The first time I met Emma she was 90 years old. She was a lovely woman with a ready smile and silky white hair. She was a short but stout woman, and like most women of the mountains, she had done her share of hard work. She was witty, a…
Aunt Mary lived in Virginia. I never knew where she lived in Virginia, and I never knew when she would arrive at Maw and Paw’s house, except that it always seemed to be when we were out of school. She just showed up, and when she did, she didn’t just…
For the past few hours I have been staring at a copy of an old picture my brother posted on social media last night. The picture looks to be taken around 1910 or 1912. It is a group of people, clearly related to each other. The people in the photograph…
Friday, January 28, 1977 Dear Janet, Can you believe we’ve been out of school another whole week? I’ve lost count of the days we’ve been out, but I know it’s getting close to 30 now. I’m a little worried about all the work we’ve missed, especially since it’s our senior…
Hi, Folks! Meet Miss Dorothy & Miss Charity, two sisters who live on the outskirts of Mars Hill, North Carolina. I came to meet Miss Dorothy Coon & Miss Charity Ray through efforts to interview former students of the old Rosenwald School, a smaller structure that served as the education…
Aunt Celia, who moved away from these mountains some years before even my parents were born, returned home often for visits until her age and Uncle Henry’s health slowed her itch to travel. We always looked forward to her visits and especially the gifts she brought, but the best thing…
Mom slipped into our room about 1:00 one morning when I was 7 and Libby was 4. We were both sound asleep, but as she gently shook us, we gradually woke. Libby wasn’t old enough to question why Mom woke us up, but I was. I was old enough to…
Hi Folks! Last week, I told y’all the legend of Celia Sams Tweed beauty. This week, I am going to give you the reality of her life. Although I do not know much at all about her childhood, I can tell you that she was born on June 20, 1822…
Hi Folks! For this week I am going to do something am little different. I want to do a two part series on Celia Sams Tweed, my great-great grandmother who was born in 1822 and died in 1883. Growing up in these mountains we love, most of our history has…
“Once there was a little old woman and one day she went to the neighbor’s to buy a pig. It was a fine, big pig and she was mighty proud of it. When she got to her fence, she said ‘Pig, pig jump over the fence so I can get…
