GRANDMA AND SANTA CLAUS

This isn't my story, I copied it from facebook, but what a wonderful meaning for a child to learn. Christmas isn't about getting, it is about giving. Just as our Savior gave his life for us, we should give to one another gifts of love, gifts of prayer and gifts of hope. I hope that I will always share anything I have with others and be a Santa Claus to all. Makes me cry everytime I read it so have a box of tissues handy.

 I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid.

I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even dummies know that!"

My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her "world-famous" cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be true.

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus?" she snorted...."Ridiculous! Don't believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad!! Now, put on your coat, and let's go."

"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second world-famous cinnamon bun. "Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. That was a bundle in those days. "Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's.

I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping.

For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for.

I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, the people who went to my church.

I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock's grade-two class. Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went out to recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn't have a cough; he didn't have a good coat. I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat!

I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that.

"Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down. "Yes, ma'am," I replied shyly. "It's for Bobby."

The nice lady smiled at me, as I told her about how Bobby really needed a good winter coat. I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag, smiled again, and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat (a little tag fell out of the coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible) in Christmas paper and ribbons and wrote, "To Bobby, From Santa Claus" on it.

Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially, one of Santa's helpers.

Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going."

I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his door and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma.

Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobby.

Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were -- ridiculous. Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team.

I still have the Bible, with the coat tag tucked inside: $19.95.

May you always have LOVE to share,

HEALTH to spare and FRIENDS that care...

And may you always believe in the magic of Santa Claus!

"ETERNAL FLOWER" in memory of Nancy Caldwell.

     I met a lady in Resaca back in the 70's named Nancy Caldwell. She moved next door to my mother-in-law, Ruby Dean, after the death of her husband. She was such a good person, lending me books to read and cooking extra and sending it to my house. I remember her cooking a fresh coconut cake that was my favorite. I asked her why she gave it away and her excuse was that she was diabetic and could only have one slice. " If I keep this cake, I will eat more than I should." was the reply that she gave me. She was forever giving me cutting from flowers or bringing me bouquets for the house. Her favorites were roses. I still have a smoke bush growing in my yard that came from her. And iris, just about every color of iris that I have, came from her yard in Resaca. She never met a stranger and never talked bad about anyone. Once, on the day that Grannie Ruby's father died in March of 1977, she cooked a complete meal and took it to the home for the family as they were grieving. Fried chicken, green beans, potato salad, cornbread, slaw, turnip greens, and even a chocolate cake and an egg custard, I will never forget all the food. It must have taken her just about all day. You just don't forget people like that who have not a jealous bone in their bodies.  So in memory of Mrs. Caldwell, I wrote a poem for her. I think in some way that she will see this poem where she has gone and know that she is loved. People like her never get their names in the paper or get book written about them. You wont read about her in the history book or in National Geographic but she will forever remain in my heart.

                                     ETERNAL FLOWER
           (in memory of Nancy Caldwell   July, 1996)

I lost a friend the other day
and such joy she brought to me;
just a simple home-made cake
or a cutting from her tree.

She never worried what people said
and went her merry way,
but yet her presence can still be felt
on a warm summer day.

I can see her still in a flower bed
wher jonquils and marigolds bloom,
but the flowers that she is tending now
will outshine the sun and moon.

And now as I sit on my window sill
while the earth takes its morning shower;
a window in Heaven opens for me
and I see her---an Eternal Flower.

GRANNY FRANKS AND PA TOM

                          Granny Franks and Pa Tom holding Luther; with Tom's sister, Ethyl

 From left to right back row, Ruby Franks Burns, Claude, Robert holding Katherine, Clyde, Granny Franks: front row, Ruth, Ralph, and Grady. Robert was home on leave from the navy during World War II. Luther had enlisted in the Army.

