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.

Pap Pierce's Brothers Visit

Pap and Ma’am Pierce moved to Texas from Tennessee in Nineteen twelve.  Pap and Ma’am did not visit Tennessee again until the early fifties.  Uncle Ches bought a new Cadillac in nineteen fifty.  He decided this would be a good time to take Pap and Ma’am back to Tennessee to visit their folks.  Pap had several brothers and sisters.  Ma’am was an only child.  Up until this time, it had been thirty something years since Pap had seen any of his family.  Daddy said Pap’s brother’s came to Texas once when daddy was a kid.  He said they were living in Jonah, Texas at the time.  He said Pap’s brothers were all big heavyset, jolly men.  When they were together they were always cracking jokes.  They laughed all the time and they kept every one around them laughing.  While they were down visiting, they decided they would all go to town.  Pap owned a Model-T Ford.  So, they all piled in the Model-T.   They were all so fat the car squatted down so badly that the fenders were resting on top of the wheels.  Needless to say, the Model-T didn’t go any place.  Daddy said that they could not stop laughing.  The sight of them trying get the car to move was absolutely hilarious, and Pap and his brothers were laughing harder than any one. 

Violet Howell Pierce

Violet Pierce was my dad’s first wife.  They married when they were very young.  It was almost like an arranged marriage.  Uncle Crigley thought the Howell’s had a lot of money because they had quite a bit of farm land around Tennyson, Texas.  He told daddy that he wanted him to meet Violet.  He said, if daddy could marry into the Howell family, he would have it made.  Daddy said he found out that the Howells were not near as well off as Crigley thought they were.  So, daddy met Violet and after a short courtship, they were married.  Daddy said they never even kissed before they got married.  Daddy said they really didn’t know each other very well until after they had been married for awhile.  Violet was a very good wife.  She was a hard worker.  She was a good cook and a good seamstress.  So, she made most of their clothes.  They had five children together, four boys and one girl.  The girl died when she was three weeks old after taking the measles.  Daddy never got over her death.  She was the only daughter he would ever have.  Bobbie Joe was the oldest and he was born in nineteen twenty eight, Chesley Dale was born in nineteen thirty, Leonard was born in nineteen thirty two, Mary Ruth was born in nineteen thirty four, and the Norman was born in nineteen thirty six.  Although daddy had a difficult time talking about this time in his life, there were times when he would open up about this difficult time in his life.  I was aware from a very young age that daddy’s first wife committed suicide.  But, this was something we didn’t discuss very often.  But, later on as daddy got older and I got older, I began to ask more questions about Violet’s death.  Apparently, Violet’s father thought daddy and Violet had enough children.  It was during the Great Depression, and times were tough.  Violet got pregnant again and her father talked them into having an abortion.  As I said, times were tough and they had to depend a lot on Violet’s father for financial help.  So, they gave in to his request.  I can’t say for sure because daddy never told me but I am inclined to believe the babies they aborted were twin girl’s.  I  came to this conclusion because of something my mother said one time.  Anyway daddy said Violet could never forgive herself for having a abortion.  This literally drove her crazy.  She became suicidal.  She had threatened to shoot herself.  Daddy said he owned a twelve gauge shotgun, and Violet had made threats about using this gun to kill her self.  Daddy dismantled the gun and hid the parts all over the house.  He was working down in the field and he heard the sound of a shotgun being fired.  He said he knew immediately that Violet had shot herself.  He ran to the house where he found her dying with the shotgun by her side.  She was still alive when he gathered her in his arms.  She told him, “I wish I hadn’t of done it.”  She died in his arms.  She had found all of the parts to the shotgun, put it back together and shot her self.  What a sad story.  I can only imagine how daddy felt.  Daddy said he did not realize that the Howell family had some mental problems running in their family.  He found out after he married Violet that she had a sister in the insane asylum in Abilene when they got married.  Daddy said they went to visit her one time.  This sister later committed suicide by stuffing rags in her mouth and nose.  I don’t think daddy ever got over Violet’s death.  I believe he grieved for her until the day he died.  When he would talk about these difficult times, he would say “Son, you don’t know what you can stand until you have to stand it.”  I have thought about what he said many times in the past sixty years.  What a good man he was. 

