LOVE SONNET

When we were dating back in 1996, my husband wrote me this sonnet. It made me fall in love with him all over again.

I kissed you once and held you close to me,
Prettiest girl that I had ever held.
I surely loved you sweet and tenderly.
And our two hearts together seemed to meld.
We loved too young and that was even lost
because so much was pulling us apart.
And yet we can't forget our stars have crossed,
We've held each other deep within our hearts.
Someday perhaps, these stars will meet again
And crash, exploding in a blazing light.
That so will heat our passions as a pain,
That groans within soft comfort of warm night.
How many years we could have spent in bliss?
How many are sweet kisses that we missed?
                               Love, David

SOUNDS OF PRAISE

     In about 1989, I attended a church on Peters Street called Bethel Baptist Church. Marvin and I had attended by the invitation of a friend , Wayne Ballard. Later, we attended a radio broadcast at WJTH that Wayne did every Sunday. I loved attending church and I loved the singing. There was a group singing that Sunday and I waited after church to make their acquaintance. There was Marvin Jones, Bill Pack, and a woman named Katherine. I was asked to join their group and we became the Bethel Sounds of Praise. We started a broadcast on Sunday at 1:30 pm and I was surprised at the requests that we received. I even got calls at home and people at work asked me to sing a certain song for them. When we decided to go on the road and sing, the people at the church didn't want us to leave. It was better for us to spread the good news of Christ in song. My grandfather had done this and I was singing some of his songs. We attended singings with some great groups. Gold City, The Kingsmen, Trail Blazers, Wendy Bagwell and the Sunlighters, The Wilburn's, and The Interstate Quartet from Alabama. This is the group that recorded the song, "He's Alive" that was made famous by the Cooks. If you ever get a chance to see Jeanette Cook sing, you will receive a blessing beyond belief. I remember when we were in Alabama with the Kingsmen, it was so cold on the bus that we had to sit in a near by restaurant to thaw out before we could sing. My ex-husband's aunt Ruth Brown walked right up to Jim Hamil, looked him in the eye and said, "You might sing better than me and you might look better than me and make more money than me but you will never enjoy the Spirit more than me." We had one of the best singings that night and saw many saved. He later said that she was right, you have to be in it for the Lord.
We traveled in a van with all our instruments and singers and even a sound system with an electric piano. We sang in 4 states in less than a year. We finally had to slow down because of sickness. My mother-in-law couldn't keep the grandkids that I was raising and it was getting stressful. We finally settled down at a little church in Resaca and continued with radio broadcasts. We went to Smyrna, GA and made a tape of some of the songs. You know , we wound up giving them away. After I went back to work, it was hard to go and sing any where so we just went locally until Ruby became bedridden and we were spending alot of time with her. I still sing by myself some and write poetry. I play the piano for myself. It was a wonderful time in my life of praising the Lord in song. Below is one of the songs I wrote and recorded on our tape. I was asked one day by Wayne Ballard to write him a song. I asked him what he wanted me to write about and he told me about hanging on to the Lord. So I sat down and wrote this.

               "I'll Keep on Hanging on"

 1.  I know the way get's awful rough and the devil makes it tough,
     for us to live like Christians every day.
     But I'll look to Jesus every day and keep praying all the way,
     And I'll keep on hanging on till I get home.

Chorus:
    I'll keep on hanging on to my Savior,
    I'll keep on hanging on to my Lord,
    ol' satan trys to put us down,
    but some day I'll wear a crown,
    and I'll keep on hanging on till I get home.

2. I know I'll wear a robe of white, and up there will be no night,
    cause my Savior will be a lamp for me.
    Upon the cross He died for my, came through death victoriously,
    and I'll keep on hanging on till I get home.

VALENTINE'S DAY

Hey guys, its me again and since I love Valentine's day, just thought I would share a story with you from "The North Bartow News." And don't forget to send your special someone a Valentine.

