Mother Promises not To Date Pete

Today I have been thinking about Mom and I remembered the story of Pappaw not being able to tell them apart. Mother said that he would never admit it but it was true. Dorie had a date with Pete Kemp. For some reason Pappaw did not want Dorie to go out with him. He came into the livingroom where one of the girls sat working on something. He said, "Now sweetheart I don't want you going out with that Kemp Boy. Do you understand? The twin said, "But daddy I ....." He would not let her say another word. He said, "Don't interrupt me Sugar just do as I say" "But Daddy------" "No I said not another word just promise me you will not go out with him." She sighed because she knew it would do no good to try to change his mind and she said, "I promise." Later that afternoon Pete Kemp came to pick up Dorie. Pappaw said to Dorie,"You promised me that you would not go out with him." Dorie looked and him with a puzzled look and said, "I haven't talked to you today." Mother said, "I have and I promised you I would not go out with him and I am not." Pappaw grunted, turned, and stalked out. Mother was doing her best not to fall in the floor laughing. Dorie not only went out with Pete but she married him. They had many happy years together before Uncle Pete died. Pappaw and Uncle Pete got along fine and we never knew why he did not want Dorie to go out with Uncle Pete.

First Meeting

June 26th will be Mom's and Dad's Anniversary. Daddy said Mother was the only woman he ever dated. He graduated from high school early and worked his way through Mississippi State. He did not have time for woman then. I used to love to hear Mother tell about meeting Daddy for the first time. So today's story is about Mom and Dad meeting for the first time.

Pappaw had a job in Murray, Kentucky so he moved the family there. I am not sure what he was doing, Mother never said. Mother was going to school at Murray State. She was dating a Navy man and he told her that his room mate was from North Mississippi. Mother told him to tell the man to call her because they may know some of the same people. So Daddy called her. She liked talking to him so she invited him over to get to know him better. She asked, "How will I know its is you?" Daddy said, "Well the shortest, reddest headed, freakled face man you know will be me." She thought UGH!!!!!!!!!! What am I going to do? Pappaw was at home so she thought that will be ok. There was a knock on the door and she headed for the door looking down. When she opened the door she saw knees. She looked up and up and up. My daddy was six foot 2 inches with cold black hair. Was she ever surprised. She was staring up at him with her mouth opened when pappaw said, "Sugar (remember he could not tell mother and Dorie apart)aren't you going to invite him in?" She just held the door open while Daddy giggling went in. Well that started the interesting life that they had for over sixty years.

Dead Pig

Last week was my sister's birthday. She died nine years ago Christmas. She was on my mind all day long. Deborah was my opposite. She knew her mind and was always positive about the things she did while I am not sure I am doing the right thing. She was so very smart and I am well let us just say not all my neurons fire as they should. She and Daddy could talk about anything and she had an opinion on everything and knew she was right about it. I am the one that you can change my mind with a easy thought. We did favor and my husband says are voices were very much alike.

The story that comes to my mind is the time when she was about 9 or 10 years old. We lived on top of a hill and there was a small country store at the foot of the hill. Mother had given her some money and sent her to buy some small item---like milk or something. She came back in without the milk and when mother asked what was wrong Deb replied "I killed a pig." Mother went out to the road and there laid a pig knocked out. The pig was in the road and scared Deborah so she picked up a brick and threw it at the pig hitting it square in the middle of the head knocking it unconscious. Boy did we tease her. Laughing and bringing it up anytime we wanted to get back at her. "Pig Killer" "Oh you better be careful or Deborah will hit you with a brick and kill you!!!" "Don't scare Deborah she is Lethal!" It would make her so mad when we threw these lines at her but remember brothers and sisters love to make the other one mad.

I have many memories of Deborah. We shared a bedroom which was an experience too. Again we were so different. One night as I lay sleeping she kicked me and said "Be still!" I replied, "I am not moving. I am just breathing." Her reply was typical of her---"Then stop breathing." Being the younger sister I was determined not to follow her to college. I was tired of being her little sister. So I went to MSCW while she had gone to Miss. College. But of course where did she go to graduate school. MSCW. I thought now she will be my sister --- OH NO---she had a job in the Home Ec. department so immediately I became the little sister again. I could not win.

Life is different without her. I often think of her and wondered what she would think about things. What would she do and how would she react to things. Well Deb where ever you are now this is for you.

