Part - 19.c. Backyard Playground

RAISIN'

19.c. BACKYARD PLAYGROUND

Our back yard was the "neighborhood playground." The lot was sixty-six feet wide at the street, two hundred feet deep and four hundred twenty feet across the back.

There was plenty of room for football, basketball, baseball and badminton. Neither we, nor any of the neighbors had to wonder where our kids were playing.

I had put my old basketball goal up about eight feet high for Andy when he was small. I nailed a piece of plywood to a tree to mount it on.

After he had gotten bigger, I tried to take it down to move it to the ten-foot regular height. I couldn't pull the nails out of the oak tree that it was nailed to. So, I quit trying, as I didn't want to tear up the plywood.

About a month later, Hurricane Camille came through and did considerable damage in Mobile, but devastated the Mississippi Gulf coast.

We had packed up and, along with Sonny, Carolyn and Boys, went to Millry. A "J" berry tree blew down up there. After cleaning up the tree, we went back home to see what kind of damage we had there.

When we drove up, there was NO damage. Later, we noticed the basketball goal had blown down..... with plywood attached, .....and the nails pulled out of the oak tree!

I built a new four-foot by six foot backboard, put it on four by four posts and relocated the goal to another place.

Part - 19.b.3 - More Special Days & "I See"

RAISIN'

19b.3. MORE SPECIAL DAYS

Other special days were things that really mean a lot to me. One was the day when I was eight years old and I was saved at Millry Baptist Church. Another was the day in the mid-seventies that I was ordained a Deacon at Cottage Hill Baptist Church. I served there, at Central Baptist Church in Oak Ridge, TN and am now serving at Millry Baptist.

I remember talking with JoAnne about the possibility that Martin Builders would soon go out of business and how nice it would be to get a job up in the East Tennessee or in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley in Virginia area. Then when I got the call to go to Oak Ridge for an interview with Rust Engineering, and got the job up there that allowed me to utilize the experience that I’d received from “The School of Hard Knocks!”

There are so many memories from the nearly 13 years spent in the East Tennessee area.

I remember so fondly of the birth of each one of our five grandchildren and our first great-granddaughter.

It is really amazing to set your mind back in time over almost 72 years to remember so many thousands of Special Memories and Special Times over those years. As I think back over those years, there is no way that I could bring up all of them, nor a way to express them sitting at my computer. The Lord has been so gracious to me and my family that I cannot express my thanks to Him and to all my family and many, many friends.

As I get older, each day becomes more special to me. I only have to look out a window from the old house to see things that I did while growing up and what special things that growing up on a farm taught me to make it through living in this country, the USA.

Back on Easter Sunday, in March 2007 I was sitting at my computer. It was a cloudy day, so I had the drapes and blinds open in the window at my side. I looked outside for a few moments and started thinking about what I Saw back over the years growing up here. I will insert what I wrote on that day below:

I See Now and I Would See Then

As I sit here on a part misty/part sunny Easter Sunday afternoon, I gaze out the window to see all the evidence that Spring has finally taken over the chills of Winter. I see the pear trees, wisteria, bridal wreath and other shrubs blooming, the grass turning green, the wild cane sprouting up with new white sprouts. I see Lonesome Pine with it’s yellow pollen blowing with the wind. I see the relocated, soon to be replaced tractor shed. I see a white storage building filled with quite a bit of DTAB’s stuff. I see the back of the garage carport that will soon be my workshop, the scuppernong arbor and the barn. I see the old shop with all the old plows, cotton scales, etc. nailed on the wall and the inside filled with tools, some antique, some modern and up to date. Most of all, its filled with memories! I think of all the old times here and what I would see from this vantage point when I was a boy.

