Lucy

Although I only saw my paternal Grandmother once per year during our vacations, I still have many good memories of the time we spent with them. Some of the information was provided through my contact with my parents.

Lucy

 

My paternal Grandmother , Lucy, lived in Sulphur Springs, Arkansas, with her husband Frank. They had two boys, Walter, and Dean. Walter, who they called Bill, was my father and Dean was a few years younger. My granddad Frank worked for a water well drilling company that used a horse powered cable-tool drilling rig. Both my Dad and Dean went to grade school and high school at Sulphur Springs.     Sometime after their boys graduated. Lucy and Frank moved to Onalaska, Texas. My Dad married my Mom in 1940 and joined the Navy during World War II  in Octiber, 1942.  My sister JerrylDine was born in November, 1941, and I was born in February, 1943 while my Dad served in the wartime Navy. Dad’s brother Dean also joined the Navy when the war started. He was killed on a Destroyer, when his ship was hit by a torpedo from a submarine. I have the Purple Heart that was issued to my Grandmother when he died. My first recollection of my Grandmother was when I was about 5 years old when we visited them in Onalaska during my Dads summer vacation. They lived in a small house that was elevated off the ground. They had several bird dogs that laid in the shade under the house. My Dad and Granddad fished a lot in a swampy area close to their house. Shortly after that, my Granddad retired and they moved back to Sulphur Springs. We started taking our summer vacations to Sulphur Springs after that. Their home location in Onalaska now sits at the bottom of Lake Livingston.

 

Neither of my Grand parents drove so they didn’t own a car. Lucy’s sister Edith, lived next door to her and they had a 1952 Dodge. They did all their shopping together. The Methodist church was about 50 yards from Lucy’s house, so she walked there every Sunday. There was only one Television in the neighborhood so they listened to the radio a lot. They had one of those crank to ring the operator phones in a wooden case on the wall. They burned their trash in a barrel out back.   Lucy was a planner, so she had all our meals planned before we got there. She cooked home made biscuits for every meal that were light and fluffy. One day she had planned to have fried chicken. She picked up the phone and rang someone and in about 30 minutes a guy showed up with a live chicken. She took it out back and I followed her. She grabbed an axe and laid the chickens head on a stump and whacked his head off. She held the chicken out away from her as it flopped and flapped it’s wings slinging blood every where. When it stopped she went into the house and got a pan of boiling water and dipped the chicken on the boiling water. She had it plucked clean in no time. She cut it up and we had the freshest fried chicken in the world. It was superb. Her gravy was also wonderful. The pies she made were out of this world.   After I stopped taking summer vacations with my parents, I didn’t see my grandparents much. My Granddad died with liver cancer and not too long after that my Grandmother had Alzheimer’s Disease. She didn’t even recognize her own son. She passed away shortly thereafter.

 

My Mom with Lucy  in her cooking apron. Something good is cooking.

  Frank, Lucy, Me, and my Dad taking it easy on the grass in Onalaska.

Thanks for reading Lucy, Hawg Jaw Bill