     This story is about Granny Franks and Pa Tom. They were the grandparents of my first husband, Marvin Lee Burns. Granny Franks was Katie Ella Smith Franks born Feb. 3, 1902 and died Oct. 14, 1980. She was the daughter of Joe Smith and Mary Molly Beasley Smith. They are buried at Dogwood Cemetery in Tunnel Hill, GA. Pa Tom was Thomas Napoleon Franks, born Sept. 18, 1895 and died March 27, 1977. They were married on April 3, 1916 and Granny always said that she was 13 at the time. But by my calculations, I think she was 14. By the time she was 20, she had 4 children and had buried 2 of them. Jesse Luther Franks lived to adulthood and so did Ruby Lee Franks. But Arville and Willie Mae died as babies and are buried at Dunagan Cemetery in Whitfield County in unmarked graves. Her youngest son, Ralph Winston Franks has marked these graves with a PVC pipe for the location but no headstones. Granny Franks would go many times to the cemetery and place flowers on the graves and Ruby continued the practice after her mom died. Tom and Ella are buried at Dunagan as well as Pa Tom's parents, Andrew Jefferson "Harve" Franks and Emily Bandy Franks.
     When I first met Granny Franks, in 1962, I had arrived at her house with Marvin. We rode with Grady and Essie Burns to Pa Tom's house for a visit. They lived on the Cline Rd. in a small 4 room house with no indoor plumbing. I thought I would bust before I got back to "civilization". They also heated their home with a fireplace. Pa Tom would sit in his chair to watch the news on TV. After that, it was turned off. Occasionally, he would watch wrestling on Saturday nights but nothing else. It was a waste of electricity. Granny Franks was blunt in the way she talked and didn't pull any punches. She proceeded to tell Grady and Marvin that they should swap partners. The girls didn't match their personalities. I thought Essie would have a fit. She doesn't like me to this day. Grady was my friend, but jealously has a way of destroying many relationships.
     Now Pa Tom liked to take a nip now and then and Granny Franks just couldn't stand the thought of this happening. She would often tell her son, Clyde, " Now don't you stop at that store and buy no whiskey. I can still take a switch to your backside." This was funny to me as she kept a bottle of wine beside her bed and every night, she would fill her thimble full and drink it before bed. She would tell you right quick," The Bible says take a little wine for the stomach's sake and that is what I do."
    Granny Franks had a set of twin boys named Claude Edward and Clyde Andrew Franks. I could not tell these boys apart for anything. For a long time, I had to see them with their wives to know which one was which.Claude had married Aveline Chitwood. She was a twin as well and they had a set of twins, Reid and Rachel. They had 3 other children as well.
     Clyde married a woman named Wanda Faye. They had 6 children, with only one girl out of the bunch named Connie. After Connie married, she had a set of twins.
     Granny Franks could make the best egg custard in the world. Many times when I visited, she would have some cooling on the kitchen table. But she wouldn't cut them until Sunday dinner. She dearly loved fried rabbit. Ruby said she grew up with this meat for breakfast. Many years ago, people that lived in the country would eat rabbit since they didn't get to town very often to buy meat. Most farms raised their own meat for food. Hogs, chickens and cows and sometimes a few goats. They caught squirrels and rabbits as well. Cows were used more for milk and butter and Granny Franks had her favorite churn that she used for many years. One morning after Granny Franks got sick just before her death, Ruby called me to visit the store for her.  I asked her what she wanted me to get? She wanted me to go to the old Colonial store where IGA is located now and get a rabbit. I didn't know that you could buy them cut up ready to fry. But they had them in the freezer section and so I bought it and took it to Ruby's house. She fried it and made biscuits and gravy. Granny Franks ate a little of this and died the next day. Its funny what people want to eat when they know it is their end of days.
     Right after Jeff was born in 1966, it was Granny and Pa Tom's anniversary for 50 years. They wanted to go to Crawford Springs for a picnic. A lot of the family gathered at their house and we left. After lunch, it started to get very cold. We headed back to the house and on the way, it started to snow. By the time we got home, we had about 3 or 4 inches on the ground and my clothes froze on the line. Granny and Pa Tom had to stay at Ruby's house as the roads were closed and they couldn't get home. For their 60 anniversary, we had a big dinner at their home on the Cline Rd. Just about the whole family was there. They made a 5 generation picture with Granny Franks and Pa Tom, Ruby Franks Dean, Grady Burns with his son, Travis Burns, and the great great grandchild, Christy Burns. This was in 1976. Pa Tom died the next year. He started having mini strokes that made him bed ridden until his death. I spent many nights at their home sitting with Ruby while Granny Franks could get some rest. Ruth would sit as well on alternate nights. This is when Ruth made her puff and stuff quilt. I had never seen one before and it turned out very well. Ruby would piece quilts as well but mostly she would mend clothes. I treasure the memories that I have of them and wanted to share them with my children. As they grow older, they can hand down some of these stories to their children. Every one should keep up with their family. Genealogy is over 1/4 of the bible. If GOD wanted a record kept, then so should we.
All their children consisted of:
Jesse Luther Franks
Ruby Lee Franks                                                      
Arville Franks
Willie Mae Franks
Robert Clayton Franks          
Claude Edward Franks
Clyde Andrew Franks
Ruth Francis Franks
Ralph Winston Franks

Granny Franks and Pa Tom in the 1950's