Lost in London! (from Jan 2011)

Today didn't turn out too good. Hollis asked me if I would be alright hanging out around the flat for a few hours while he and that girl went on a London walk. He said she had the day off and wanted to go on the Mrs. Dalloway walk. I kept wanting to call her Galloway because we got Galloways in Harper. Ain't never heard of no Dalloways. Anyway Hollis said she was a character in this book and the whole book was about one day in her life. Huh? 

So I told him I would be just fine, but it turned out I wouldn't. After Hollis left I went across the street to look at all the pretty food in that food court. I spent about a hour there and decided I would walk out the other side of the store. That's when I made a big mistake. I seen the entrance to the tube stop and figured I would ride it down one stop and walk back. I got to studying some of the peoples around me and forgot to get off. When I did get off I walked what I thought was up and over to the side going back, but I ended up on a different line somehow. When I  didn't see any signs for the stops that seemed right I finally decided to get off. And you know what I seen when I did get off? A lot of trees and no city buildings. Much as I hated it I had to ask for help. But here's the deal. Nobody could understand a word I was saying and I shore couldn't understand them. Lord help me.

Tomorrow: The Other Southerner in London

Stonehenge (from Jan 2011)

Me and Hollis took another train out to go see Stonehenge. Stonehenge is a bunch of rocks all set up in a circle by peoples long, long ago. They think it may have been used for religious services. We got there after taking a bus ride out of Salisbury. I guess that's the town where they invented that steak recipe that Dorothy does so good. Anyway we got there and it was a big bunch of rocks like they said. Once again the problem is ain't nobody figured out how these peoples so many years ago could move things what was so heavy. That's gonna give me a lot to figure on when me and Willie is fishing. Hollis knows a lot of stuff but he don't know for sure how they did it. He told me that a book he read had a girl named Tess what come here on her last day of life. She had murdered a bad man and was being looked for by the cops. While she was running she stopped to rest at Stonehenge. There, a angel come to her and she asked the angel to let her die there instead of getting executed. And in her mind she did. She died right there. But Hollis said he ain't too sure she didn't just dream it and was really sent to prison and was killed there. Something about a black flag flying over the prison to show she was put to death.

Tomorrow: Lost in London

A Trip to Oxford (from Jan 2011)

Me and Hollis took a train out of London today. He bought us a special pass what let's us jump on a train and go anywhere we want to. Today we went to Oxford. You know that town that was named after the town in Mississippi where Ole Miss is at. Ha Ha. You know I'm just funning y'all. It's the other way around of course. I reckon. Anyway I found out Oxford ain't just one college. It's a whole bunch, all called going to Oxford just to make it easier. Like when peoples out in the country say they're from Harper just to make it easy for others to know where they live. 

At Oxford we climbed up the tower and looked out over the whole setup. You want believe it but I saw sheeps right close to the campus. The students there looked real smart so I didn't try to talk with 'em or tell 'em any stories. Just about dark, me and Hollis caught another train and rode back to London. After we got off at the tube stop right next to that big store we went into that food court and got us some real nice food. I ain't going to try to tell you what it was cause I ain't never heard of it before. It was good though.

Tomorrow: Stonehenge 

Museums and Such (from Jan 2011)

Today we went to a bunch of museums and art places. We rode the underground trains to everyone of 'em. Hollis really knows how to get around. You'd think he'd been here before but he ain't. He said all you got to do is follow the little map and get on the right train. You see they got more than one train what comes through the stations and if you get on the wrong one you may end up in Scotland or some place like that. 

The museums was all good but you know how good I am at noticing things? Well the number one thing I noticed is when they carved them statues years and years ago nobody much wore any clothes. I didn't never think I would see so many nekked mens and womens in one building. I got real tired of looking at 'em. The thing I liked most was the Egypt stuff. Them peoples had quite a life back then. They buried their kings inside these big tombs called pyramids. The story I heard there is nobody can figure out how they was able to build anything that big and tall back then. How did they get them big rocks up to the top?

One thing I kept looking for in all them art places was welding art like I do. Since this stuff come from all over the world looks like somebody would do it. I would if they asked me.

Tomorrow: A Trip to Oxford

We Arrive in England (from Jan 2011)

We here. The plane ride was pretty good. That Hollis is something else. He got us the good seats up front. Said he didn't usually get those seats but he wanted me to be rested and not get what he called jet slag. I don't reckon I got it cause I feel pretty good. We had two real good meals on the plane and was waited on hand and foot. 

