I had a lot of good childhood memories. I remember one time when I was five years old, Papa, Maggie, Burl, and I were visiting at Grandpa Hall’s. We had been up there all that day, and just before we were ready to leave, it started raining and storming something awful—lightnin’ a-crackin”n thunder rollin’ all around in the sky.
Mama was pregnant and expecting the baby anytime now. Papa knew she and Beatrice would be scared to stay at home by themselves not knowing what had happened to us. So he left us with Grandpa and went home that night through the woods. All of the creeks were flooded, and the foot logs had been washed away. The water was too deep and moving much too fast to cross the creek safely. The only foot log left that he could find was the one at the house just below the swimming hole. He made it home, thoroughly drenched, but safe that in itself was a wonder with all that lightning and wind. You know, the woods is not a safe place to be in a storm.
That night Grandpa gave me a big ol’ Sears Roebuck catalog to look at, the first one I’d ever seen. The next day I dragged that big catalog all the way through the woods. That catalog was so heavy, but I wouldn’t let anyone else touch it. It was mine. Grandpa had given it to me. By the time we got home, I was all worn out, too tired to even look at the pictures.
—Letters to Lori – The Family History and Stories of Opal Corn Myers written by Barbara League
Today’s Thankful November giveaway is a copy of Letters to Lori The Family History and Stories of Opal Corn Myers written by Barbara League. To be entered in the giveaway leave a comment on this post. Giveaway ends November 10, 2026.
Last night’s video: Fried Cornmeal Mush Like Mamaw Made || Delicious Appalachian Breakfast.
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