Earnestine Alexander Williams Menzies

     Anyone who has been around Menard for any length of time, knew Earnestine Menzies.  I literally knew her my entire life.  I was born April the fifth nineteen fifty two over what is now the city hall in Menard.  Earnestine was the nurse who helped deliver me when I was born.  She gave me my first bath and put on my first diaper.  So, when she said she had known me for my entire life, I knew she was telling the truth.  Even though I had known Earnestine my entire life, I really didn’t get to know her until she moved into the retirement center at the Menard Manor in the year two thousand and one.  I didn’t realize what an important part of my life she would become in those eleven years she resided at Menard Manor. 

     Without a doubt Earnestine was one of the most unique individuals I have ever known. She was without a doubt the pickiest eater I have ever known.  She did not eat eggs, ground meat, or chicken.  She did not drink milk or water.  She sucked on ice all day except when she was asleep.  She went through at least three or four pounds of ice every day.  The only food she really liked was chips and any type of junk food.  As soon as she crawled out of bed, she would grab her a hand full of chips and open a coke.  She would eat the chips and drink the coke, and then she would take a shower and get dressed for the day.  She told me this was pretty much her daily routine since she was a teenager.  Earnestine was a creature of habit.  Once she did something she liked, she thought she had to do it every day for the rest of her life.  She would tell me, “I don’t know how I have lived to be this old. All I have ever eaten is junk food”. 

     Earnestine was a person who virtually didn’t like anyone.  I don’t even think she liked herself at times.  She told me one time that, she bet her two husbands, Clarence and Alex, were glad to die to get away from her.  She didn’t mind sharing her opinion no matter whether they hurt someone’s feelings or not.  She didn’t care who it was or what it was, if she didn’t like someone or something, she didn’t mind telling them.  Pete Davis had known her since they were children together.  He lived across the hall from Earnestine, in the retirement center.  He told me one day, “John, I have known Earnestine since we were kids, and I have come to the conclusion that she is the perfect blend of good and evil.”  I have thought about what Pete said that day, and I believe he gave the perfect description of Earnestine Menzies. 

     In spite of Earnestine’s outspoken personality, she was one of the most liked individuals I have ever known.  When her birthday would come around, she would receive thirty or forty birthday cards.  I would be lucky to receive two cards on my birthday.  She was truly one of a kind.  When I mentioned Earnestine’s name to someone, they would often say, “They broke the mold when they made Earnestine.”  Maybe that uniqueness was what drew people to her like a moth to a flame.  She had so much charisma that people couldn’t help but love her no matter what she said.

     Earnestine had a deep abiding love for her family.  But, that did not mean they were immune to her criticism.  If company over stayed their welcome.  She would tell me, “I have enjoyed the visit, but it is time for them to go.  All they do when they are here is stand outside smoking.”  I remember one time when her granddaughter and grand son- in- law had been visiting for a few days and Earnestine was getting tired of having to entertain them.  So, they were finally getting ready to leave.  They were in the manor lobby and Earnestine hugged them goodbye and told them that she loved them.  They walked out the door and she turned to Pete Davis and said, “Thank God they are finally gone.” 

     One morning we were sitting in Earnestine’s room visiting and we looked outside and we saw someone walking down the sidewalk towards Earnestine’s room.  Now I want say who this individual was, but it was someone Earnestine liked very much.  But, it just so happened she was not in a visiting mood at that moment.  When Earnestine first saw her coming down the sidewalk she said, “I wonder what she wants?  The last thing I want right now is to have company.”  I feared Earnestine might be rude to this person.  So, the lady came on in the building and when she opened the door to Earnestine’s room, Earnestine said, “Well hello sugar, come on in.”  I thought to myself,  this makes me think that Earnestine is a little two faced.  I couldn’t help but wonder if this is what she thought when she would see me at the door.  But, this was just vintage Earnestine. 

