I've Never Told You About This....

       (charms4you)      

            {I want to start this conversation today by just telling you that the photos pictured are not associated with my story. They are things that are for sale on Etsy. You can click on the photos to go to the items themselves.}
         The movie 'Pride and Prejudice' caught my attention some years back, not because of the story itself.....which is extraordinary, by the way-"Thank you Jane Austen"!...but because of the name.
       My childhood started out in Georgia...

         (Mapity)

...a state with a lot of history here in the United States when it comes to slavery and prejudice...It also has wonderful history, in terms of friendly people, southern hospitality and good food. That's what I remember most frankly! 
      The reason I'm talking about this today is because I saw a movie trailer for 'The Help'...

        If you've followed this blog for a while you probably remember that I read this book and commented on it on this blog a while back.
      Just looking at the trailer, brought back a couple of incidents that happened to me as a kid: One being when me and my little friends were on our way to school one morning...walking. In Georgia there were houses where people sold penny candy. But we didn't have time to go to one of them. So we stopped at a little 'house-store'....a tiny '5 and dime' type store... 
       Unfortunately, the lady who ran the store was not very nice. In fact, she was very prejudice and she had a real problem with little black girls coming into her store. I especially made her angry because, being the safety conscious kid I was, I had been carrying my change in my shoe so that I wouldn't lose it.
      As soon as I took my shoe off to get my money, she 'hit the roof'!!! I could tell she wasn't happy with us by the suspicious and condescending look she had on her face prior to this, but I hadn't expected this kind of rage! O_0 She told me, in no uncertain terms...and while using the 'N' word, to go out to the well (it was in the front yard of the little store)...

              (smokeatillyjane)

        ...and wash that money off before I tried to give it to her!!...So I did. I wasn't confrontational,....and I wanted my candy!! I didn't see the bigger issue at that time.
        At another time, after Bussing was introduced in Georgia, I ended up walking across town to a school I had never been allowed to go to before. {I can't remember now why I was walking when I was suppose to be taking the bus. Knowing me it was because I was afraid of confrontations on the bus or something!}

        (CanCanCreations)

       I remember playing alone in the playground, hearing children's racist remarks, and being put in the back of the classroom. It was a very lonely time for me.
      All of that came back to mind when I saw this trailer...    


        But what also came back to mind was how strong I became by the time this period of my life was over. I learned that I was a pretty resilient little kid, and that I could get through just about anything!
      That feeling has grown with the years. I find that I take things...pretty much...in stride. Although my hubby and people who have crossed me will tell you...I do have my moments!! ^_^  
         The biggest boon to my personality,.....and I say this as a matter of fact, not because I'm trying to recruit people... was learning the Bible and becoming one of Jehovah's Witnesses. It's an organization where my color was not an issue, but my faith and my love for God was!...It's the way it should be the world over. And in this organiation...it is!
       I think history is important, and can be extremely entertaining. Some of my favorite movies include my upbringing in some form or fashion...

      (arwdesign)

       Even the mini-series of the movie 'Roots', which I watched with enthrallment back in the 70s,...

            (13thFloorVinyl)

         ...and which made a lot of people really upset!...was very eye-opening for me, and helped me to understand the issues on both sides of slavery. What I found out was that how you look at prejudice, whether a victim of it, or a perpetrator of it,  is not always just a fact of one color or the other. It has a lot to do with the heart.
        I hope I didn't get too 'deep' on you today. I'm just doing what I do when something is on my mind.... ^_^  Whether bad....or good...Yapping away!!

        (Briole)

        Thankfully, most of my Southern memories are very very good!! After all, a place that produced me can't be all bad, right?!! LOL
        In honor of 'The Help'....a little Beatles diddy! :-)



"T"-Town

I came from a small town in Georgia,
where pecan trees and sunshine line the streets;
where plums and peaches grow like nothing,
and where when music plays, you cannot keep your seat.

I love that little town in Georgia,
 and the people who can't  help but holler "Hey!"
Where back-roads just seem to last forever,
and the chickens cackle happy when they lay.

Why did I leave that little town in Georgia,
where swinging quiet on the porch could make your day;
where when it rained, the ground just seemed to flutter,
and the fields were full of horses, cows and hay.

How I miss that little town in Georgia,
where the kids are free to play outside all day,
where the people come together in a crisis,
where they love to sing, and laugh, and dance and play.

One day I'm gonna go back home to Georgia,
and live near the water -  (Oh how I wish!)
And do nothing but lay around and daydream,
go walking in the woods, and catch some fish.