 

Grandma Pierce and The Great Depression

Mother told me many stories about the Great Depression.  Mother’s dad died at sixty one years of age of pneumonia.  This was right at the beginning of the Great Depression.  They were living in San Angelo, Texas at the time of their father’s death.  They did not own a house, so, they were living in a rented house.  In that day and time when some one died, the funeral home would come to your house to prepare the body for burial.  After the body was prepared, it was displayed in some part of your house, usually the living room.  Mother said no one slept any the night their dad’s body was on display in their living room.  She said for one thing they just couldn’t believe he was dead, it had all happened so quickly.  I remember Aunt Doe saying she heard the birds singing outside, and she said to herself how can the birds be singing, because daddy’s dead.  She said she soon learned that life didn’t stop for any one.  But, for the moment she couldn’t imagine life without dad. 

But, life did go on. 

They soon found themselves broke, without any means of making a living.  They were stuck in a big town with no ability to raise their on food.  Mother said they would set around for days without any food.  Finally their mother dressed up in her best clothes and went to the local grocery store and she went to crying and told the owner of the store that her family was home starving.   The guy told her he would sell her some groceries on the credit.  Mother said that they were so happy when their mother walked the house with a bag of groceries, they didn’t know what to do.  Before they got these groceries, the only thing they had to eat was some careless weeds they got out of the alley.  They would boil these careless weeds and eat them without any seasoning.

They were soon unable to pay their rent, and they were threatening to have them evicted from their home.  Someone told there was a lot of cotton to pick down in the coastal area of Texas.  So, Uncle Willie, mother’s older brother, had someway managed to trade for an old model A Ford.  So, they loaded up all of their belongings and took off to the coast.  They did odd jobs along the way to help pay for the gas.  If you have ever read the book, “The Grapes of Wrath,” Grandma Pierce actually lived it.  When they finally got to the coastal area, they didn’t find any cotton to pick.  They decided to return to San Angelo.  Uncle Zane and Aunt Mary were living in Water Valley, Texas, and they told mother and them that they knew some one who had a pecan crop that needed to be harvested.  They gladly accepted the job.  Mother said this was like Heaven compared to what they had been through.  Having a pecan crop to pick, meant they all of a sudden had a place they could camp without some one running them off.  They could fish for protein, and they could pick lamb’s quarters greens for vegetables.  They could use what little money they made off picking the pecans, to buy bread, milk, and sugar.  Mother said they didn’t always have grease to fry the fish, so they would eat the fish boiled, without any seasoning.  She said it didn’t taste very good.  But, it nourished their bodies.  Mother loved to fish and she was apparently very lucky at it, so it was her main job to keep them supplied with fish to eat.  They lived around Water Valley for several years. 

They eventually moved to Menard to take care of Grandpa Keele.  They basically lived the rest of their lives in Menard.  As I think back on the hardships that they endured, it gives me an insight into why they were the way they were.  The hardships they endured profoundly affected the rest of their lives.  It makes me wonder sometime if their lives would have been different if they had not have had to endure the hardships inflicted on them by the Great Depression. 

I guess that is something we will never know. 

Pap and Mam Pierce

I don’t remember very much about Pap and Mam.  Mam died when I was a small baby.  She wanted to keep me over night, but mother was nervous about letting her.  A short time after her request to keep me over night, Mam had a massive stroke and died the next day.  I believe she was in her early seventy’s when she died.  Mother could never forgive herself for not letting Mam keep me overnight. 

When Mam first saw me after I was born, she said I was the prettiest baby that was ever born into the Pierce family.  She said I had her old bottle nose.  For that, I will always love her even though having a bottle shaped nose might not be a good thing.  I wish she had lived longer, so I could have gotten to know her.

 They were both born in Pulaski Tennessee.  Some of Pap’s siblings children and grandchildren still live and own farm land in and around Pulaski till this day.  They had seven children, five boys and two girls.  They were both left handed, Yet they only had one child that was left handed, and that was Aunt Martha.  She was the baby of the family. 

Mam had an exceptionally good education for that day and time.  Daddy said she finished high school and attended some college.  I don’t know whether she completed any kind of a degree.  Pap on the other hand, would have been lucky to have to have completed the fifth grade.  Mam was an only child, and her family thought she married beneath herself.  Mam kept a diary of their life together.  They had a hard life together.  They were always on the move.  They were never able to buy a home and settle down.  Mam seemed to be somewhat bitter about the hardships they had endured.  But, they were blessed in many ways.  They had seven children and never lost a one either in childhood or in their adult lives.  So, they were blessed with a large loving family that was with them until the day they died.