We come into a airport called Cat's Wick down south of the city. Hollis had a car waiting for us what took us right to our apartment (they calls it a flat.) I ain't figured that out. They do drive on the wrong side of the road just like I read about and the steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car too. The flat is right across the street from this big store called Herrods. I reckon it was named after that Jewish king what treated Jesus so mean. Don't know why. There are two bedrooms, a kitchen, two bathrooms, and a living room/dining room combination. From the living room you can look right across and see what they call the food court of that big store. I know I'm going over there and check that out. 

Hollis said it might be a good idea for me to rest up and we could get a good start tomorrow. I think we going to some museums and such. They got a bunch of 'em here. Hollis went to see his girlfriend. I hope that don't surprise none of y'all.

Tomorrow: Museums and Such

Atlanta Airport (from Jan 2011)

We on our way. Our cousin took us to a MARTA station called the Art Center Station. We got out with all our suitcases (we both had a little one and a big one) and made our way into the station. It was just like something you see in the movies or on TV. They was running a weekend schedule because of all the bad weather (a lot of peoples couldn't get to work) so we had to wait a while for a train. Then we had to stand up. I done pretty good. We was all underground and one of the stations looked like they had chipped it right out of solid rock. Right after the main downtown station we come up out of the ground and the rest of the trip was outside. I seen the airport way before we got there and whoo whee it was big. 

We got off the train and went right into the airport. It was built that way so you didn't have to walk outside or across any roads or nothing. We had to go through a inspection where we was made to take off our shoes and empty our pockets in to this little basket on a moving line. We got 'em all back though. I was beginning to be real sorry I gave in and decided to go on this trip. Now we is sitting here waiting for our plane to load. Hollis is typing away and I'm telling him a few more things like: when we gonna get there? (at 7 am their time) and will I be able to sleep on the plane? (Hollis says he is and I can too if I want to.) Y'all know I flew once on the way back from Korea, but that was different. I was a soldier then. Now I'm just a old man from Harper, Mississippi.

And I'm pretty nervous don't you know.

Tomorrow: We Arrive in England (I hope)

Getting a Airplane Out of Atlanta (from Jan 2011)

I can't believe it. Snow and ice still everywhere. No mail again today. I ain't expecting nothing. Just saying I can't believe it. Me and Hollis took a ride or maybe a slide out of the neighborhood. Hollis has a four wheel drive jeep and that makes it better. It was a adventure though. He taken me to this restaurant where I got a $14.00 hamburger. Huh? Dorothy can give you one just as good for $3.50 and the tea is free. All you can drink. 

If everything goes like Hollis hopes it does, we will be flying out of here tomorrow night. I said I didn't think we could get to the airport and Hollis says we gonna ride a MARTA train. Whatever that is. I've seen a whole bunch of things I ain't never seen before here in Atlanta. Don't know if my brain can stand much more. Anyway it looks like this time tomorrow me and Hollis will be heading for England. Pray for me.

Tomorrow: Atlanta Airport

More Pressure (from Jan 2011)

More Pressure

We still snowed in. No mail. Airport closed. But plenty of food. They sure was ready for this shut down.

Hollis don't know everything. He come to me and told me that they still use miles in England. Well, by dang that's different. I warn't about to go to no place where I couldn't find my way back to where I started. Then Hollis said he wasn't gonna beg me to go. But then he commenced to doing just that. He said I needed to start doing more stuff. He said the time over there will pass a lot faster than I can imagine and he has a real good place to stay. He swears I will have a good time. I reckon I ought to do this for him. I still can't figure out why it's so important to him. He's paying for everything and he's gone lots of other places by hisself. When I asked him why it was so important he said he just wanted me to get to see England before I really got settled at home. I reckon I'll go.

Tomorrow: Getting a Airplane Out of Atlanta

Me and Hollis Has a Serious Talk (from Jan 2011)

We snowed in. I mean big time. Can't even get out of the neighborhood. They say on the TV don't get out at all no matter what. And people still doing it. They got big trucks off the side of the big highways and all kind of peoples left their cars right on the road and got out and walked. They crazy over here. 

Now Hollis and me has had a lot of time to talk and he says he done bought my plane ticket to London and he got a place to stay with two bedrooms and a kitchen and everything. He really wants me to go with him. I said why go over there in the winter and he says it ain't as bad as it is here. But I says it's better in Harper than it is here. He says I need to start doing things so I can spend a little bit of the money I got saved up. I reckon that's right. Don't none of my kids need nothing except maybe Doreen, but she'd just waste it probably. 

