FAMILY -- NURTURING MOTHER BACK TO HEALTH

RESTORATION

It goes without saying that our grandparents had been unhappy when our mother eloped with a handsome, itinerant widower/preacher who had a large brood of children of his own. It certainly hadn't helped that he was not of their staunch Methodist faith and had introduced her to a foreign, radical, pentecostal way of worship. It was difficult for her to seek shelter back in her parents' home and to relinquish some degree of her independence in the rearing of her four girls. But the malaria had taken its toll, and she had no other choice but to return there. Our Aunt Nina, her older sister, and Uncle George became her caretakers as she recovered her health; the two sisters remained uniquely dedicated to each other for all their lives both living into their 90s.  

And so, we lived with our grandparents for some two-and-a-half years in Pickens, South Carolina in the Mount Bethel Methodist Church community where we attended church.  It was a quite wonderful time for us children.  There were many aunts and uncles and cousins by the dozens who alternately made our lives wonderful and miserable.  They delighted in teasing and playing tricks on us.  

Grandpa had a huge old tom turkey who loved to strut his stuff in the backyard.  He owned the whole of the outdoors, getting along pretty well with the rest of the family but, for whatever reason, not me.  Whenever I stepped off the back porch, the chase was on and didn't end until I was chased back onto the porch and escaped with my life into the house.  This provided much laughter at my expense and there was no empathy forthcoming.

The love our large, extended family lavished on us was immense. A gospel singing family, they educated us in music and laughter that would stay with us for a lifetime. They taught us how to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and get going again when life gave us a tumble. We were well-served with their teachinigs.

CUTAWAY - TRIBUTE TO A LIFE WELL LIVED

SISTER, DEAREST SISTER

She gave her heart away today,
She'd given all she could.
Simply slipped into eternal sleep,
And God said, "This is good."

She was beautiful to the end,
Who'd want it any other way?
Why live, when beauty would be no more,

And suffering would have its say.

Tears seem useless, with a life fulfilled;
God spoke the final word.

Let us not grieve because she's gone,

She went to heaven in God's will.

So now the sisters, minus one
Must forge ahead and find their way.
God has spoken, and death has come;
Life continues, and God holds sway.

For life, for joy, for deeds well done,
We thank you, God, all three as one;
For the loving years we had as sisters,

We grieve not now, but we'll surely miss her.

In tribute to my beloved sister, Earlene, by Estelle Jenkins, August 18, 2011

STORM CLOUDS GATHER

Where does one begin to share his or her life?  In our family, so many people had such a great impact; it is hard to know where to begin.  So, I’ll just jump ahead a bit so that you will know why we arrived at where and who we are as a family.

My father and mother were evangelists who frequently traveled between upstate South Carolina and Florida in the Lake Okeechobee area where, during the winter months, they would work for farmers in the bean fields.  It was on one of their returns to South Carolina, while traveling through the low state area, that my father contracted malaria and died, leaving my mother and four small daughters stranded on the road.  The youngest was six months old.

We were transported in the hearse, which came for my father, to my grandparents' home in Pickens where we lived for some two years in the Mount Bethel Methodist Church community.

So, my stories will share with you the hardships, as well as the joys, of growing up in a house full of girls.