Mother's Day

As time grows closer to Mother's Day, my mind has been on mother. I have been remembering all the Mother's Day out there with Mom. Some were fantastic and some were sad. Poor Daddy was not the best about getting things for us kids to give mother. She always expected something and Daddy would forget. When he forgot then she would be very angry. THis made me swear that if my kids forgot that I would not say a word. I hope that I have always done this. This stopped after Deborah, my sister, and I got old enough to remind him to take us somewhere to get something. I am from a very small town(one store and a post office)so we had to go somewhere even to buy perfume. One time on the day before Mother's Day daddy went to the one store at the foot of the hill. Mother's Day morning three little children came into the room each carrying a small brown paper bag. In each bag was a bottle of deodorant. Daddy had asked Mother if she needed anything when he went to the store and she had said deodorant so he bought one bottle for each child. Mother laughed over this. She said she got what she asked for and she told this story often. Another time Daddy took us to Holly Springs, a near by town, to get a Mother's Day present. We bought a bottle of Emarald Perfume. I had heard her say that she liked it on someone else. Well it turns out she was just being nice and she hated the smell but I was almost grown before I found out. She wore it anyway to please us. She got some almost every Mother's Day for the next several years. She finally told me that she liked Ester Laude Perfume so I would quit buying it. Funny what mothers will do to please their children. Mother always appreciated every gift we gave her. The only time she would be very upset is when we forgot so I tried never to forget. Happy Mother's Day to you that still have your Mother and remember her with something even if it is just a kiss. I would love to give Mom a kiss.

Top OF the House

I have not posted for a while so I decided to sit down and work today. I was remembering mother and what a good mother she was. I remember her telling me about a time when she and Dorie were about twelve. They had been bedeviling Mammaw all day. Mammaw told them "I am going to tell your Daddy that you have been bad when he gets home." This was the worse thing that you could do because Pappaw was the displicinarian while Mammaw was the director. The twins decided to climb on top of the house to get away from Mammaw. This scared Mammaw to death. She begged them to come down. They agreed if she would promise not to tell Pappaw. Of course Mammaw told on them so they got it all the more for scaring Mammaw. I find this story very funny because if I had climbed on top of our two story house my mother would have climbed up after me and beat me all the way down. She never told us to wait until daddy got. She took care of it herself. Funny how things change.

The Pony

Its has been a few days since I have sat down to post again. But here I am with another tidbit about the twins.

The twins continued to grow and learn. Their daddy could not tell them apart so he called them sweet pea and honey girls. It really bother their mother that Pappaw could not tell them apart when she had no trouble keeping them straight. Bless her heart. She kept up with all the works and the twins too.

They attracted attention where ever they went. One day a man came by with a pony. The girls of course wanted to ride the pony but Mamaw was not sure about this. She was always afraid something bad might happen to her girls. Remember these were her only children. Pappaw came by and said," Let the girls ride. I will watch and nothing will happen". The man was so intrigued by the twins that he took a picture of them on his pony. We still have this picture. In this picture you can see why Pappaw had such a hard time telling them apart. The only way I know is that Mother told me she was the follower not the leader. Dorie is on front of the horse.

Mom says they had a great time that day. I can imagine. They got to ride a horse and got their picture made. Picture taking at this time was not the common thing. You did not whip out a cell phone and make a picture. They were about 6 years old. This would be 1927.

The Young Twins

The Young twins.
The earliest stories I remember hearing were from Mamaw on her front porch. She would sit in the swing with me and tell me stories of Mother and Dorie. They were quite active, always getting into things. When she was working outside she would put them on a big blanket to keep and eye on them. She never knew what they might do.One day Mamaw was washing clothes in a big black pot in the yard and she heard laughing coming from in the house. She went in to inspect and there the twins were in the kitchen. They had gotten into the molasses can. They poured the molasses out on the floor and was spreading it around the room. Here sat two blonde toddlers with molasses every where. They were playing in it. Dipping thier hands into the mess and watching it string down as they pulled their hands away. One would dip their hands into the mess and then touch the others hair. Giggling and laughing as they went. Everything was funny until Mamaw caught them. Poor Mamaw! She had to clean the twins, the kitchen, and everything. She still had the clothes to wash too. Maybe I should say Poor Pappaw because when he came home his wife was not a happy camper and he had to deal with that.