My aunt Totsie was my friend as well as my aunt. It's funny but I didn't find out her name wasn't Totsie until I was grown. Her name was Odessa and she was called Tot when she was little because she was so small. The name stuck and evolved into Totsie. She was born on April 11, 1925 about 5 years younger than my mother but they were close. Heck, all the sisters were close to each other. That was just how families were back in the good old days. I rode the bus to her house many times to spend the night with her daughter, Diane. I could catch the bus on Broad Street at the corner of 5th Avenue and go to West Rome and the bus would turn at West Rome Baptist Church and let me off at Laural Avenue where aunt Totsie lived. She lived in a cul-de-sac in a cute little house that she kept spotless. I remember her with a cloth under her shoe shining the floor or removing footprints when we came in the house. We would go to a church on the old Calhoun road called Friendship Baptist church. I was saved in this church in July of 1959. Brother John Crowe was the pastor. They were having a summer revival. Aunt Totsie love to sing and she sang in a quartet for many years. I loved to sing along with her. Sometimes Diane and I would sing together but not very often. Sometimes Paula would join us. She was aunt Josephine's daughter. I didn't really sing alot until I joined a quartet in my 40's.
Diane and I usually had our birthday parties together since hers was on the 30th of January and mine was on the 4th of February. I remember one particular party when permanents were pretty popular and aunt Totsie and my mom had put them in our hair. Well it didn't turn out how we expected. Not by a long shot. Our hair was so frizzy that it couldn't be combed. Our brothers laughed and made fun of us until we cried. I never got another home permanent for along time.
When you first entered my aunt Totsie's house, the piano was behind the front door on the left. It is funny how I remember where the piano was but nothing else. I do remember that they built an addition to their house and when I got married, she gave me a bridal shower in her den.
Aunt Totsie had married young at the age of 17. It was the year of 1942 and I think her husband was going off to war. I know that he was in service because I found his service record. Her oldest son, Don, was born in September of 1943 because he is 4 and 1/2 months older than me. Then Diane was born in 1946. I don't know exactly what year her son, Alan, was born but he was close to my brother, Kenneth's age. I remember her husband worked in a meat market with his dad in North Rome, across the street from Whiteheads Florist. We use to go up there to get our meat. And sometimes when my granddad killed a hog, they would help with the cutting. All the family would have meat. You can't go to the market now and get choice cuts of meat. No friendly conservation or meeting of friends as you shopped at the meat market. Everything is commercial and seems so sterile. When I was growing up, just about every Sunday was a visit to my grandparents home. The whole family showed up and we would eat dinner and then play. Family's were close to one another, not this estranged bits and pieces. You were taught to forgive. And you never held a grudge. I miss those days but life goes on and we grow up and lose touch. My aunt Totsie died with cancer at the age of 68. She is buried beside her beloved husband at Oaknoll Memorial Gardens. I never saw them together without noticing all the affection that they had for one another. Always holding hands even after the children were grown. I miss her. She always called me "Rhunda Jane." She dearly loved my son Jerry. She was always telling me that he favored her brother. I never knew which one she was talking about. I thought it was uncle Ed but my dad said uncle Charlie. He is the only one of my five children that favors my family. Totsie claimed him as hers. It is funny how someone gets an affection for a particular person and it never goes away. I miss her.
Diane and I usually had our birthday parties together since hers was on the 30th of January and mine was on the 4th of February. I remember one particular party when permanents were pretty popular and aunt Totsie and my mom had put them in our hair. Well it didn't turn out how we expected. Not by a long shot. Our hair was so frizzy that it couldn't be combed. Our brothers laughed and made fun of us until we cried. I never got another home permanent for along time.
When you first entered my aunt Totsie's house, the piano was behind the front door on the left. It is funny how I remember where the piano was but nothing else. I do remember that they built an addition to their house and when I got married, she gave me a bridal shower in her den.
Aunt Totsie had married young at the age of 17. It was the year of 1942 and I think her husband was going off to war. I know that he was in service because I found his service record. Her oldest son, Don, was born in September of 1943 because he is 4 and 1/2 months older than me. Then Diane was born in 1946. I don't know exactly what year her son, Alan, was born but he was close to my brother, Kenneth's age. I remember her husband worked in a meat market with his dad in North Rome, across the street from Whiteheads Florist. We use to go up there to get our meat. And sometimes when my granddad killed a hog, they would help with the cutting. All the family would have meat. You can't go to the market now and get choice cuts of meat. No friendly conservation or meeting of friends as you shopped at the meat market. Everything is commercial and seems so sterile. When I was growing up, just about every Sunday was a visit to my grandparents home. The whole family showed up and we would eat dinner and then play. Family's were close to one another, not this estranged bits and pieces. You were taught to forgive. And you never held a grudge. I miss those days but life goes on and we grow up and lose touch. My aunt Totsie died with cancer at the age of 68. She is buried beside her beloved husband at Oaknoll Memorial Gardens. I never saw them together without noticing all the affection that they had for one another. Always holding hands even after the children were grown. I miss her. She always called me "Rhunda Jane." She dearly loved my son Jerry. She was always telling me that he favored her brother. I never knew which one she was talking about. I thought it was uncle Ed but my dad said uncle Charlie. He is the only one of my five children that favors my family. Totsie claimed him as hers. It is funny how someone gets an affection for a particular person and it never goes away. I miss her.
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