I would have seen a croquet court laid out over the level, grassless yard, a big water tank that had gravity flowing water from the old spring across the road, water would be dripping off the platform that would freeze into huge icicles during winter. I would see the three huge hedge balls at three corners of the tank platform. I would see me using a hoe as a road grader and grading roads all around the croquet court complete with graded ditches and bridges. Then, to be sure the ditches would take the water off the roads, I’d run water thru them and watch it run all the way over by the smoke house. I’d see Joe and me shooting marbles in the back or side yard. I would see the horse shoe court past the water tank and the fox hound and chicken yard fences beyond that. Also, I’d see the tractor shed and the old blacksmith shop and the old barn with the mule wagon under the shed just behind Pinto’s old stall. I would see the horse and cow lots and the cane mill out past the cow lot where Daddy would make the most delicious cane syrup each fall and we would tumble off the cane chew pile and we would drink the fresh cane juice on a cold day. I would see the little Chinaberry tree to the left of the basketball goal at the south end of the croquet court. I see myself spending enormous amounts of time playing croquet and shooting basketball goals. I’d see the old smoke house with all the wonderful smoked meats and large containers of cracklins and pure leaf lard. I’d see the old meat cutting table at the south side of the smoke house where all the hogs were cut up and placed by the window to be salted down to start curing before it was hung and smoked. I’d see the big iron pot with a fire built around it filled with fatback and sowbelly being cooked down to get the lard and become the cracklins. I’d see Mother or Lucy grab hold of a fryer chicken by the neck, give it a couple of flips round and round ‘til the head came off and it would hop around the yard until all reflexes were gone. I would see Marie Antoinette, Claire’s leghorn hen strutting around the back yard. I’d see the old dinner bell beside the back door steps that I’d ring when Lucy said, “Sonny, tell ‘em dinner’s ready.” I’d see Joe and me pitching rubber balls against the old concrete back steps, then fielding the return. I’d see the old log potato house by the north end of the croquet court where we’d store Irish potatoes in the summer and sweet potatoes in the fall. I’d see a wash tub on the back porch with newspapers and Daddy’s old raincoat over a prized block of ice, then see different ones turning the old ice cream freezer. I’d see me getting sick from eating too much salty ice and throwing up, but that only made for more capacity for the good half melted, home made ice cream! I’d see Ring, Jimmy, Tip, Daisy Mae, Jenny, Judy, Bing, Harry, and all the other dogs and cats all around the back yards. I’d see the pigeon house with its flyway out to the left, behind the smoke house. I’d see the two-hole outhouse with the Sears Roebuck, Montgomery Ward and Spiegel catalogs used for “other than selecting things to order stuff from!!” I’d see the old chicken house and all the pear trees, the apple tree and the scuppernong arbor to the north and west of the chicken house. I’d see the pole where hogs were hung to dress and the platform with the sloped barrel where the slain hogs would be dipped in hot water to loosen the hair from their hides. I’d see the clothes lines loaded with clothes Lucy had washed at the old spring and brought down and hanged to dry. I’d see the hog pens out behind the old blacksmith shop. I’d see Lucy churning on the back porch with one of us sitting in her lap looking at the “wish book” (Sears Catalog), or her telling us a story or singing us a song. I’d see Dennis and Tommy splitting wood between the water tank and the two big oaks after crops had been “layed by.” I’d see the stove wood neatly stacked under the woodshed alongside the garage. (The house wood would be stacked level alongside the old “Office.”) I would see me loading my wagon with at least 50 sticks of stove wood just to haul it from the wood shed to the back steps. I would see Mama Wright coming out the back door and using Joe’s pied stick horse to kill a ground rattler lying by the steps. I’d see the J-berry trees with ripe berries all over the ground and fresh, purple chicken manure all over the yards and steps that when stepped in with bare feet would ooze up between my toes. I’d see Jack Ezell and I running across that level yard and me tripping and falling on the back step and cutting my left eye brow.

It really is amazing to see again in your mind of things long ago as they compare with the now!
19b.3. MORE SPECIAL DAYS

Other special days were things that really mean a lot to me. One was the day when I was eight years old and I was saved at Millry Baptist Church. Another was the day in the mid-seventies that I was ordained a Deacon at Cottage Hill Baptist Church. I served there, at Central Baptist Church in Oak Ridge, TN and am now serving at Millry Baptist.

I remember talking with JoAnne about the possibility that Martin Builders would soon go out of business and how nice it would be to get a job up in the East Tennessee or in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley in Virginia area. Then when I got the call to go to Oak Ridge for an interview with Rust Engineering, and got the job up there that allowed me to utilize the experience that I’d received from “The School of Hard Knocks!”

There are so many memories from the nearly 13 years spent in the East Tennessee area.

I remember so fondly of the birth of each one of our five grandchildren and our first great-granddaughter.