Hollis showed me the temperature in London and it was 7 degrees. Just before I got real upset he said it wasn't all that bad they has a different way to tell temperature. And I said they do everything wrong like temperature and driving on the wrong side of the road. And he told me they ain't got miles either. They got kilometers. I ain't going.

Tomorrow: More Pressure

Two Posts from 2011

SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, 2011

Atlanta Tour

Like I said me and Hollis is in Atlanta. I got a lot to say about what I seen today, but I ain't gonna do it now. If you ain't heard they tell us we is in for a big snow/ice storm here. I ain't looking forward to it but it's coming anyway. We has a lot to do to get ready and I am trying to be of help. Tomorrow when things is more settled I will have a lot more to tell you.

More About My Visit to Atlanta

You'd think they was expecting a hurricane the way they running around getting ready for this snow and ice storm. Me and Hollis went to the grocery store for our cousins this morning. I ain't never seen so many peoples. They was everywhere. They must have had a hundred peoples working at this big store because they was restocking almost every aisle. We took the groceries back to their house and Hollis suggested we drive down to the Little White House to kinda get out of their way. I'm glad we did. The Little White House ain't much bigger than my fishing cabin. It's pretty cozy but I was surprised that the president lived in such a small place when he come to Georgia. Y'all probably know Roosevelt come to Warm Springs, Georgia because it was good treatment for his polio. When he was coming here nobody much had any idea he had polio. Of course that was before he was president, but even after that no reporters used pictures of him in a wheel chair or with crutches or nothing. Today they takes a close up of a pimple on the president's nose. All in all it was a great day in Georgia. Now we is back in Atlanta just waiting to see how bad the storm is gonna get.

Arrival in Atlanta (from Jan 2011)

We finally pulled in to Atlanta. I found out later that the railroad gives way to freight trains and passengers have to just wait till the freight is gone past. I had to climb a big stairway what come out in a pretty small station. I was surprised it wasn't big like the big city ones in movies. Hollis was waiting there and took me out of the station and right on to Peachtree Road. There was cars going ever which way. We went across this side street to  Hollis' car. It's kind of a sport car but I fit in pretty good. Hollis drove me all the way up Peachtree past all these tall buildings into what they call Buckhead. People was everywhere. We turned and headed west past the governor's house and then headed north across this river. My cousin's house is right across the river. I asked Hollis how he knew how to get around so good. He said because he had did it so much. The cousins was glad to see us and had some food ready for us. They had chili and a salad. They was both good. Hollis said that his girl was already in London and tomorrow he would give me a little trip around Atlanta. I reckon that was good, I didn't have nothing else to do.

Tomorrow: Atlanta Tour

The Train (from Jan 2011)

Well, Hollis won. I'm going to Atlanta. There are things I want to see there and in Georgia, but I'm a little bid worried about leaving Harper. I ain't left in years. Dorothy come over to the big house early this morning. Willie was already there with his pickup truck. Dorothy told me to be careful and gave me a little peck on my cheek. I couldn't believe it. We ain't hardly touched one another in all the years we been friends.

Willie and me talked all the way to Hattiesburg where the train was gonna stop. Willie had been to Atlanta a bunch of times and told me all he knew about it. Most of it was real scary--roads with cars stop and go for mile after mile. That gave me something to think about on my train ride. We got to Hattiesburg, rode past the university and through the downtown till be come to the depot. We had a few minutes before the train got there. When the train did pull in, a man who worked there looked at my ticket and told me to walk about fifty feet down and wait there. Hollis had fixed it up so I had a little room of my own. Willie walked with me and helped me load my suitcase on the train. A real nice porter took me to my room and put my suitcase in a special place. He told me as soon as the train was moving he would be back to tell me how everything worked. I wasn't in my room more'n a couple minutes till the train started moving. I looked out the window and seen Willie waving to me. What come in my mind was would I ever see him again.

Tomorrow: Train Ride

Where the Queen Lives (from Jan 2011)

I ain't going, but if I did I wouldn't get in none of them cars with the steering wheel on the wrong side. I mean come on now. But here's the good news. According to some of them leaflets Hollis brung over to me you don't really have to have a car. They got trains going everywhere and in London they got what they call the tube. It's a underground railroad that will take you close to anyplace you want to go. They got this little map with a different color for each line. They got a bunch of lines. I kinda memorized which lines go to the places a fellow would want to go. You can go to all kinds of places. You can even go right up outside the house where the queen lives. They call it a palace, Buckingham Palace. If I went I would want to go there. But I ain't going.

