like the Acuffs, Parrotts, Copelands and Simpsons lived on.  They all began to pray that a way would be opened to build a church. If you know these people none of them were rich, just common hard working people.

At this time my dad also had a radio broadcast. I remember going down town on Saturdays to the broadcast. Bill and Beatrice (Coot) Parrott along with Margie Simpson and Lorn Chesney would sing about every Saturday.  My dad was working at Albers Drug Company which was located downtown and before the interstate was built the way to go to work from our house was either down Millertown Pike or Washington Pike. As my dad drove to work day after day the Lord gave him a vision of a church on the corner of Millertown and Lindberg Blvd. The miracle of this is this land was not even for sale. But one day the land was for sale and the vision became a reality. In November of 1953 two lots were purchased at this corner and a 25x50 building was erected by donated work. On April 18th just a little over a year from leaving Highland Baptist the church was constituted as North Acres Baptist Church of Knox County,with Rev. Edd Spencer as Pastor. Over the next two years there were a total of 55 people that moved their membership from Highland to North Acres. For the next 18 years this was the church I became a part of . We started off in the 25X50 foot building and it was soon added on to and became the church of many of my memories.  I was saved there when I was 13 on a Tuesday night during a revival held by Rev. Earl Joiner. I was baptized about a year later in Roseberry Creek. These were my teenage years of making many lifetime friends. The Chesney family became a part of the church and at 13 years old I had my first date at a SS Christmas Party with what I didn't know then would be my future husband. The next 6 years we spent dating, going to school, and going to church. Families were really close in those days and again each Sunday I would either go home with one of  my friends or they would go home with me until the Sunday Night service. Many Sunday afternoons were spent at my friend Jean Copeland's home and with her cousins Brenda and Ruthie. There is no way I could ever write down all of the wonderful memories from that time in my life. James was also saved at North Acres during a revival held by Rev. Frank Miller when he was about 19 but he never joined the church. In 1961 James and I were married at North Acres. The next several years we spent raising our family, working, going to church. All three of our birth children were born while we were going to North Acres. James did not attend church like me and the kids did. He did a lot of his hunting and fishing on Sundays.  My dad had been Pastor of the church now for 18 years. Then at 62 years old in 1972 my dad was diagnosed with Lymphoma. He only lived a few months and passed away in December of 1972. My life then took another turn.

Fairview Baptist Church on Emory Road

James and I had been living on Maloneyville Road for 10 years at this time. After my dad died I tried to go back to North Acres but it was really hard to go there and not see him preaching each Sunday so we decided to visit a church closer to home. That is when Fairview Baptist Church became a part of our lives. We visited there and we really liked the Pastor who at that time was Rev. Ralph Berry. Still James was not attending like me and the kids. He still spent his Sundays hunting and fishing. I may not have continued at Fairview if not for my friend Eleanor Schultz. Eleanor and I had attended Holston High School together and she was a member at Fairview. She invited me to her house to a SS class meeting and it was there that I made friends with many of the ladies from Fairview. Sonia, Hazel, Barbara, Doris, Pat, Kathy, just to name a few of the ones that soon became friends that I will never forget. James and I joined Fairview and he was Baptized there. I would sing in the choir and one year James and I taught a VBS class. That was about the extent of our involvement. Again we didn't know the inner workings of the church and what was apparently some problems going on. So Pastor Berry resigned the church. James stopped going and me and the kids continued to go for awhile.  About 1976 we visited House Mountain Church, the same church my dad Pastored when I was 6 years old. It was more like the church I had grew up in and after about a year we joined House Mountain.

House Mountain Church

House Mountain Church today. 

For the next 24 years instead of attending the church we became the church. I first became involved in the choir and was soon invited to sing in a group at the church and that became my passion. I sang with Vella Gray and her sister Alma Stanifer in the beginning. My daughter Pam soon began to play the piano for us. Lona Sue Bullen played the bass and later James played the guitar. Even after all of these years I remember the first song I sang with them. It was I Have Never Been This Homesick Before. I loved singing with the group. We would go to different churches to sing and to shut in homes. We would practice almost every week. After Pam left House Mountain to go to New Hope where her future husband belonged my daughter Jennifer began to play for us. After Jennifer went away to college James sister Barbara played the piano for us and James continued on the guitar. Lona Sue had moved her membership to another church and Alma also left for another church and Mable Daniels begin to sing with me and Vella. So for probably the last 10 years or more it was Vella, Mable and myself.  Rev. Lloyd Henry was the Pastor when we joined House Mountain but in 1982 he resigned and we called Rev. Bill Winters as Pastor and this is when James became involved in church. Rev. Winters was a Seminary educated Pastor and James finally connected with someone he could relate to. The next 10 years James became involved in all of the activities of the church. He soon became a Sunday School Teacher and a little later a Deacon in the church. He taught VBS, was the treasure at one time. I later became the Fellowship Director over the activities and also taught VBS and SS and did the bulletin. I spent hours at the Fellowship Building decorating for different events. This was the happiest I had ever been in a church. Also it was really the first time James had been an active part of our church life. Even after all of these years there were still a lot of the same people at the church. Still a lot of the Lawson family but the families had grown and now we had the Andersons, Arnwines, Blackburns, Daniels, Donahues, Davis, Earls, Fishers, Heltons, Kirks, Kidwells, Millers, Whitakers, Whittles, Grays. That's just to name a few. Many became dear friends during our years at House Mountain. In 1986 Rev. Williams left the church. For the next two years we had Rev. Dan Dunkel the next two Rev. Steven Brasher. In 1991 Rev. Winters came back to the church as Pastor. I can't remember how long he stayed this time but after that we had a few more Pastors. Churches used to vote on a Pastor every year and over the 77 years the church has been in existence they have had about 23 Pastors. Although we loved the church and this had been our best years as a part of a church James felt like our time there was over. So in 2000 we left the church and began our search for another. We didn't visit many places but we did go a few months to Clear Springs. People have different ideas of what church should be and although we liked several things about it and the services included lots of good singing and people going to the alter the Pastor rarely got to preach and we did not have that 'fuel' we needed for the week. So we began to look again for another church. And that is when we visited Union Baptist on Washington Pike. 