 

They were also blessed with a strong faith.  Going to church and trying to live a good Christian life was extremely important to them.  Pap was an elder in the Menard Church Of Christ, for many years.  Every now and then I run into someone who is old enough to remember Pap and Mam.  They never fail to tell me that they were two of the most wonderful Christian people they have ever known.  Apparently, they thought that being a Christian involved more than going to church a few times a week. 

Although they didn’t accumulate a lot of worldly possessions, and were never able to purchase a home in this life, I feel like God will reward them with an eternal mansion when they get to heaven.  Even though they have been dead for over fifty years, people still remember Pap and Mam for the good decent lives they lived while they were here.  I am reminded of a plaque that hangs by the chapel, at Menard Manor, where I work.  It says, “What we do for ourselves dies when we do, what we do for others lives forever.”

 I’m proud they were my grandparents.

Uncle Crigley Pierce

Uncle Crigley Pierce, and no I am not sure that is how it is spelled, was Pap Pierce’s youngest brother.  He is the reason Pap came to Texas from Tennessee.  Crigley came to Texas looking for a job.  He found work in Big Springs Texas.  So, Pap was having a hard time making a living.  Crigley told him to move to Texas and Pap moved to Texas in about nineteen twelve.  They both worked for the railroad for while.  Pap got a chance to move to Jonah Texas and work as share cropper.  Crigley eventually moved to Eola Texas close to San Angelo Texas.  So, I guess there were several years that they didn’t live close together. 

Daddy was very fond of Uncle Crigley.  He said he was one of the most likeable guys you would ever meet.  He had a wonderful personality.  He was always joking.  There was never a serious moment when you were around Uncle Crigley.  He never saw a stranger.  He would see some old dirty old man and he would ask daddy, “Frank, how would like to play him a game of dog?”  Now who would ever think to see the humor in the way dogs normally greet each other.  But Crigley saw humor in everything.  He borrowed money from every one he knew.  He used his gregarious personality to borrow money from every banker, every friend, every relative, and every church member he could find.  He owed money to virtually every one he knew.  He even talked daddy into letting him borrow money on his tractor and plow.  When he died, the bank confiscated daddy’s tractor and plow.  Crigley was an alcoholic.  This was during the prohibition, so the only thing Crigley could find to drink was vanilla extract.  Daddy said when you went in Crigleys outdoor toilet, it smelled just like vanilla pudding.  He was once asked what he would do if he inherited a million dollars, and he said, he would pay it on his debts as far as it went and the rest would have to do without.  I don’t know what year he died.  He wasn’t very old.  He was probably in his late forties or early fifties.  He committed suicide by drinking poison.  Daddy was the one that found him dead.  The empty bottle of poison was laying by his body and his lips had turned blue from the poison.  His wife and family would never accept the fact that he committed suicide.  Daddy said his wife went to grave believing he died of natural causes.  Daddy said he was the last person  you would expect to commit suicide.  Although daddy lost his tractor and plow because of Uncle Crigley, for some reason he never seemed to hold it against Crigley.  He always spoke fondly of Crigley.  

Grandma Lydia Garvin

My Grandmother, on my mother’s side of the family, had a powerful personality.  Although, she never had much money she had a way about her of conveying importance.  There fore, she could walk into a bank and borrow money on her strong personality and appearance, even though she did not have the ability to pay the loan back.  But grandma never worried about technical details like that, she honestly thought she would find some way to pay the money back. 

This particular story I am going to tell about is when she bought a vacuum cleaner, from a traveling salesman, on the credit.  Grandma suddenly realized she could not make the payments.  So, one day she looked out the window and there came the vacuum cleaner salesman down the sidewalk.  She suddenly remembered she had never paid a penny on the vacuum cleaner.  So, she quickly hid behind the piano and told Aunt Mamie to tell him she was not here.  It was a cold day and the man asked if he could come in and warm by the fire.  Aunt Mamie did not know what to tell him so she hollered “Oh Mama, he caught me in a lie.”  The stove was located at the end of the piano.  So, when you stood warming your hands, you could see behind the piano.  The man was warming his hands, and he looked and saw grandma behind the piano.  He said, “Oh, hello Mrs. Garvin, what are you doing behind the piano?”  She said, “Oh, I decided the back of the piano needed to be dusted.”  Grandma talked him into letting her keep the vacuum cleaner.  I doubt if she ever paid a penny on the vacuum cleaner. 