It is really amazing to set your mind back in time over almost 72 years to remember so many thousands of Special Memories and Special Times over those years. As I think back over those years, there is no way that I could bring up all of them, nor a way to express them sitting at my computer. The Lord has been so gracious to me and my family that I cannot express my thanks to Him and to all my family and many, many friends.

As I get older, each day becomes more special to me. I only have to look out a window from the old house to see things that I did while growing up and what special things that growing up on a farm taught me to make it through living in this country, the USA.

Back on Easter Sunday, in March 2007 I was sitting at my computer. It was a cloudy day, so I had the drapes and blinds open in the window at my side. I looked outside for a few moments and started thinking about what I Saw back over the years growing up here. I will insert what I wrote on that day below:

I See Now and I Would See Then

As I sit here on a part misty/part sunny Easter Sunday afternoon, I gaze out the window to see all the evidence that Spring has finally taken over the chills of Winter. I see the pear trees, wisteria, bridal wreath and other shrubs blooming, the grass turning green, the wild cane sprouting up with new white sprouts. I see Lonesome Pine with it’s yellow pollen blowing with the wind. I see the relocated, soon to be replaced tractor shed. I see a white storage building filled with quite a bit of DTAB’s stuff. I see the back of the garage carport that will soon be my workshop, the scuppernong arbor and the barn. I see the old shop with all the old plows, cotton scales, etc. nailed on the wall and the inside filled with tools, some antique, some modern and up to date. Most of all, its filled with memories! I think of all the old times here and what I would see from this vantage point when I was a boy.

I would have seen a croquet court laid out over the level, grassless yard, a big water tank that had gravity flowing water from the old spring across the road, water would be dripping off the platform that would freeze into huge icicles during winter. I would see the three huge hedge balls at three corners of the tank platform. I would see me using a hoe as a road grader and grading roads all around the croquet court complete with graded ditches and bridges. Then, to be sure the ditches would take the water off the roads, I’d run water thru them and watch it run all the way over by the smoke house. I’d see Joe and me shooting marbles in the back or side yard. I would see the horse shoe court past the water tank and the fox hound and chicken yard fences beyond that. Also, I’d see the tractor shed and the old blacksmith shop and the old barn with the mule wagon under the shed just behind Pinto’s old stall. I would see the horse and cow lots and the cane mill out past the cow lot where Daddy would make the most delicious cane syrup each fall and we would tumble off the cane chew pile and we would drink the fresh cane juice on a cold day. I would see the little Chinaberry tree to the left of the basketball goal at the south end of the croquet court. I see myself spending enormous amounts of time playing croquet and shooting basketball goals. I’d see the old smoke house with all the wonderful smoked meats and large containers of cracklins and pure leaf lard. I’d see the old meat cutting table at the south side of the smoke house where all the hogs were cut up and placed by the window to be salted down to start curing before it was hung and smoked. I’d see the big iron pot with a fire built around it filled with fatback and sowbelly being cooked down to get the lard and become the cracklins. I’d see Mother or Lucy grab hold of a fryer chicken by the neck, give it a couple of flips round and round ‘til the head came off and it would hop around the yard until all reflexes were gone. I would see Marie Antoinette, Claire’s leghorn hen strutting around the back yard. I’d see the old dinner bell beside the back door steps that I’d ring when Lucy said, “Sonny, tell ‘em dinner’s ready.” I’d see Joe and me pitching rubber balls against the old concrete back steps, then fielding the return. I’d see the old log potato house by the north end of the croquet court where we’d store Irish potatoes in the summer and sweet potatoes in the fall. I’d see a wash tub on the back porch with newspapers and Daddy’s old raincoat over a prized block of ice, then see different ones turning the old ice cream freezer. I’d see me getting sick from eating too much salty ice and throwing up, but that only made for more capacity for the good half melted, home made ice cream! I’d see Ring, Jimmy, Tip, Daisy Mae, Jenny, Judy, Bing, Harry, and all the other dogs and cats all around the back yards. I’d see the pigeon house with its flyway out to the left, behind the smoke house. I’d see the two-hole outhouse with the Sears Roebuck, Montgomery Ward and Spiegel catalogs used for “other than selecting things to order stuff from!!” I’d see the old chicken house and all the pear trees, the apple tree and the scuppernong arbor to the north and west of the chicken house. I’d see the pole where hogs were hung to dress and the platform with the sloped barrel where the slain hogs would be dipped in hot water to loosen the hair from their hides. I’d see the clothes lines loaded with clothes Lucy had washed at the old spring and brought down and hanged to dry. I’d see the hog pens out behind the old blacksmith shop. I’d see Lucy churning on the back porch with one of us sitting in her lap looking at the “wish book” (Sears Catalog), or her telling us a story or singing us a song. I’d see Dennis and Tommy splitting wood between the water tank and the two big oaks after crops had been “layed by.” I’d see the stove wood neatly stacked under the woodshed alongside the garage. (The house wood would be stacked level alongside the old “Office.”) I would see me loading my wagon with at least 50 sticks of stove wood just to haul it from the wood shed to the back steps. I would see Mama Wright coming out the back door and using Joe’s pied stick horse to kill a ground rattler lying by the steps. I’d see the J-berry trees with ripe berries all over the ground and fresh, purple chicken manure all over the yards and steps that when stepped in with bare feet would ooze up between my toes. I’d see Jack Ezell and I running across that level yard and me tripping and falling on the back step and cutting my left eye brow.

