buddymedbery's Guestbook

Be very careful
about what you think me for :) !!!

This from my older sister
Really enjoyed this trip down memory lane. My recollection is that the grocery store was an IGA, not Kroger, but I may be confusing it with Bill's sister's first husband working at IGA. It was definitely in the middle of town at the time. Wonder if IGA sold their location in Middlesboro when they decided to open one in Harrogate. Our other TV experience was going to the Connors every Sunday afternoon for pot luck (usually whatever was left over from Sunday lunch) and watching Disney. Another thing I remember was taking Betsy home for Christmas. Two students, Betsy and Helen, were almost part of the family; we paid them a minimal amount for almost anything Mother could think of just to let them earn a bit as neither of them had any support from home. One Christmas Betsy was planning to spend the holidays at school because she had no means of getting home and Daddy wouldn't hear of it and decided to take her home. As we were leaving, it started to snow and he grabbled the tire chains and put them in the truck. About an hour down the road it was snowing so hard he decided he needed the chains and pulled to the side of the road to put them on. He insisted that all of us stay in the car. I don't recall what the cause was, but he was under the car trying to get the chain on the inside of the wheel when the car slipped off the jack and pinned him underneath. Total panic set in with Mother sure that he had been mortally wounded. She jumped out of the car which only caused the car to settle further. Somehow these two women and three of us kids, were able to lift the car enough for him to get out. He finished putting on the chains and we continued on our trip up into the mountains, ending up on a dirt road that was so snow covered that you couldn't see a road. Finally, Betsy announced "this is the end". We saw nothing and were sure there was some mistake. She said that is as far as the road went, that you had to walk the rest of the way. Daddy insisted on getting her "all the way home" and left us in the car with the admonition that we could run the heater some but not so much that we ran down the battery or used up the gas. After what seemed like hours but was probably much less, Daddy came back, got in the car, looked at Mother and shook his head, started up the car and drove home singing Christmas carols. He may have told Mother what he encountered but we never knew. He went back to pick her up after New Years and she spent a lot more time at our house after that. There was a girl named Mary Ellen Lankford in my class at school who brought a small piece of cornbread for lunch if anything. We all shared our food as kids are inclined to do. ne day somebody said to her "you must really like cornbread" but she just lowered her head and said nothing. Later in the day, she told me that her mother cooked whatever they had and fed her father and 3 brothers and if there was anything left, she and her mother could eat. If there was anything left after that, she was allowed to bring it for lunch. I told Mother when I got home and from the next day on, my lunch included something to share with Mary Ellen.