Here's something else. The queen has a bunch of houses. One of the main ones she goes to is in Scotland. I guess she's a little like me. Sometimes I stay in the big house and sometimes I stay down in my fishing cabin. They said the queen's daddy, the former king stuttered just like Mel Tellis. Can't you see how much like Americans they is. But I ain't going.

Tomorrow: Learning More About England

Learning About England (from Jan 2011)

Like I told y'all I went through the 7 and 1/2 grade in school. And I also told y'all to recognize the difference in being ignorant and being stupid. I ain't learned all I need to learn, but I think I got a lot of common sense. Right now I do need to learn a lot about England.

One thing I figured out right off the bat was what this joke I heard meant just from reading them leaflets. The joke was why did the Siamese twins go to England? The answer: So the other one could drive. You see I was ignorant of the idea that those people over there drive on the wrong side of the road. It sure wasn't stupid not to know this. Who in his right mind would have guessed such a thing? So I am ahead of the game by reading them leaflets and books what Hollis brung to me. I figure I can learn enough right here in Harper; so I won't need to go all the way over there. Hollis says it ain't the same. Going is so much better. Well, I just as soon to have read about how cold it was in Korea and stayed at home by the fire. Something else I learned: Big Ben ain't no clock. It's a bell. You see what I mean. It wasn't stupid not to know that. Just a little ignorance.

Tomorrow: Where the Queen Lives (hint, a bunch of places)

Hollis Makes an Offer (from 2011)

Hollis sprung one on me. He wants to go to London to visit his girlfriend next month. And he wants me to go with him. I told him I ain't never been out of Harper that much and I didn't think so. He said I had been all the way to Korea and London wasn't that far. I told him I hope it wasn't nothing like the time I spent in Korea. Man. I don't reckon there's anyway he can talk me in to getting on a airplane and flying across the ocean just to listen to people talk like they done in that movie Tom Jones. He brung a bunch of books and leaflets for me to look over. And besides, I told him, it was winter and wasn't no time to go gallivanting around the world. I promised him I would look things over. But I ain't going.

Tomorrow: Learning About England

Settling Down in the Big House (from Dec 2010)

I reckon y'all gonna think I'm getting soft and y'all probably right. Living in my fishing cabin was good for me, but it sure is more comfortable here in the big house. This is where I was born and lived while I was married to Bethel, Mary Ann, and Trixie. It wasn't till after Trixie run off with that tent preacher that I moved down to the end of the lake. I was happy there, but Dorothy, my friend that's a girl, said she thought I ought to stay here for the time being. Her cafe ain't more'n a couple of blocks away and she can look after me better. 

She has one of her part-time women come by every day and clean and stuff and if I don't make it down to the cafe,  Dorothy brings my food by. The woman who comes by is Florene Getz. She has a sick husband at home and the money I pay her comes in right handy to her situation. She always lights a fire in any room where I might go and I just snuff 'em out when I go to bed. Yeah, living in the big house ain't too bad.

 Besides Hollis' family lives next door, about half a mile away, so he can drop by when ever he want's to. His girl friend is going to London for study and he ain't too happy about it. I think it might be good for them two to have a few miles between them. Kinda cool things down, doncha know. 

Tomorrow: Hollis Makes an Offer

A Funny Thing That Happened in Harper (from Dec 2010)

I wanted to tell y'all about something that happened down at the Social Needs Office which is three doors down from the hardware store. Mildred Swarms is the lady down there who says who gets help and who don't. Her and Frances McGruder, a good Baptist, was discussing the Christmas gift collection for the needy. Mildred is a Methodist. 

About that time this woman from out in the country come in. She had a stomach that stuck out like a big knot on a little log. I don't know the woman's name, the one that was with child, but Frances told me all about it. Well, this mother-to-be was looking for money to help to get her through her expecting time. Mildred, trying to find out if she could get help from other sources, asked her who the father was. And the expectant mother said, "It ain't got no father". Well, Frances said Mildred jumped up, knocked her chair over, and pushed pass them on her way to the front window. The young woman asked what was wrong and Mildred said she was just looking for the star, and the shepherd, and the wise men. She said she was particularly excited because this was the second time this had happened. You can't push too much past Mildred.

