There is a place I know that no one else knows. Plenty of others know about the physical place and where it is, but I’m the only one who knows about the spiritual and tranquil place it once was. Sadly, everyone who knew about that place — my mom, my…
Music is an important part of my life. For as long as I can remember, I have loved music. Music fills our home almost daily, and over the course of years, I have come to believe that it adds significantly to my understanding of life. I cannot imagine my world…
Growing up in the mountains meant that life was a mixture of work and play for my sister Libby and me and for most every other child there. We sure did know how to play and would often do so in the summer until it was too dark to see.…
I grew up in a time when almost everything was simpler, at least in the mountains. That doesn’t mean things were easy; they were just simpler. We stayed pretty close home and centered our activities around family and church. And with family and church activities came food, so much good…
Paw always owned a truck. In fact, a truck was the only vehicle I ever knew Paw to own. He didn’t own a truck because it was the popular thing to do as it is for many people today. Paw owned a truck because it was a necessity for life…
Our lives are shaped by many people, places, and events. For many mountain folk, family and church were and still are the two most important influences in their lives. This is certainly true for me. For me, White Oak Mountain Union Baptist Church was home, a place where some of…
Most kids are right in the middle of enjoying their summer vacation from school. But if you live in the mountains of Appalachia, summer vacation is just about to end. Because of the long, hard winters and the probability of many snow days off from school, kids all over these…
Our old home place sets vacant and neglected now. No one has lived there in many years, not since sister and brother, Delie (pronounced Dee-lee and short for Delia) and Roby, finally moved from the old home. By then, both their mother, Lurie (short for Lurana), and their sister, Maybelle,…
Mom and I arrived home from work, she from Sears and I from Hardee’s, at 6:00 that evening. I had worked an eight hour shift, and it was all I could do to drag myself into the house, but we lived on a farm, and I knew there wouldn’t be…