It really is amazing to see again in your mind of things long ago as they compare with the now!

Part - 19b.2. - More Special Days

RAISIN'

19b.2. MORE SPECIAL DAYS

Two more super special days were November 4, 1958 and November 25, 1959, when Andy and Debbie were born.

On Monday morning November 3, 1958, about 7:30 am, JoAnne said it was time to get to the hospital. We arrived at Mobile Infirmary about 8:00 am. One person took her and headed for the labor room, another sent me to Admitting.

After Admitting, I was told to go to the second floor waiting room and WAIT! After about hour or so of knowing nothing, I asked a nurse if she could get any word from back there, somewhere in the dungeon of I don’t know what. She checked and told me that it was gonna be a loooong wait. She also told me that if I went to the pay phone there in the hall, call the hospital number and ask for the labor room, I could keep check on progress.

After feeding a couple of nickels in the pay phone, and being told that it may be sometime Tuesday before the baby came, I made an agreement with the labor room nurses that I would go home and call them every hour, on the hour, until they told me to come back. So, that’s what I did.

When I called at 4:00 PM Tuesday, November 4, 1958, I was told to come back down, it wouldn’t be long.

At about 5:15 PM, Dr. B.B. Kimbrough came out and said, “You’ve got the biggest footed boy I’ve ever seen! He’s gonna break ya buying shoes for him. Him and his Mama are both fine.”

James Andrew Wood, Jr. was born at 5:02 PM, weighed 9 pounds 7 ounces, and was 21 inches long. And he had a FINE set of lungs.

It wasn’t very long before I got to see my new son,.... through a glass window in the nursery. Not like now-a-day almost being able to catch ‘em coming out! That just wasn’t done back then. I did get to glimpse him in a buggy of eight babies when the nurses cleared the halls and took them to their mother’s room to be fed. I knew him right off as the loudest of the bunch!

JoAnne had some complications getting her kidneys to act. Finally, when Andy was nine days old, they let them go home. And...Finally, I got to hold my son. JoAnne was still catherized and her kidneys didn’t start functioning until he was fifteen days old.

I just thought that Andy was about the most special thing there ever was! He was very expensive. We didn’t have any medical insurance, so I had to pay the doctor $150.00 and the hospital $350.00. It took almost until the time Debbie was born to pay for him.


In fact, there was very little that we did know about “Burthin’ Babies!” We barely knew what caused them, much less near what is common knowledge and freely discussed in “open” conversation now a day.

After complications with the birth of Andy, JoAnne decided to go to Dr. Hubbard in Chatom, and to go to Washington County Hospital when time came for Deb to be born.

JoAnne stayed in Millry for about a month before the due date, so she’d be near the Doctor and Hospital. Mother had Florence Turner, Lucy’s sister, in most days to help her with Andy. Also, she stayed after the baby was born to help out.

While at Millry, Sylvia made sure that she had plenty of Healing Springs (Mound Spring) water to drink to fend off the kidney problems.

JoAnne had kinda gotten homesick, so we went to Eight Mile on a Monday. We had started back Tuesday night and she said we’d better get Andy to Millry and get back to Chatom, soon.