     As I have said before, Earnestine was a picky eater.  She complained about the food at the manor until the day she died.  This was not because the food at Menard Manor is bad.  She didn’t want anything to eat but chips.  Earnestine had taken some kind of food preparation course at Texas Tech when Clarence and she were living close to Lubbock, Texas.  This boosted her ego to the point that she felt like she was the only one in the world who knew how to cook.  She was a fabulous cook.  But, she never could realize that there were other people who knew how to cook.  So, she was constantly criticizing the dietary supervisor and all of the cooks in the Menard Manor kitchen.  She would take food, she thought was badly cooked, and she would save it and take it to the administrator trying to get dietary in trouble.  I am sure they did not appreciate this.  Anyway, Earnestine got sick and had to go to Shannon Hospital for a few days.  When she finally got back from the hospital, she told me she wanted to talk to the food supervisor.  I knew she wasn’t impressed by the food at Shannon, so I thought she wanted to give the dietary supervisor a compliment, by telling Rose that their cooking was better than Shannon’s.  So, I went and found the food supervisor, Rosemary Gonzales.  I told her that Earnestine wanted to talk to her.  She came to the room to see Earnestine.  Earnestine told Rose to come over to her chair and she reached out and held Rose’s hand.  I thought to myself, she is finally going to give Rose a compliment on the food in the manor kitchen.  Earnestine said, “Rose, I just want you to know that the food at Shannon is just as bad as it is here.”  Rose just laughed.  I told her later, “You do realize, that was as close to a compliment as you will ever get from Earnestine.”

     As I have stated in the past there very few people that Earnestine liked.  But, there were two people that she hated more than anyone else.  I am never going to reveal the names of these two individuals.  Many times when she was particularly mad at one or both of these individuals, she would tell me, “John, if I don’t make it into Heaven, it is going to be these two peoples fault, because they are standing between me and the gates of Heaven.”  I would remind her that as Christians we have to love everyone.  She said, “I know John.  So, I just have to ask for God to forgive me for what I am thinking, every night.”

     I can’t put into words how much Earnestine meant to my family and I.  The night she had her stroke, I went down to take her little dog out to potty.  I visited with her for about forty minutes that night.  I marveled that night at what a good mind she still had at the ripe old age of ninety seven years old.  She had a wedding card for my son and daughter-in-law that she wanted to give me that night.  The card also had a fifty dollar bill in it for a  wedding present.  She told me to be sure and not forget it.  I told her if I forget it, I can always get it in the morning when I come in for work.  She said, “If something happened to me tonight, they would never get this card and money.  So, do not forget it.”  I didn’t forget it.  I look back on that night, and I realize that she must have had a premonition that something was going to happen to her that night.  For some reason that night we got to talking about funerals.  Earnestine had always been adamant about not having any kind of funeral service.  She said she didn’t want people coming to view her body and talking about how pretty she was in the casket.  She said that would be a lie because she knew she was just an ugly old woman.  She stated that she didn’t want any kind of a death notice in the paper.  I ask her about that during our conversation that last night.  She said, “I guess you could put a little notice in the paper.  But, if you do, I want you to use my full name.  I want you to say Earnestine Alexander Williams Menzies died, and that is all.”  I asked her what about her middle name.  She said it was Mildred.  But, she said I never did like that name, so don’t list it.  After she died I conveyed this message to her granddaughter and they honored her request. 

     I could go on and on about Earnestine.  What a interesting and unique individual.  You might not agree with everything she said or did, but you could never accuse her of being dull.  If she saw something she thought wasn’t right, she didn’t mind voicing her concerns.  In many ways I admired that in her.  Some people are afraid to speak up when they see something that is not right.  It never occurred to Earnestine to be afraid of what people might think. 

     If life was getting me down, I could always go visit her and we would talk out whatever problem I was having.  If I was angry and upset about something, there was nobody better than Earnestine to have a griping session with.  I know she wasn’t perfect.  But, there is not a day goes by that I don’t think about her and miss her so much it hurts.  She meant so much to not only me but my entire family.  She was one of the last people alive who knew my parents and grandparents.  When she died, it severed that last link between myself and the folks who raised me.  She was such an interesting person.  I may write some more on her later.  But for now, that’s all folks.       

My Childhood in Abilene, TX

     When I was a child in Abilene, I attended the second, third and fourth grades.  For some reason we moved, every summer.  So, I attended three different schools.  This was very traumatic.  Just when I would make some friends, we would move and I would have to start all over again.  I was painfully shy.  I had to deal with all of the things that make childhood miserable such as loneliness, feelings of rejection, and bullies of course.  I remember roaming all over the neighborhood on my bicycle.  Mother never seemed to worry about where I went.  Sometimes I would be a half mile away from the house.  It is a wonder I didn’t get abducted by a serial killer.  But, things like that were rare in nineteen sixty.  We were extremely poor.  Daddy worked for the city of Abilene as the city carpenter for one dollar and sixty cents an hour.  That was what we lived on.  Someway we managed to get by.  I don’t remember ever getting hungry.  But, I was smart enough to know that we were poor.  I remember sometimes we would have treats such as cheese.  Now I loved cheese.  Sometimes mother would buy me a small strawberry sundae.  This was a rare occasion.  So I vowed that when I got grown, I was going to buy myself as many strawberry sundaes and as much cheese as I wanted.  I have kept that promise. 

