Stories of Old

Every Tuesdays about 11:30 the kids and I put on our shoes and head over to Gigi and Granddaddy's. Gigi has already left to go volunteer at the hospital (as a pink lady). She's so sweet because she has lunch prepared for all of us to gobble up.

Every Tuesday it's pretty much the same thing. I fix our plates, we sit down to eat, the kiddos are all extremely talkative. . . as soon as they finish eating the usually go get the binoculars out of the drawer to go "spying" with. . . or Hanna may go outside to ride the tricycle (I know tricycle. . . cracks me up, but she LOVES it). Anyhoo, they all go their own way to play.

Then, Grandaddy and I sit down and talk. Sometimes he's not very talkative. Sometimes he is. Normally when he is though, he loves talking about the past.

Not the past like when Jon was a little boy past. But the past like when he was a little boy past.

He will tell me the same stories over and over. . . and I love hearing them. So, every Tuesday I'm going to try to tell one or two of the stories he tells me. . . so I can pass them on to my children.

He is one of 6 children. His daddy was a Methodist preacher. They moved around frequently. However, when they lived in Whigham, Georgia he tells of how there was a city-wide basketball tournament. He decided to play in it. There, he found out he was really good in basketball. He said these men would tell him, "I'll pay you a quarter for every basket you ring." Now, if that's not motivation for a kid. . .that will do it. Grandaddy just loves telling this story. Little did he know at the time but his basketball skills would later get him a scholarship to Georgia Southern. (he tells this story pretty frequently)

He also tells of how they were so very poor. He remembers 2 Christmases where they had absolutely nothing. . . not even an apple or an orange (his words). One Christmas, however, they did get a bicycle. He said someone in the church must have given it to his parents or given his parents the money to buy it, b/c they just were that poor. It was 1 bicycle to share between 6 kids. They would each get a turn on the bicycle and have a certain spot they couldn't go past. One time one of them decided to venture past that line. Well, Uncle Jay (who later became a 4-star general of the Army) got so angry he threw a brick at the spokes of the bike. When Grandaddy tells me this story he will just smile and say when he and his brother and sisters used to all get together they would laugh and laugh about this story.

Another Whigham story he tells is how when they would all be ready early for church they would stand outside on the porch of the parsonage and sing hymns.

Also while living in Whigham he tells how the chairman of the board of the church would sometimes withhold his Daddy's check. As tears welled up in his eyes he said, "Now, why in the world would a Christian man hold a man's check who has 6 children and a wife?" He's only told me this story once. I could tell he's held onto it for a long time. His tears and his hurt after all these years just broke.my.heart.

170. For this precious man I have the honor of knowing and loving.
171. For Tuesdays.
172. For stories of old.
173. For Gigi.
174. For plenty.