I tried to drive as fast as I could, but was afraid to go too fast as we saw no less than seventeen different deer along the way. Some were even in folks’ yards in Chatom.

We left Andy with Mother and got back to the hospital about 11:00 PM on November 24, 1959. After examining her, the Doctor said it would be a pretty good while yet. So, I made a quick trip to Millry to advise Mother. (She had no phone then.) Also, called JoAnne’s mother, Lou.

Unlike Mobile Infirmary, I was allowed to stay with JoAnne in the Labor Room. In fact, they let James Robert Whigham, husband of the Head Nurse, Dorothy, come back to see us about mid-day Wednesday.

At about 11:15 Wednesday night, they came back and told me to go to the waiting room, as it wouldn’t be long now.

At 11:45 PM, November 25, 1959, Deborah Kaye Wood entered this world, not with a shout and scream, but with a small, dainty “whimper!” She weighed in at 9 pounds 8 ounces and was 21 inches long.

I was only able to see her through the nursery window that night. She was a beauty from the start. Then, the next day, I was allowed to be in the room when they brought her in to be fed, and I got to hold her then.


After a couple of weeks with Florence’s help, in Millry, we got to get back to Eight Mile where we became the family of JAW-3-Plus 1!

Other special days include my being saved when I was eight-years-old, both the kids accomplishments, such as scouting, band, church events, when they were saved, each of their weddings, and of course, the birth of each of our five grandchildren.

Part - 19B.1. - Special Days

RAISIN'

19b.1. SPECIAL DAYS IN MY LIFE

There have been several days that have been VERY special in my life. One was on that night in June, 1956, when my former roommate at LSTC, Bill Sullivan, talked me into going out to Eight Mile to go to church and meet his cousin instead of going to see "Picnic" at the Roxy Theater.

We were a little late, so when we opened the side door about mid-way of the auditorium, there sat two girls. Bill told me to go in and sit by the one farthest away. I did, then he introduced me, in a whisper, to his cousin, JoAnne Hendrix and her friend Charlie Flowers.

I didn't know until later that when I was standing in the door, JoAnne told Charlie, "See that guy at the door? I'm gonna marry him some day!" She had never seen me, nor could she see Bill at that time.

After church, we talked the girls into riding around some and to "get a coke." Bill was driving his brother, Cecil's car. It was a used up yellow cab, 1951 Chevy. The king pins and bushings in the front end were totally worn out. This caused the front end to "shimmy" real bad if you got above about thirty miles per hour, and you could hardly keep it in the road until you slowed down enough to stop bouncing.

We started out with Bill driving and JoAnne and I in the back seat. Then we switched a time or two with us in the front. What a night? But, to my chagrin, I didn't get any "sugar" that night. JoAnne was "stingy" with it. So, I decided I'd have to go back later and see couldn't I rectify that situation.

Well, Sho' nuf, I did get some "smoochie sugar" the next time. You know what? I still haven't gotten enough of that sugar, so I'm still working on getting more every chance I get!

Another special day came fifteen months after the other one when this old "green," "scared" country boy stood nervously at the front of Myers Memorial Baptist Church, on the Monday evening of September 16, 1957, watching my Bride walking down the aisle to me. Even though she was stepping on her gown because a hoop was unsnapped in her skirt. She made it in on Sonny's arm and out on mine.

Part - 19 - Me & Family - 19a Growing Up

RAISIN'

19. ME and Family

19a. GROWING UP

As I was growing up, during warm weather, my most frequent dress code consisted of a pair of short pants and a baseball cap that was set slightly to the right side of my head, bill-forward. I would usually sunburn and peel a few times during the summer, but I didn't seem to know it was bad for me. I had freckles on my nose and back.

I usually made a game out of most any thing I did. I would precisely load my wagon with up to about fifty sticks of stove wood, then try to follow a certain "road" from the wood shed to the back steps and try not to turn it over while crossing the roots of the huge oak tree by the woodshed, or by the wheels digging in too deep in the sand as I passed between the umbrella chinaberry tree and the water tank.

I would walk certain routes, containing so many steps while feeding the hogs, or chickens, or gathering eggs from various places in the barn or chicken house. See how many eggs I could get into the outside and inside pockets of the old "Ike" jacket without breaking them or dropping and breaking any. Ugh! What a mess when I'd break one or more in a coat pocket!