     I remember mother, my older brother, and myself riding on the city bus to the Taylor county fair one time.  We got to see Brenda Lee sing.  She was just seventeen at the time.  I remember getting lost from mother in the crowd.  I was lost for a good while.  But, I decided I would try to get a closer look at Brenda Lee.  So I went to the front row of the crowd.

  Mother had to get the police to help find me.  She was almost hysterical by the time they found me.  We finally moved back to Menard in nineteen sixty one, when I was in the fifth grade.  I haven’t left Menard for any length of time since. 

Daddy's Trip to Grandpa Trigg's Funeral

     I have written about grandpa Trigg previously.  At some point in his life, he sold his blacksmiths shop in Jonah, Texas, and moved to Garden City, Texas, close to Midland, Texas.  He bought a grocery store.  He had a heart attack and died shortly after moving to Garden City.  He was sixty nine years old at the time of his death.  Daddy and two of his brothers were out on the plains of Texas, picking cotton.  When grandpa Trigg died, they took his body back to Jonah to be buried.  He was actually buried in the Weir cemetery, which is close to Jonah.  Daddy said they were notified that grandpa Trigg had died suddenly.  So, they started making plans to attend.  The only means of transportation they had was an old worn out Model-T.  They began their journey.  They got down between Eden and Paint Rock, Texas, and they had a flat.  They carried everything they needed to repair a flat tire, but a rock had knocked a hole in the tire.  They needed a boot to cover the hole, but they didn’t have one.  They looked around the sides of the road and they found a small piece of tin.  They used the piece of tin as a boot to cover the hole in the tire.  They managed to repair the flat tire and they continued on their journey.  They thought they had it made now.  But, when they got to the hill country, they had another problem.  Low gear was out on the old Model-T.  They could not make it up the hills in high gear.  The first hill they encountered was a long steep hill just north of Eden.  Sure enough they couldn’t make it up this hill.  They tried and tried but it didn’t have enough power to make it up the hill.  So, finally daddy said why don’t we try to back it up the hill, since reverse gear is similar to low gear.  It worked.  Daddy said they encountered more hills and they had to repeat this procedure several times before they finally made it to the funeral.  What determination this generation must have had. 

A Few Humorous Stories from 24 Years at Menard Manor

The first story happened when I had only been working at Menard Manor for a few months.  I had decided to touchup the scratches and re-varnish the desk at the nurse’s station. There were always three or four little old ladies or little old men sitting in their wheelchairs by the nurse’s station.  One of the little old ladies was a nice lady that my dad and I had done several carpenter jobs for her years before I went to work at the manor.  So, I was under the impression that she recognized me.  I was varnishing the nurse’s station desk, and she decided she would watch me.  She kept telling me what a wonderful job I was doing and how fast I was at varnishing the desk.  She said they were so lucky to have me working at the manor.  So, later in the day, I was varnishing on the back side of the nurse’s desk.  I guess she didn’t realize I was back there.  So, she turned to this little old lady sitting by her and she said, “I don’t think he will ever finish varnishing that desk, most people could have painted a whole house in the time it has taken him to varnish this desk”.

     When I went to work in nineteen eighty eight, the heating and air conditioners in the manor, were old and needing to be replaced.  The middle air conditioner was constantly giving trouble.  I had not been working at Menard Manor, so I still had a lot to learn.  Ruth McCoy and I were walking down the hall one day.  Someone hollered from one of the rooms for Ruth.  He wanted to talk to her.  He was an older Spanish known to use some pretty rough language.  I guess he didn’t see me standing in the hall.  I heard him ask her, “When are they going to get the air conditioning fixed?”   Ruth told him, “Have you ask John about getting it fixed?”  He told her, “I have already told that S.O.B and he’s not going to do a G.D. thing about it.”  When Ruth came out of the room, she said, “I hope you didn’t hear what he said.”  I was laughing so hard I couldn’t talk.  I did get the air conditioner fixed and this old fellow and I became pretty good friends. 

