“You said that your father died before you learned to read. I am guessing that you were still a child when he died. Did you go to live with relatives after he died?”
“Papa died in the spring of 1944, and I reckon if he hadn’t had me to take care of, he would’ve had to go fight in the war… No, after my papa died, I went to live in the poorhouse or orphanage as they liked to call it. I never knew if Mama and Papa had any kinfolk around here- neither one of ‘em ever talked about kinfolks, and no one came a calling before or after they passed. I am sure they had some kinfolks somewhere. I just know that no one ever came to visit except the man from the bank; he came once a month to collect what little money Papa could scrape together for him. …show more content…
You know how I was telling you that Travis’ wife did not like me, well neither did Travis, and he and Willie did not get along either. That Travis was a thorn in your grandma’s side. She said she could not believe that he was the way he was. She had not raised him to be like that. She blamed most of it on Mary and her uppity ways. But according to Willie, Travis was like that from the time he was a young’un. He just got worse the older he got. Willie told me that he’d heard that Aunt Betsy had a great-grandpa that was sort a crazy… he said that he claimed he come from British royalty and acted highfalutin, too. Sometimes, things like that get passed down in the blood…
I might a done said too much. I ain’t a trying to talk down on your folks. It’s just what I remember and sometimes things come out of my mouth before I have time to check ‘em.”
“It’s quite alright, Miss Gilly. I like that you are frank and tell things the way you remember them. I want to hear more about my family. My mother is one of those people that could care less where she came from, but ancestry is something that has always interested me. I like hearing about the old days, the people that lived before us… I try to picture them in my mind as you talk about
“Papa died in the spring of 1944, and I reckon if he hadn’t had me to take care of, he would’ve had to go fight in the war… No, after my papa died, I went to live in the poorhouse or orphanage as they liked to call it. I never knew if Mama and Papa had any kinfolk around here- neither one of ‘em ever talked about kinfolks, and no one came a calling before or after they passed. I am sure they had some kinfolks somewhere. I just know that no one ever came to visit except the man from the bank; he came once a month to collect what little money Papa could scrape together for him. …show more content…
You know how I was telling you that Travis’ wife did not like me, well neither did Travis, and he and Willie did not get along either. That Travis was a thorn in your grandma’s side. She said she could not believe that he was the way he was. She had not raised him to be like that. She blamed most of it on Mary and her uppity ways. But according to Willie, Travis was like that from the time he was a young’un. He just got worse the older he got. Willie told me that he’d heard that Aunt Betsy had a great-grandpa that was sort a crazy… he said that he claimed he come from British royalty and acted highfalutin, too. Sometimes, things like that get passed down in the blood…
I might a done said too much. I ain’t a trying to talk down on your folks. It’s just what I remember and sometimes things come out of my mouth before I have time to check ‘em.”
“It’s quite alright, Miss Gilly. I like that you are frank and tell things the way you remember them. I want to hear more about my family. My mother is one of those people that could care less where she came from, but ancestry is something that has always interested me. I like hearing about the old days, the people that lived before us… I try to picture them in my mind as you talk about