"Cupid is a symbol of Valentine's Day, but many do not know how this winged matchmaker came to be associated with the holiday.
Do you believe in love at first sight? How many friends or relatives have said they met their dream guy or gal by a chance encounter of eyes meeting across the room? Perhaps Cupid played a role---shooting his arrow and finding a target.
Cupid is represented in several ways. But the best-known image of Cupid is a winged, naked boy shooting arrows to join potential lovers together. Cupid has two types of arrows he can set sail. Gold-tipped arrows are what links people in love. However, Cupid also has a devious side. He can fire lead-tipped arrows, which cause people to feel hatred. This side of Cupid is little-known.
Cupid is the son of Venus in Roman mythology. Greek myths called him Eros, and he was the son of Aphrodite. Stories say that Venus, the goddess of love and beauty became jealous with a mortal woman named Psyche. She ordered her son to punish the mortal. However, Cupid became enamored with Psyche and married her instead. But being a mortal, Psyche was not able to look at her husband. She resisted until one day her sisters persuaded her to look at him, wondering why he's want to hide himself from her. Upon doing so, Cupid punished Psyche by leaving her and making all of their belongings vanish.
Psyche wandered looking for her lost love. She eventually came upon the temple of Venus and wanted to plead her case and apologize. However, Venus was still jealous of Psyche. Venus ordered her to complete dangerous tasks to try and win back Cupid, in an effort to destroy the mortal. In one of her tasks--a visit to Pluto in the underworld--Psyche failed and fell under a deadly slumber. Cupid was beside himself, found Psyche and rescued her. Both Cupid and Venus forgave Psyche. Eventually the rest of the gods--moved by Psyche's devotion-- made her a goddess.
Today Cupid is the mascot of Valentine's Day. His mischievous or devious nature is downplayed, and he is best known as an adorable matchmaker with heart-tipped arrows. You can evoke Cupid this Valentine's Day by drawing arrow-pierced hearts on steamed-up mirrors in the bathroom for your mate to discover. Or send Valentines with hearts and arrows as the theme." I don't know the author of this story, but I really enjoyed it.

GOING TO THE FRESHMAN DANCE

     As I was going through some trees on Ancestry.com recently, I ran across a name I hadn't heard in years. Nick Fincher. Talk about a "blast from the past." He was a friend of my cousin's, Buddy Morris. It reminded me of an incident that happened when I was in the ninth grade before my mom died. I was good friends with a girl named Joanne Hammonds and we spent alot of time together. We would spend the night with each other and go to church at North Rome Church of GOD. When we started the ninth grade, my cousin, Buddy saw Joanne and it was love at first sight. Well no one believes in this happening but it did with them. Her dad wouldn't let her date so they just saw each other at school and talked on the phone. Sometimes, she would get off the bus at the Dairy King on Turner McCall to meet me as I usually walked from the city clock.. Just about all the kids met there in the mornings. Then we would walk across the bridge to school. Sometimes we would have a croud of 15 or 20 kids walking the sidewalk to school. Well as the year was coming to an end, the freshman dance was coming up. Buddy wanted to take Joanne. Her dad hemmed and hawed around and finally said she could go but only on a double date. In the mean time, Joanne started planning what she would wear because she knew after her mom got started that her dad would give in. I wanted to go so bad but I didn't have a boyfriend. I was afraid that I would have to go stag and I didn't want to stand by the wall. We had picked out our dresses. They were both pink with full skirts. These were the kind of dresses that you had to wear a hoop skirt under them. So we had everything ready. Dresses, hoop skirts. strapless bras, elbow length gloves, dancing slippers, and hose with no seams. Tiaras, with rhinestone necklaces and earrings to match. We even went to mom's beauty shop and got our hair done for the dance.  Well Buddy called and said that he had talked Nick into going with me. I was so excited that I wanted to jump for joy. I don't know what he used to bribe him but it worked and I went to Joanne's house to get ready so they could pick us up. I found out later that he promised him a case of beer. Boy, I found out what I was worth. But I didn't care, I was going to the dance. I couldn't wait for 7:00 to get here on that Saturday night. When the boys finally arrived, they had brought carnation corsages for each of us. They were the kind that fastened on your wrist. I felt like a princess. When we finally got to the dance, the place looked like a dream world. The decorations were to die for with streemers and ballons everywhere.. And the music, well it was the sixties so we could dance slow or fast with everything. I don't remember the songs or the theme but I think it was "Enchanted". All I know is that I was there and we danced and had a picture made in the front hall of the gym at East Rome High School. If I remember correctly, Trena Fricks was crowned "Queen of the Freshman Dance." And Buddy and Joann, well they are still married to this day. If you never do anything in your lifetime, at least attend a formal dance. Even if it is not the love of you life, you will never forget the feeling of walking into a ball room on the arm of a gentleman and dance and dance and dance. Those memories are priceless.