I would ride the bicycle over certain routes from back to side yards, across the cattle gap, through the driveway sand bed, by the persimmon tree to the top to "the hill", then turn around and run a different route back.

Before I was big enough to ride the girls' model, 26-inch bicycle, I would push it for miles at a time, around the yard and up the top of the hill.

When I was about 10-years-old, Daddy bought me a basketball goal from a store in Selma. We put it up on a 4-foot by 6-foot backboard at the south end of the croquet court. That section of the back yard never had any grass on it, and it was kept perfectly level. The level ground made for a great basketball court.

I practiced shooting goals of all types, from all angles and distances. Again, I would play games between "Me" and "Myself", or "Jim" and "I". There were games like "Mule," where a person would shoot a certain style shot from a specific place. If he made the goal, the next player would have to make a similar shot from the same place. If the second player missed, he got a "M" or "U", etc. When a player had gotten a M, U, L, and E, he had one shot from the half-court line to erase his MULE. Playing in the back yard allowed me to shoot very high shots.

The Fruitdale High School’s gym was their auditorium, as was Millry's, and Chatom's, but it was so small, the free throw line was the back court centerline. Also, the ceiling was lower than others were. Once, while shooting a free shot, I hit the ceiling with the ball.

Chatom's gym had open steel trusses all the way across the top, forming sort of an arch shaped roof. Once, I shot from the left side of the court, near the centerline. My ball went over the bottom truss without touching the truss and was "all net!" That would have been a good 3-pointer now a day.

I went out for football in the eighth and ninth grades, but only weighed about 75 pounds. While in the tenth grade, in Augusta, GA, I played in the band and did so through high school and two years at college.

I played baseball in my Junior and Senior years in high school. I pitched and played first base. I guess I liked those positions because that's the ones Joe had played. He also played second base at times.

I have played golf on an "Off and on" basis. For a few years, I played most every Saturday morning with Uncle Will, Uncle George, and three other fellows. (I was the sixth man.) Our tee time was at 7:07 AM each Saturday, year round.

Later, I was involved in so many other things; I didn't have time for golf. Then, I got back into playing in Tennessee as Rust had a 9-hole, weekly league. I played quite a bit while working in Lake Charles, LA. While I was there, I irritated my left shoulder while swimming. I had an impingement in my shoulder joint, which would not allow me to swing freely.

Later, I developed Tarsal tunnel syndrome in my right foot, which would not allow me to pivot on that foot when I swung the clubs. About the time I learned to hit the ball without pivoting, I developed a bad case of bursitis in my right shoulder.

After I retired, Edd Williams and I played fairly regularly at the Chatom and Citronelle courses, but since Edd moved to Georgia a couple of years ago I haven’t played but a couple of times. One of the problems now-a-day is that I have Neuropathy in my legs and feet that gives me problems when I walk too much.

Part - 17 & 18 - sonny & Bobby

RAISIN'


17. SONNY AND FAMILY

William Shelton (Sonny) worked at M & M Wholesale Florist since shortly after he graduated from Vigor High School. At one time, the name and ownership changed, but he stayed on. Finally, he purchased the business and returned the name back to M & M.

Due to strong competition in the Mobile from other Wholesale Florists, and to large distributors delivering directly into large grocery stores, Sonny's venture with M & M failed. He spent a while working with one of the Large Distributors from Birmingham, but that didn't pay off.

He tried working with a company selling security systems for houses and businesses. That venture did not work out.

He married Carolyn Jane Cowart from Whistler, AL. Carolyn worked for IBM, then for a Credit business for a long time, and then she went into the retail floral business by purchasing The Flower Shop on Airport Blvd. She later moved the business to Spring Hill Avenue Extension. Again, due to the intense competition in that type business, she closed the Flower Shop in June 1998. She is now working for a florist in Saraland.

Carolyn and I have to "stick together" as we're the "outlaws" of the Hendrix Clan!

Sonny and Carolyn have three boys. Paul, the oldest, served a hitch in the Army, worked part and full time at Food World Stores, worked a while in construction, and is now working at the University of South Alabama. He hasn't chosen to engage in matrimony. His favorite pastime is working with Boy Scouts.

Scott went to Computer School, worked in Atlanta for several years, and returned to Mobile to manage Greer’s Grocery Stores' computer system. For some time now he has been working at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola as head of their computer department.