I have so many fond memories of my grandmother.  I don’t want to make it sound like she was some kind of a crook.  She was a deeply religious person.  She founded at least two churches in her lifetime.  She never intended to cheat anyone.  She actually thought that someway she would be able to pay for these things she would buy on the credit.  She went to church every Sunday and she read her bible regularly.  I remember the wonderful Sunday dinners she cooked.  Nobody could fry a chicken as good as her.  Nobody could make a vanilla crème pie as good as hers.  She made it totally from scratch, both the filling and crust.  She went through the great depression, and she cooked whatever she had.  She is the only person I have ever seen make a pinto bean pie.  It tasted just like a pecan crème pie.  She could make the best orange muffins you have ever eaten.  If you came in while she was cooking a meal, you might as well get ready for her to fix you a plate.  It did not matter whether you were hungry or not.  It did not matter how many times you told her you did not want a plate, you got a plate. 

Although she was a great cook, she loved the outdoors.  She would much rather being raking and burning leaves than doing housework.  When I was a teenager going to high school, I would come by to visit her and my aunts.  It would be after dark and grandma would still be out in the yard burning leaves.  If the weather was stormy, grandma would stand out in the dark watching the lightning and clouds to make sure a bad storm did not slip up on us.  She was in a bad tornado when she was a kid, so she had terrible fear of bad weather.  I think back on all the memories that grandma gave me.  I can still smell the leaves burning, and I can still see her standing for hours at a time, in the dark, watching the storms develop. 

Oh, what good memories those are.

Uncle Paul & Aunt Florence

Uncle Paul was my grandmother’s brother on my mother’s side of the family. 

Uncle Paul and Aunt Florence fussed and fought their entire   married life, and they were married for over fifty years.  They couldn’t live with each other and they could not live without each other.  When my mother, grandmother, and aunt Doe, moved to Menard from Water Valley, they lived across the street from Uncle Paul and Aunt Florence.  So,  they were witnesses to every argument Paul and Florence had, which was almost a daily event. 

So, Uncle Paul and Aunt Florence were having a big fuss one day.  Now, Paul was forever threatening to kill himself.  He had a gun in his hand and he told Florence he was going to go up on the hill and kill himself.  Florence kept trying to tell him something, and Paul thought she was trying to stop him from killing himself.  He told her, “Florence Keele, don’t try to talk me out of killing myself.  I’m really going to do it this time.”  She said, “Paul, I’m not trying to talk you out killing yourself, I’m trying to tell that you forgot the bullets.”  Needless to say Uncle Paul never killed himself, and he lived to be ninety six years old when he died. 

While Uncle Paul and Florence were in the same house, their house caught on fire one night.  Mother said, instead of Paul trying to put the fire out, he was busy trying to hide the fact that he had wired around the electrical meter so he wouldn’t have to pay for the electricity he was using.  I don’t know whether they found out what he had been doing, but the house burned to the ground.  This could probably be attributed to the fact that Uncle Paul had wired around all the safety equipment meant to keep your house from burning to ground.

Uncle Paul was a binge drinker and, he once got drunk and rode his horse down the main street in Menard thumbing his nose at every one he met.  Unfortunately, one of them was the county sheriff.  He promptly arrested Paul and took him to jail. 

The last story I want to tell about Uncle Paul and Aunt Florence, is about the time Paul ran for sheriff of Menard County.  Uncle Paul was drinking in a bar one day, and guys in there started telling Uncle Paul how popular he was and that he should run for sheriff.  Now Paul did not realize they were making fun of him.  So, he ran for sheriff.  He got two votes, and Aunt Florence said, “I wonder who those two people were that voted for you, because I know I sure did not vote for you.” 

Although, I was not close to Uncle Paul and Aunt Florence, they are still a part of my child hood memories.