WASHING CLOTHES ON A WRINGER WASHER

     I received a cute e-mail from a friend today. I just had to sit down and reminisce about doing laundry during my lifetime. I was about 7 years old when we got an automatic washing machine. Before that time, we had a wringer washer and hung clothes on the line. But later in my teenage years,  I had forgotten about those old machines. So when I got married, I just thought everyone had automatic washers and dryers. But I was in for a rude awaking. My mother-in-law politely told me that Saturday was her wash day because she worked everyday through the week. And then she showed me the wringer washer. DUH. I thought that time of my life was over but to my surprise, I used one of the relics until I went to work in 1977. I had married in 1962 so you can guess what my hands looked like. YEP, old leather. So every Saturday, it was drag up the water hose, fill up the machine and 2 rinse tubs. Clothes had to be rinsed twice and all the whites washed first. Then you washed the light colored, afterward the dark colored. And last of all, the blue jeans and overhauls. Oh yes, and heat water for starch. Clothes had to be soaked in starch after the last rinse and run through the wringer before hanging on the line. Now sometimes, the lines would sag and we had to prop them up with long sticks or boards. I was always hoping no one would knock down the props because the clothes would drag the ground. Especially the sheets.
  After the startched clothes were dried, they were stiff as a board. The other clothes were soft and smelled so good. We didn't go to the store and buy spray starch, no sir ree, there was no such thing.  We used Argo starch, disolved in hot water to soak the clothes. Then later after the clothes were dry, we would sprinkle them to dampen, then, iron with a flat iron and ironing board. Plus I never had disposable diapers, they were cloth so it was wash every few days. Rain or shine, winter or summer, it was wash diapers. I have 5 children and that was a lot of diapers. I can even remember them freezing on the line and trying to loosen them without breaking the pins just to bring them in the house and dry by the heater. I remember one time when it was snowing, that I took a hot iron to the line and tried to remove the diapers. I could even get a few off one at a time. When my children started to school, it was always drying clothes by the heater or ironing them to finish drying before the bus ran. Now what would these young girls do today if you showed them a wringer washing machine much less clothes pins. I would hate to hear some of their remarks. I have granddaughters so I know what they would do, laugh at me or make a face or better yet just say, "What ever!!!." And then roll their eyes at me. So this is the e-mail and I think it is cute and describes wash day. We lived on US Hwy 41 North and the trucks drove by everyday. This was before Interstate 75 was finished.  My kids learned very fast how to get the drivers to honk their horns. Was very glad that the clothes line was behind the house because the next door neighbors was beside her house in plain view.

THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES:

(If you don't know what clotheslines are ,
better skip this.) 
1. You had to wash the clothes line before hanging any clothes--walk the entire lengths of each line with a damp cloth around the lines. You wouldn't believe how many times there would be bird poop on the line.

2. You had to hang the clothes in a certain order , and always hang "whites" with "whites , " and hang them first. Sheets hung better if they were over the line instead of hanging by the corners.

3. You never hung a shirt by the shoulders , always by the tail! What would the neighbors think? Always hang socks by mates, much less separating when folding.

4. Wash day on a Monday! . .. . Never hang clothes on the Weekend , or Sunday , for Heaven's sake!

5. Hang the sheets and towels on the outside lines so you could hide your "unmentionables" in the middle (perverts & busybodies , y'know!).

6. It didn't matter if it was sub zero
weather....clothes would "freeze-dry."

7. Always gather the clothes pins when taking down dry clothes! Pins left on the lines were "tacky!" I had a clothes pin apron.

8. If you were efficient , you would line the clothes up so that each item did not need two clothes pins , but shared one of the clothes pins with the next washed item.

9. Clothes off of the line before dinner time , neatly folded in the clothes basket , and ready to be ironed.

10. IRONED?  Well , that's a whole other
subject!


        A CLOTHESLINE POEM

A clothesline was a news forecast
To neighbors passing by ,
There were no secrets you could keep
When clothes were hung to dry.

It also was a friendly link
For neighbors always knew ,
If company had stopped on by
To spend a night or two.

For then you'd see the "fancy sheets"
And towels upon the line;
You'd see the "company table cloths"
With intricate designs.

The line announced a baby's birth
From folks who lived inside -
As brand new infant clothes were hung ,
So carefully with pride!

The ages of the children could
So readily be known
By watching how the sizes changed ,
You'd know how much they'd grown!

It also told when illness struck ,
As extra sheets were hung;
Then nightclothes , and a bathrobe , too ,
Haphazardly were strung.

It also said , "Gone on vacation now"
When lines hung limp and bare.
It told , "We're back!" when full lines sagged , with not an inch to spare!

New folks in town were scorned upon
If wash was dingy and gray ,
As neighbors carefully raised their brows ,
And looked the other way.

But clotheslines now are of the past ,
For dryers make work much less.
Now what goes on inside a home
Is anybody's guess!

I really miss that way of life.  It was a friendly sign. 
When neighbors knew each other best by what hung on the line.