Union Baptist became our church for the next 10 years. Union had a very good reputation for stability that James liked. The Pastor that was there had come not long before we did but the church was known for keeping their Pastor for many years. When we went the choir was fantastic. Ron Tilley was the director and I dearly loved the choir. I didn't sing when Ron was the director but when Brandon Tilley became the leader I joined the choir. I guess I learned more from Brandon than anyone. I do not read music and he was a great teacher.  I also was asked to sing a special at times but was always scared to death I would mess up. They had so many really good singers. We came from a church where we were needed in almost every area to a church that did not 'need' us at all. I remember the first time I went to a meeting for a Fall Festival we were having for people to volunteer for helping and I was finally told I could "help" with the cake walk. One year I ''helped" with VBS. This may not seem big to you but for someone that had worked for so many years it was hard to realize you were not really needed. I sang in the choir and James eventually became an active deacon. His passion was for teaching and our SS teacher gave him that opportunity to fill in for him and later he taught his own class. For a while we would help with the cooking on Wednesday night. I made many, many good friends at Union. Some of my class mates from my years at Ritta School attend there. Doris, Betty, my friend Barbara that I attended church with when I was a kid at Highland. I could never name all the good friendships that were made at Union. We were at Union when our daughter Pam died and the church was so good to us especially our SS class. In 2011 things began to change again.

Highland Baptist Church today

In 2011 our son Byron was called to Pastor Highland Baptist Church the same church that I started in as a babe in my mothers womb. The church had been through some transitions and they were in need of help. So we went back to Highland after 69 years of being there when we were children. James begin to teach a SS class that he named the Bereans SS Class taken from the verse in Acts 17:11 "....they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so" . I was needed in the choir and also would sing special. I started doing the Fellowship events and helped with the decorating of the church. Seven years now I have been at Highland. The past 2 and a half years I have been by myself. I am doing very little now in church. My voice is not what it used to be, my ability to work like I used to is less. I do not know what the future may hold but at this time I feel like as my daughter told me not long ago                                                                                                         ...."Mom you've been put out to pasture".............


I can say we never left a church that we could not walk back in with our heads held high and no regrets of any kind. I hope we made a difference in someones life over the years whether it be by teaching, singing, serving in some way. I would not take anything for the friends we made at the churches we have belonged to.

MY BROTHER BILL

My brother Bill is the closest one of my brothers in age to me. There are only a couple years difference in our age with him being the younger. When we were kids we did a lot of playing in the woods, creeks, fields and barns. Picked a lot of blackberries walked to school, walked to church and to Cole's and Lamar's stores.  Played with the Humpherys, Carrs, Reesers and eventually the Lawsons. There was no television, cell phones, i pads, play stations, x box, Nintendo's,  digital games or anything else so we had to entertain ourselves. The first ones on our road that got a TV that I remember were the Reesers. We would go to their house and watch The Little Rascals.  I don't recall a lot of the things Bill did when he was younger but I am sure my brother Ron could give you an ear full. I always thought Bill got more 'whippings' than the rest of us. I remember when we would go to school my dad would let him out of the car and he would be back home before dad could get to work. I remember when we went to North Acres church him and the Mellon boys would 'rock' poor ole Clarence Elmore in the outside toilet and not let him come out. Clarence was a little preacher man that had a speech impediment and would stutter a lot but when he preached he didn't stutter at all. He loved my dad and we always said if Dad jumped off the Gay Street Bridge Clarence would be right behind him. It was a real game to throw rocks at the outside toilet when someone was in it so they couldn't come out. I have asked the family for stories about Bill and here are a few of them. My brother Ron has lots of memories about our brother Bill. He said he could start with the time he was a child and brother Bill invented child abuse. But he said he dare not go there but wanted to dwell on his brother Bill as the compassionate man that he has become. Although Bill was always the first one to go "whope" anyone who picked on his little brother Ron they would soon realize the wrath of a big brother was like a momma hen protecting her chicks. He said when he went to college Bill would always give him a little extra money if he needed it. Ron, along with the rest of us, remember Bill's act of self sacrifice in volunteering for the extra tour in Vietnam so our brother Jim wouldn't have to go.