Scott and his wife, Teresa, have three beautiful girls, Erin, Megan and Emily and a boy, Shelton.

Scott had a severe weight problem for several years. He had Stomach stapling surgery, adhered to a VERY strict diet and has lost well over half his former weight.

Thad, the baby boy graduated from South Alabama in Engineering and is now working for a local engineering firm.

He started out wanting to study Architecture, but has changed his major. He and I have always been "Auburn Buddies." Once, when he was young, they visited us in Oak Ridge. He was a big Auburn fan, so I started calling him "Weagle!" (A fast way of saying War Eagle!) He worked long and hard, and finally got to be an official "Weagle Eagle".... He became an Eagle Scout. He still works with the Scouts.

Although he would have preferred to go to Auburn, he decided to complete his engineering degree at South. He was married to Miranda Grass and they had a beautiful daughter, Helen. Since the split with Miranda he now lives with Paul .

18 BOBBY

Robert Lewis (Bobby), Jo Anne's youngest brother has worked in the Television business for his entire career. He worked for some time at WKRG TV in Mobile. Later, he worked for two or three different TV repair shops in the Mobile area until he went into business for himself. He remained single.

His health has been bad in recent years and he is on disability. He lived with Lou until her death. They were really good for each other. He loves to fish, and has done quite a bit of it over the years.

He lives in Mobile. He has recently spent about two months in the hospital after heart by-pass surgery and following complications. He remains in poor health from the heart problems as well as breathing problems.

Part - 16 - Mr Hendrix & Lou

RAISIN'

16. MR. HENDRIX AND LOU

JoAnne's Father, Shelton Chesley Hendrix, passed away on December 21, 1956. He was a plumber and had his own plumbing business in the Eight Mile area. Mr. Willie Hanson from Eight Mile worked with him. He had spelled his last name Hendricks until a time when he worked for the State and they spelled it Hendrix. He just kept the "IX" spelling. One or two of his siblings, also, used "IX."

He had worked for several of the Plumbing and Piping companies in the Mobile area before going into business.

He loved gardening and working with plants and shrubs in their yard. He always kept the place looking like it was professionally manicured.

He was heavily involved in the political scene in the County as well as State politics. He was on the Alabama Democratic Executive Committee and a strong supporter of Big Jim Folsom. During his lifetime, Democrats were "THE" party in Alabama, and he was one of their strongest supporters.

I never met him but once, that being one Sunday morning when I went by to go to church with JoAnne. She wasn't ready to go yet, so she introduced me to her Dad. He was reading the paper and offered me the Comics. He and I struck up a pretty good conversation about where I was from, etc. I guess I talked ok to suit him as JoAnne said that she thought he liked me pretty well, not like some other boyfriends.

JoAnne said that her Dad was her official "reading coach" when she was in grammar school. She had some trouble getting started in reading and he would say, "Come on Gal, let's read." He would read with her until she knew what she was reading.

After we were married, I called Mrs. Hendrix: "Mrs. Hendrix", "Maw-in-law", and a couple of other names. Then, since her middle name was Lucille, I began calling her "Lou". It stuck! So, all her grand children called her "Lou", and by the time she had great grand children she figured that she was old enough to be called her "Granny Lou."

Lou worked at Brookley Air Force Base in Mobile, in the Supply Division until the time the government closed Brookley. She was transferred to Robbins Air Force Base in Warner Robbins, GA, where she worked until she retired in 1977. She was medically retired as an Editor and Writer of Technical Publications.

She moved back to Mobile and bought a house near Bates Field, the Mobile Area Airport. In fact, planes flew over her place on landings and take-offs.

Bobby, JoAnne's brother moved in with her a number of years later, and they were very good for each other in numerous ways.

During her later 70's Lou's health began to fail. She had a rare form of Leukemia for about 16 years that would cause some good, some bad days, but was not the fatal type of Leukemia. In 1997, she began having several hospitalizations for several different ailments. She went through chemotherapy treatments for Lymphoma for a couple of treatment series. The treatments finally failed to be effective, and she passed away on August 1, 1998.

Lou loved to play table games. She liked to play several different card games, but her very favorite game was Yahtzee. If she didn't have anyone to play with, she'd spend lots of time playing it alone.