Tomorrow: More Goings-on Around Harper

Jack and His Family Leave (from Nov 2014)

Jack and Lou Ann and their grandchildren, Benjamin and Franklin, piled into the rented car with the Louisiana license plate and headed for New Orleans to catch their plane to San Francisco, California. It stopped raining and was warmer so they had the top down. As they was leaving Lou Ann gave me a big hug and told me how happy she was that they came. The boys did the same and lo and behold so did Jack.
He said we'll see you soon, Pop, (that's what they all call me.)

So they drove off and left me and Doreen standing there. Hollis was at school so it was just me and my pretty daughter standing there waving them off. I have to admit my prayers has been two-thirds answered.

Now if I can just come up with some way to get Bill back on board. I always figured he would be the easiest to get back, but I had no idea what a creep he has become. Now I want y'all to know I know some real good lawyers. Some of the best people I know. But Willie's boy Charles and my boy Bill ain't in there amongst "em.

Me and Lou Ann Have a Chat (from Nov 2010)

Me and Lou Ann talked but not in the boat; she ain't too good with water. We was sitting on the porch of the big house on the lake side. There is a little pond to the right and a bigger one to the left. The porch runs all the way around the house, but the lake-side is fixed up with a swing and rocking chairs. We was rocking away and talking a bunch. She told me what a good husband Jack had been. He was kind and considerate and was always telling her how much he loved her. Now, I never would have guessed it. She said she had for years tried to get him to call me or to come for a visit, but he was too ashamed for how he lived when he was young. 

I asked her if she thought he was afraid if he didn't hurry up and come over I might be dead before he did come. And she said she didn't want to say it, but she was sure that was a big reason. Lou Ann told me all their children was good and working hard to raise their families. She showed me pictures and I swear there's something real pretty about that Chinese/English/German/French mixture. They was all beautiful. I hope one day they will all come to Harper to see me.

Tomorrow: Jack and His Family Leave

The New Doreen (from Nov 2010)

After Jack went off in that car he rented to visit his long lost kids, Doreen wanted me to take her out in the boat; just the two of us. I figured she wanted to talk and I figured right. When we got out to the middle she started off just like Jack, spouting all kind of stuff. She was sorry she hadn't treated me good all these years. She was sorry she had married those two no-good fellows, the gambler and the drunkard. She said she knew they was rotten but figured she could change them. Seems like I heard that story before. 

She had a new job and was making good helping to manage this gravel company where she lives. And she, I'll have to say, was as pretty as she used to be. She got rid of that black nail polish and that dark, dark lipstick. And her hair was all one color. Her dress was real pretty and not hippy-like which was what she wore before. And she was using good English. Better'n me of course, but I ain't got no reason to and she does. She is going to a Methodist Church right regular and sings in the choir. I reckon that's alright, but ever time I been to the Methodists all their songs sounded just alike to me. 

So as we was rowing in Doreen promised me she was going to do better and I believed her.

Tomorrow: Me and Lou Ann Have a Chat

Jack Comes Clean (from Nov 2010)

After we woke up from our turkey naps, Jack asked me to go out in the boat with him again. When we was in the middle of Harper Lake, Jack commenced to crying and telling me how sorry he was for treating me like he done and how sorry he was about running off and leaving them girls carrying his babies. I told him I don't know what I would have done with two girls in trouble both at the same time. He didn't take no comfort in that and said he should have sent money or something. I told him both girls married good and they didn't have to worry about money. And then I told him something I hadn't planned on telling him. I told him about the money I give them boys (they was both boys) to go to college. They never knew it was me because I got Joe Diggins down at the bank to handle it for me. They both turned out successful and now was both married. Jack wanted to go and see them and to apologize and I didn't tell him he shouldn't. So he took off by himself in that rented car, but this time he had the top up. It turned cold last night and the wind is blowing today. 

Tomorrow: The New Doreen

Thanksgiving Dinner With My Family, and More (from Nov 2010)

Note: Sorry for being about a month early with Thanksgiving. Maybe it'll get y'all excited about it.

We got Willie, Gladys, and some of their kids to join us for dinner. It was a real get-together. Jack was the most excited to see his old friends. Doreen come over from that little town where she lives and had a surprise for me. Jack knew about it because he had called her and told her about one of his inventions. It was a laser thing that they used to remove her tattoo. And it did a good job. Wasn't nothing left but a little pink skin. She ain't advertising for Falstaff no more. 