Grandma Pierce

Mother only had about a fifth grade education, but she was an avid reader.  Therefore, there wasn’t any subject that she didn’t know something about and had an opinion about.  Although she didn’t have a formal education, because of her tendency to read any and everything she could get her hands on, this made up for her lack of education, to a certain degree.  She was a very intelligent person to talk to and certainly one of the most interesting characters you would ever meet.  She was a talented western artist.  She was a wonderful soprano singer in her younger days and sang at many funerals and gospel meetings.  What kept her from achieving a lot in her life was the lack of a good education.  She would never have admitted it, but she was very self conscious about her lack of a good education.  But, this was not her fault.  Her parents would take her to the cotton patch to pick cotton instead of putting her in school.  She also had a very shy streak.  She avoided any kind of a social interaction.  But, if you could ever get her into a social situation she had a wonderful personality and would talk the hind legs off a billygoat.  She was one of the most kind and gentle people I have ever known.  She would literally give you the shirt off her back.  If she was wearing a piece of jewelry and someone commented that they thought it was pretty.  She might just take the jewelry off and give it to them, or she might order them one just like it and send it to them.  She was always afraid she would hurt some ones feelings.  When Loveta and I would take the kids on our yearly mini-vacation, mother would insist on giving us some money to help out even though she lived on a four hundred and fifty dollar check a month.  She would insist we call collect every night while we were on our vacation just because she wanted to know that we were safe.  But, mother had her faults just like the rest of us.  She was hard to make mad, but if you did, you had better find you a hole to crawl in.  She had a horrible temper if she felt like some one had done her wrong.  She had a loud booming voice.  You could literally hear her for blocks away.  It was hard to face the neighbors the next day after one of her fits.  I have often wondered if she wasn’t bipolar.  Most of the time, mother was an absolute joy to be around.  She was a wonderful mother.  She took care of our ever need and we always knew that mother loved us and would always be there for us.  Grandma Pierce was truly one of the most interesting characters I have ever known.  She was always very quirky, so when she started getting older and senile, it was hard to tell senility or mother just being mother.  She virtually thought every one was in the secret service or working under cover.  I told her one day that the only person she didn’t think was a under cover agent was me.  She then looked at me very suspiciously and said “I don’t know.  But you might be one too.”  She went to her grave thinking my brother Bill was an under cover agent.  I wonder sometimes if she wasn’t right about some things now that I think back on some things she said.  Grandma Pierce left with many funny stories and I would like to tell just a few of them at this time.  The first one I want to tell about is  the time I went to check on mother and she was just furious about something.  I asked her what was wrong.  She went and got that days horoscope.  She told me to read her horoscope. I did.  She said, “Can you believe that?”  I said “Can I believe what?’  She said, “They are accusing me of being a lesbian.  They know me better than that.”  “I said how could they possibly know you.   She said, “They have their ways.”  I then proceeded to explain to her this horoscope had nothing to do with being a lesbian.  She was reading it wrong.  Mother was never one to admit she was wrong about anything.  She simply replied, “Oh.”  It was never mentioned again.  The next story I want to tell is about the home health house keeper.  Mother’s health began to fail.  She was getting older and she refused to take her medicine.  So, the doctor thought she needed some help at home.  The lady they sent out from home health’s name was Francis.  Now Francis started out being a lot of help, but that didn’t last very long.  She turned out to be  horrible.  But, mother was lonely and Francis would listen to mother talk instead of working.  But, mother grew to like her very much.  So, one day mother decided to give her a compliment.  “She told Francis that she was so nice that she almost had the personality of a white person.”  Francis got really mad.  Mother couldn’t understand why she got mad mother said, “I was just trying to give her a compliment.”  My last story is a relatively short story.  I never buy lottery tickets, but once in a while Loveta will buy a ticket or two if the pot gets pretty big.  So, the prize had gotten up to seventy five million and Loveta decided to buy a couple of tickets.  While she was buying the tickets, she suddenly decided she would buy mother one.  When she took the ticket to my mother, my mother said, “I don’t know whether to take this or not, I am afraid if I win the seventy five million, I’ll loose my Medicaid.”  Needless to say, we all cracked up. I will end this by just saying mother was a wonderful mother, grandmother, and person.  She has been dead for thirteen years now, but not a day goes by that I don’t think about her, miss her, and wish she was still here.