I'm a girl from a little town in Georgia;
the big city couldn't take the country out of me;
"T" - Town will always be the place that I came from,
and the place that's in my heart for eternity.

Growth

***Before I start talking today, let me remind you about my GIVE AWAY! On May 21st, 7 days from now, I'll be drawing a name out of the box for someone to receive, FREE, a book of my poems AND a crochet/bead necklace that I handmade myself! See the "Connection Rules" posting on this blog for the details.***

I know that most of the time my stories probably seem like some kind of stuff I've made up just so that I can write, but...TRUST ME...no one could make up some of the things that have happened to me, or for me. The things that I now call 'my life!' When I look back on some of those things I can see, just like I can see in my yard...there has been growth!

   I've mentioned that I grew up in a small town in Georgia, Thomson Georgia to be exact. But I never mentioned how I got to Massachusetts. Just to warn you, it's not, like a lot of the other things I talk about, a funny story...My childhood actually began in Savannah Georgia. (If you want to see what the city is like, you can take 6 minutes and look at this video. Scroll down a little and click on  on "Experience Savannah!" http://www.savannahvisit.com/  My mom and Dad lived there, near his parents, when they were newly married. Unfortunately my dad had a drinking problem that caused my mother to leave him. I was just a toddler then. My mom got on the train to Thomson Georgia, where her family lived. http://www.facebook.com/ThomsonMcDuffieCountyChamberofCommerce She got on the train with just me and the Second in command. (My sister, in case some of you didn't read earlier posts). My mom and dad still kept in contact through the next years...that's how they also became parents to a baby number 3!
  But my mom, now single and with 3 kids, really struggled. This led to her developing a drinking problem too. Funny how things happen. He STOPPED drinking and has not taken a drink for at least 40 or more years....She started and never stopped...until recently, within the last few months in fact.  (I heard this from my other sister recently. I hope it's true.) Her drinking contributed to the fact that her and I have not had a good relationship for many years now. Drinking is not the ONLY reason, but that's a story for another day. I don't want to bore you to tears with all of that!
  Anyway, circumstances became so dire, living with my mom, that my dad, who had in the interim moved to Springfield Massachusetts, came down and kidnapped...YES! REALLY...kidnapped me and my two sisters that were legally his. (There's another story here too!...Later!) So, off to Massachusetts we went...with only the clothes on our back, sandals on our feet, and in the beginning of winter! The day we reached Springfield was the first time I actually saw piles of snow! We'd had it occasionally in my hometown in Georgia, a quick flurry that would melt practically before it hit the ground, but nothing like I saw that day!!!
   My teenage growing up years took place in Springfield, with a single dad, and a lady friend (not a girlfriend) he had finagled into watching us after school and teaching us all about being proper little ladies. She did a pretty good job...when we let her! LOL (Ahhh! Another story! *Teehee*) Dad watched us like hawks...or thought he did! He even had Jehovah's Witnesses come over every week to have a Bible Study with us! He figured he was over his head and he needed some help from above!!! He was right too! LOL This is one of the reasons why I call my dad my 'Knight in shining armor'...he did a great job for a man who was completely on his own one day, and then raising 3 GIRLS the next!
   My growth would never have occurred without him! I believe that! And even though we didn't continue our Bible Study very long at that time, in years to come I remembered how important it was to him then and it led to my becoming a Bible Student, one of Jehovah's Witnesses, and a Bible Teacher myself! Yet another story!!! Ha! Ha! I warned you in my bio that I was a talker! Are you in?!!
  I've grown, like my yard after all of this rain. And, like my yard, I've had a little good soil put here and there, a little weeding out of the bad, a little fertilizer to keep me heading in the right direction. I continue to be watered every day.

"T"-Town

I came from a small town in Georgia,
where pecan trees and sunshine lines the streets;
where plums and peaches grow like nothing,
and where when music plays, you cannot keep your seat.

I love that little town in Georgia,
 and the people who can't  help but holler "Hey!"
Where back roads just seem to last forever,
and the chickens cackle happy when they lay.

Why did I leave that little town in Georgia,
where swinging quiet on the porch could make your day;
where when it rained, the ground just seemed to flutter,
and the fields were full of horses, cows and hay.

How I miss that little town in Georgia,
where the kids are free to play outside all day,
where the people come together in a crisis,
where they love to sing, and laugh, and dance and play.

One day I'm gonna go back home to Georgia,
and live near the water -  (Oh how I wish!)
And do nothing but lay around and daydream,
go walking in the woods, and catch some fish.

I'm a girl from a little town in Georgia;
the big city couldn't take the country out of me;
"T" - Town will always be the place that I came from,
and the place that's in my heart for eternity.