Dorothy come over too. Her and Gladys took over the kitchen and brought out a great spread. The center piece was a big fried turkey and two turkey stuffings, one with oysters, one without. Homemade cranberry sauce. Lots of vegetables: green beans, squash, collard greens, pink eyed peas, and a bunch of radishes, onions, pickles, olives, and carrots. For dessert we had pumpkin pie, pecan pie, banana pudding, coconut cake, and/or peach cobbler with homemade ice cream. We was stuffed. 

After we finished we all sat in the living room of the big house. And you know what, we fell asleep, kinda in the order of our age. At least that's what they told me.

Tomorrow: Jack Comes Clean

More About Bill (Nov 2010)

Jack probably said more'n he meant to, but he pretty much bad-mouthed Bill. Said he was selfish, stuck-up, and a bad sport. Last time they met, Bill bragged about how much money he was making and dropped the name of a whole bunch of movie stars. The only one I knew much about was Ben Johnson. Jack told me Ben died a few years ago. I didn't know that. He was real good in westerns.

 Bill told Jack that he was in the wrong business and that he's never make any real money in Silly Comb Valley. I asked Jack if he was happy doing what he was doing and kinda made him talk about his inventions. He worked on that grocery scanner thing and did some work on lasers for different kinds of medical stuff. He said when Doreen come over for Thanksgiving, she had a surprise that had to do with his work. I probably forgot to mention Doreen was coming over, but she is.

Tomorrow: Thanksgiving Dinner With My Family and More

What Jack Had to Say About Bill (from Nov 2010)

Me and Jack went out in the boat like we used to when he was little. For a long while we didn't say nothing to each other. Then Jack commenced to talking and it was like the little boy who took his finger out of the dike. He spouted out all kind of things. He met Lou Ann at Ole Miss. They sat close together in some lab (she was a Wu and as you know his name started with a "W" too.) They hit it off and dated all through college. She was from the Mississippi Delta region and her folks run some kind of store. He said he never told us none of this cause he was afraid what we would say. I mean, come on. Then he said the reason he never come home much was he was ashamed. Not of us or of Lou Ann, but of what he done growing up. He said he had growed up a lot and was real sorry now. Lou Ann told him he better get home and make amends. I like that girl better all the time.

I asked him if he ever saw Bill and he said he seen him three or four times since they left college. Bill made a lawyer and he's real big in Southern California doing stuff with the movies. I asked Jack if he thought Bill would ever come back to see us and Jack said he didn't reckon so.

Tomorrow: More About Bill

Jack Arrives (from Nov 2010)

Jack come in today. He drove up in a rented car with a Louisiana tag on it. And with him was his wife, a pretty woman of the Chinese persuasion, and two of his grand-kids, two good looking boys. You could count on Jack to have good looking people around him.

His wife, Lou Ann, was real nice to me. She kept bringing me things like coffee and cake and other treats. I liked her right off. And the boys couldn't get enough of my accent and the way I talked. They kept asking me to tell them about this and that--how the lake was made and named and what kind of fish we had in it.

They was named Franklin and Benjamin. I ain't joking. They was ten and eleven and was cousins, but they looked enough alike to be brothers. I got them to tell me all about their life in California, but they seemed more interested in life in Harper.

Them boys almost fainted when Willie and me went out fishing together. They said this wasn't what they heard about Mississippi. I said, " Well, if y'all won't believe everything you heard about Mississippi, I won't believe everything I heard about California."

Tomorrow: What Jack Had to Say About Bill

Willie's Other Four Children (from Nov 2010)

Willie and Gladys have worked hard to rear their eight kids. Willie was with the railroad, a car knocker. I don't reckon he missed one day of work in all the years he worked there. And Gladys was a nurse, a LPN, and she was real good about always being there.

Lester is the child that I think is the smartest. In fact he is smarter than most anybody I know. He went to Jackson State and then got a job with the highway department. He figures out where roads is going to be built.

June flies for Highsky Airways. She is a flight attendant (that's what Hollis says they called now) and she's been flying out of New Orleans for years. She's the only one that ain't got married, but they's some pilot that's always coming to Harper to see her.

Delores is a music teacher in the schools. Her choirs are real good. They been on nationwide tours.

And Charles. He's the one that's a lawyer. I can say a lot of real good things about Willie's kids and if I put my mind to it, I could probably find something good to say about Charles. Well he's got a wonderful mother and father. How about that?

They got so many grandchildren and great grandchildren, I ain't going to try to tell all about them.

Jack will be here tomorrow. Heaven help us.

Tomorrow: Jack and his Surprise