     The last story I want to tell is about the time we were getting a young lady in the independent living wing of Menard Manor.  I will not name any names.  At the time this young lady was in her late thirties.  She was an attractive lady.  But, she has a disability.  So, one of the older ladies in the retirement center did not want her moving into the retirement center, especially since the young lady was moving into a room right next door to this lady.  So, this older lady complained to anyone who would listen, that she did not think they should allow this young lady to move into the retirement center.  She had heard all kinds of gossip about this young lady, and she thought it would be nothing but trouble if they allow this young lady to move in.  I guess she thought I had some kind of authority to stop this young lady from moving in.  So, she asked me if she could talk to me in private.  I told her sure.  She told this me woman was going to be nothing but trouble and she was wondering if there was anyway I could put a stop to her moving into the retirement center.  I told her, “Now so and so, the Christian thing to do is give this young lady a chance.”  She told me, “Well that might be the Christian thing to do, but that is not the right thing to do.”  I couldn’t think of any thing to say after that.  So, I just walked off.

Daddy and the Holy Roller Church

     During the great depression and for decades afterward, times were tough and people had to make their own clothes.  It was difficult to find money to buy material to make your own clothes.  So, many flour companies packaged flour in material with different prints and designs that could be made into clothes.  Many people at this time wore clothes made from flour sacks.  One of the companies that packaged their flour, in printed material, was called “Beulah’s Best”. 

     Now daddy was living in Menard, at the time.  This was apparently when he was between marriages.  They were having a tent gospel revival meeting on a vacant lot in the eastern part of the city of Menard.  Now daddy was a lifelong member of the Church of Christ, so this Holy Roller meeting was definitely something he was not used to.  But, for some reason, he decided he would attend the meeting one night.  He said one old gal got so worked up she started to do cartwheels and turn flips.  He said he was setting close to where she was and while she was turning one of these flips, he could see her underwear and it said on her underwear, “Beulah’s Best Flour.”  He told this story many times, and he would laugh and say, “I hope times never get bad enough that we have to wear flour sack drawers.”

Pap Pierces Brothers Visit

    Pap and Ma’am Pierce apparently moved to Texas from Tennessee in about nineteen twelve.  Pap and Ma’am didn’t return to Tennessee to visit for almost forty years.  I don’t know how many siblings Pap had, but Ma’am was an only child.  Daddy said Pap’s brothers came to Texas to visit one time.  Daddy was a kid and they were living in Jonah, Texas.  He said they were all big, fat, jolly men.  They were always laughing and joking the entire time they were together.  So, one day while they were visiting, they decided they would all go to town together.  Pap owned a Ford Model-T.  So, they all piled in the Model-T.  They began to try to move but the Model-T wasn’t going any where.  They were so heavy, that the car squatted down until the fenders were touching the tires, therefore preventing the car from moving.  Daddy said the entire family was out in the yard to watch them drive off.  When they saw them sitting in the car, unable to move, they couldn’t stop laughing.  Daddy said Pap and his brothers were laughing harder than anyone. 

Uncle Nick

Uncle Nick was the oldest of my dad’s siblings.  He was a successful newspaper man, and business man.  He wrote the book, “The Free State of Menard.’  He was a big man when he was young.  He was liked by some and hated by some.  He would fight at the drop of a hat.  He feared no one.  He wrestled semi- pro for years but he never wrestled professionally.  When Uncle Nick came to Menard, Menard had two newspapers, the Menard News and the Menard Messenger.  He eventually bought both and became the Menard News and Messenger.  He was very active in the community.  He organized an adult baseball team that was very successful.  In that day and time all of the area towns had adult baseball teams.  My dad even worked as a referee at some of these games.  Uncle Nick loved Menard and he loved to tell stories about Menard.  One story he told me was about the time Menard had, for the lack of a better term, a county fair.  The story starts one day when a stranger enters the news office.  He told Uncle Nick that he wanted to help organize a big event in Menard that would bring in a lot of money to the community.  He said he had helped other towns to have similar events that were very successful as fund raiser.   He said he only wanted a small percentage of the proceeds that were accrued.  Uncle agreed to help him to promote this event.  Many people volunteered money and time to make this event a reality.  Now it was my understanding that this event included horse races, a beauty pageant, and some form of county fair.  Menard did not have a horse racing track.  So they built one west of town right past the Los Moras Creek.  I am not sure who owns the property now.  When I was a kid, the property belonged to Dr. Westphall.  You can see where the race track was and the barns where the horses were kept to this day.  The event was a huge success and made a lot of money.  The stranger disappeared during the night, taking with him all of the money.  He was never seen again.  As far as I know, the police were never able to apprehend him and bring him to justice.  Uncle Nick said everybody thought he was in on the theft, but he swore to me, that he had nothing to do with the theft.  He said he lost money like everyone else. 

