A few People that lived with us

Memorable car of the day:

  1935 Commander Roadster (Studebaker)

  Used in the film "The Color Purple" staring Oprah Winfrey.    We saw it in South Bend, IN. 

For today:

During my childhood life was much different than today. Our house often had strangers (to me) for days, weeks and at times months and years. That wasn’t all that unusual at the time.

There was one yearly regular, a man called Dugan. He stopped by for a week of mama's cooking. Dad called him a ‘Wayfarer’. He had no home but did work his way around the country doing chores and selling needles and pins.

There was Grace, a sweet young girl. Her dad had told her to leave their house, she was too religious,  Just get out. Dad and mom took her into our home and she was like a sister to me. She met and married a young man, last name Sprinkle. He later became a pastor and Grace was a wonderful pastor’s wife.

That same town, Albemarle, NC. There was what I and many considered even more ODD than our church. I think they called themselves “Nazerites.” The men did not shave nor cut their hair. They were sorta like the Amish in that they ignored many of the modern conveniences, one was cars. They did not drive. The only one I knew, I called Fuzzy. Dad would give him rides if he saw him walking along the road. That really scared me, he looked wild, but now I know it was only his wild beard and shoulder length hair.

Did you know Sampson was the only individual Nazerite mentioned in the Hebrew Bible? You should know also that a Nazarene was a dweller in Nazareth. The Nazarite Sect were not Nazarenes nor identified with a locality.

One of my favorite people was Uncle Ralph. Ralph was one of the ‘mentally challenged’ people I knew in my life time. He was in his 20s before my teen years. He never attended school, but was extremely smart in many ways. We played together. He walked or rode a bicycle to get around. He lived with us a year at a time over the years. The NC hospital for the insane (as it was known at the time) in Morganton, did what was called Shock Treatments. He was sent there a couple time for treatments.

Uncle Hisure on the left Uncle Ralph on the right. After Granny died Ralph stayed mostly with his brothers and sisters. I never saw him wear anything other than Overhauls (Over all's)

I will never forget one time visiting him at Morganton, he called me aside and whispered, “Jackie, there are crazy people in this hospital!”

Mama said long before that she was bringing Shirley and me to visit someone before we started school. Long before A/C, Mama said she was holding our hands on each side of her when a lady put her head out a window on the other side of the fence and yelled, “You think them little devils is cute, but they ain’t!”

Some folks think I am crazy. I talk to myself, trees and animals; even weeds at times.

Nite Shipslog