Aunt Sybil Morris

    

     Probably time to write another story and this one is about my aunt Sybil. She was born on Feb. 23, 1918 in Bartow County. I don't know when she married Robert Morris, who was the father of her children, because by the time I remember her the most, she was married to Herbert Ortwein. They lived just off Calhoun Rd. in North Rome. It was very near Eastview cemetery because Helen and I used to walk through it and read the headstones. Many times, when my mom and dad were going to visit my grandparents, they would stop at aunt Sybil's house and Larry and I would stay with her to play with her children. Wendell was just younger than Larry and Helen was older than me. I still wanted to stay with her because I thought I was just as old. She was wearing make-up and had polished fingernails. I thought that was real cool. She would brush my hair and pretend that we were in mom's beauty shop.
My aunt Sybil was a great cook, especially her dumplings. She is the only person that I ever saw roll dumplings, cut them in small strips and drop in to rich chicken broth. My mouth waters now just to remember them. And she did cook alot of fish. Her husband had a cabin up north of Rome on the river and they would stay up there on the week-ends and fish. This was the Oostanaula River but I didn't find this out until I was in my teens. I didn't pay attention to directions, just get in the car and go.
But her hushpuppies for to die for. Fried catfish and plenty of slaw, with homemade French fries. Oh yes and iced tea and plenty of it. She made homemade banana pudding. No one could top her pudding. It is funny how I remember it now, but each sister had a special dish that they were very good at and her dumplings and 'nana pudding were over the top.
Now I remember one time at her house, we were playing cowboys and indians outside under a tree. The boys had put up some kind of tent and Helen and I were in it. Larry, Ken, Wendell, and Michael were outside whooping and hollowing like indians, while Helen and I were inside, shreaking like scared girls do at stressing times. All of a sudden, something hit me in the head and almost knocked me out. The boys had thrown a board on top of the tent and it hit me. I kept asking Helen if it was bleeding and she said "yes" it was and I started screeming. She said "no it's not- no it's not" to get me to shut up. Since Ma Jones didn't have a telephone, aunt Sybil had to call one of their neighbors to tell my parents that I cut my head and needed stitches. Aunt Sybil was so caring with me. She soothed me and wiped the blood from my face and I felt protected. I never forgot her for that care she showed me. Well I got about 11 stitches that I can remember but the most awlful thing happened. My new dress that mom had made for me was ruined. It was a beautiful maroon color with small yellow flowers and a scolloped skirt. I pitched such a "fit" with the doctors and nurses that one of them spilled some of the ether on my dress and it ate holes in it. My dad would never let anyone use that on his children again. He said that if it would do that to cloth, what would it do to our lungs. He was a very smart man.
I remember when aunt Sybil's husband died. She had to move because the house belonged to his children by his first marriage and they wanted to sell it. She moved to Calhoun in one of the rock houses on south Wall street. Then this house burnt and she lost everything she owned. She moved back to Rome in an apartment. All the family pitched in to help her re-coop and get a job. After my mom died, I didn't see her much anymore. When I visited Cliff, she would be there. After I started singing with the quartet, I saw her one more time before she died. This was about 1990 and she was already sick. She couldn't get around without help. But she dearly loved my singing and listened to our radio broadcast just about every Sunday. She would call and say "Sing me a song." She loved them all. She died in 1998.