     I want to tell one more story about Uncle Nick that the late Jimmie Crowell told me years ago.  Bill Lewis operated the Menard Lumber Yard.  It was located then where the Menard National Bank is located now.  He was a gruff and unlikable character as was Uncle Nick.  He didn’t like Nick and Nick didn’t like him.  So, Bill decided he was tired of Nick bullying people.  He bought himself a pair of brass knucks.  He told ever one that he was going to whip Nick Pierce.  So, Jimmie Crowell and several other men followed Bill to the news office, to witness Bill Lewis whip Nick Pierce.  Jimmie said Bill confronted Nick as Nick came out of the news office.  Bill had the brass knucks in his right pocket.  He informed Uncle Nick that he was tired of Nick picking on people and he was going to whip Nick and teach him a lesson.  Jimmie said Bill started to bring the brass knucks out of his pocket, but he was unable to remove his hand from his pocket as long as he was grasping the knucks.  Uncle Nick realized what Bill was trying to do, so he hit him and knocked him down.  Bill was still trying to get the knucks out of his pocket when he got back on his feet.  Uncle Nick knocked him down again.  After being knocked down several times, Bill Lewis decided it was time to retreat.  He run off never having gotten the brass knucks out of his pocket.

     Uncle Nick was unable to drive the last ten years of his life.  He still insisted on coming to Menard at least a couple of times a year.  So, he would catch the bus to Mason the day after Christmas.  I would then drive to Mason and pick him up, and he would stay in Menard for about a week.  He spent the week going from business to business selling calendars and “The Free State of Menard” book.  It didn’t matter where he was or what he was doing he was always trying to make money. 

     During these ten years that he had to depend on me for transportation, we got to know each other real well.  Uncle Nick loved to talk about the good old days, and I enjoyed listening.  I am glad I had this time to get to know him better.  He told me a lot of neat stories about the Pierce family and about Menard that I would have never known if it hadn’t for Uncle Nick.  He had a huge ego and he couldn’t accept the fact that he was old and helpless.  He often told me, “John it is awful when you get old and helpless.”  I’m beginning to see what he meant. 

     Before I close I have got to tell one more story on Uncle Nick.  As I have said before, in his younger days, Nick was not very likeable.  My Dad loved Uncle Nick as his brother, but he did realize that Nick could be a difficult person to like sometimes.  So, daddy and I were coming home from work one day, and we noticed a man selling watermelons out of the back of his truck.  We decided to stop and buy a watermelon.  Daddy was always a friendly person, so he struck a conversation with man selling the watermelons.  The man asked daddy how long he had been around Menard.  Daddy told him he had been around Menard almost his entire life.  The man said years ago he used to live in Menard.  He said he worked for the local newspaper office.  He said the owner of the newspaper was a salty old S.O.B by the name of Nick Pierce.  Daddy informed him that he knew Nick Pierce and his family.  He asked what ever happened to them.  Daddy told him that Nick, his wife, and son Edgar, were buried in the local grave yard.  He said he would like to see where they are buried. So, we told him to follow us to the graveyard and we would show him where they were buried.  After we got up to the graveyard, he told us that he liked the whole family but he didn’t care much for Nick.  He again asked daddy if knew Nick Pierce very well.  Daddy said, “Well, I guess I did know him pretty well since he was my brother.”  I will never forget the look on the man’s face.  He immediately began to apologize profusely.  Daddy told him he need not apologize.  Daddy said that just proved you knew him pretty well.  The guy felt so bad that he gave us five free watermelons. 

     Uncle Nick died in nineteen ninety.  He was ninety four years old.  I am glad I got to know him before he died.  He was my favorite uncle on my dad’s side of the family.  I still miss him.