That gives us all a sense of pride. Bill has provided for his family very well and his three children have turned out to be wonderful individuals and citizens.  My sister Mary said she remembers hiding behind the door when Bill would get a whipping. I told you I remember him getting more than the others. I remember one time my dad was going around and around in the kitchen giving Bill a whipping and my mom made him stop so Bill must of really been in trouble that time. Mary said one time Bill gave her a Baby Ruth package and tried to get her to eat it when he had filled it with rabbit balls. And he had her touch a radio in the basement so it would give her an electric shock. She also remembers him not wanting to go to school as I mentioned above and would go out the back door of the school after Daddy would drop him off at the front door.  She was with him when he was driving and he ran into the back of a car and knocked her over in the front seat. As with me he always scared her when she rode in the car with him because he drove too fast. She remembers also when he joined the Army and went to Germany and went to Vietnam. He came home unexpectedly from Vietnam and was there when mother got sick and they thought she was going to die. I think that was when she almost hemorrhaged to death following a diverticulitis rupture. My sister June remembers the tender, compassionate side of Bill. The tears that flowed when our mom died, the arm of love wrapped around her at the deaths of her husband and daughter. Bill is always the first to buy groceries and honey baked ham and turkey when we have a death. June has been like a second mama to Bill and it is her house that the first stop is made when he is visiting. Of course he likes to smoke and drink coffee with her. We also remember the day they were working on the septic tank and Bill fell in. My great nephew Andy was telling about one time when Bill was telling all of the little kids a ghost story. He was sitting under the big tree that was in the middle of the field between us and the Hairs before any houses were built in the field. They were all sitting under that tree (I think it might of been a hickory nut tree) and Bill was telling the ghost story. It got scarier and scarier and then all at once a ghost (someone covered with a white sheet) came walking down the hill and all of the kids were scared to death and went running down the house toward mama's house. I am sure Bill had planned this ahead and had the ghost come just at the right time. Bill came to my house one night when we lived in the little block house closer to the road and he brought a girl with him. He came in sat down on the couch never introduced her, sat there and talked to us for a while and then said, "come on stupid lets go". To this day I never knew her name or anything about her. Bill was a fast driver and I remember one Wednesday night he came to get me and Pam to take us to church and we were going down Washington Pike on that stretch close to Stoffel's dairy and I looked over and he was going over 100 miles and hour. I said if I ever got out of that car I would never ride with him again. But I did.  One time Bill gave me a pig. He had raised it and then his kids wouldn't eat it because apparently they had made a pet out of it so when he had it killed I got the meat. Bill would get packs of brand new $1.00 bills at Christmas and give to my kids. They would be brand new and sometimes they would stick together and the kids would get more than they thought they had. Bill has a heart as big as a wash tub. He was always doing something for me and my family. When I had to go to Nashville to take my exams for my LPN License I did not have a car that was dependable to drive and he let me take his new car to Nashville.  When our dad was sick and dying with Lymphoma Bill stayed night after night with him at Baptist Hospital. Bill volunteered for a second tour of duty in Vietnam just so our brother Jim wouldn't have to serve there while they were at war. Bill was one of James's groomsmen in our wedding.

Bill, Marvin, James, Chester

As we got older Bill married and we were both raising our families and we didn't get to see each other as much. He went to work for Southern Railroad and after a few years him and his family moved to Michigan where they stayed for several years and then he went to work for the Federal Railroad and moved to Texas where he lives today. So now it is longer and longer between visits. Bill has three children and one son lives in Michigan and is married and has 3 children, one son that works for John Deere and traveled to Brazil for work and met his wife there and they are now expecting their first baby. His daughter lives in Texas close to Bill and she has 2 children so soon Bill will have 6 grandchildren. Bill loves his coffee, cigarettes and dogs. He has finally retired and is one of those Hardee's guys that eat breakfast out. Bill also does some cooking and a lot of our phone calls are to get a recipe. He calls me when he has a cooking question. He likes to make homemade ice cream. I forgot to put my ice cream recipe and my banana pudding recipe in my cook book and he calls me for them. Sometimes its questions about Thanksgiving Dinner when he is cooking. Bill and his wife also collect a lot of antiques. They go to a lot of estate sales and have several cabinets full of things they have bought and collected over the years. It is always a happy feeling when we know Bill and his family are coming home for a visit. If we know in time either June or I try to make some chicken and dumplings for him and a pound cake or sour cream coconut cake. We all love our brother Bill and he is one in a million.

Ron, Bill, Jim

Chicken and dumplings at Sue's

Bill and Rachael

Bill, Ron, Sue, Mary, Phyllis, June
at Jim's funeral