GOOD MORNING, FRIENDS

A Rememberamble for Thursday, September 04, 2025 ..... Hey, did you realize, the Gathering and Story Revival are less than two weeks away. Are you excited, are you coming? I hope so, it will be an enjoyable day. The food is wonderful, the joy and laughter of friends in fellowship one with the other is so rewarding, the hymn singing, then the good ole stories we will share at the story hour, are going to be fantastic. I look forward to seeing our "regulars" who come each year, and those who have never attended a Gathering.

The reason the food is always the best is because folks bring "church food," you know, those dishes that are their best and are usually reserved for church dinners, the difference is, that we gather the best of the church foods from all denominations, and bring them together for a true feast. I say "we," but should say y'all, because I do not bring any food, I am busy that day, indeed. You will receive a toasty-warm welcome from the folks at NBIC, from me and from Matt, as well as from your fellow group members.

The topic of food reminds me of another family food tradition in our house when we were growing up. I mentioned the other day about Saturdays being chili dog and french fry day in our home. Well another red letter day for a meal we looked forward to was the Tuesday night supper when mama took a break from cooking. Mama and Daddy went out together to eat at the restaurant at Coleman's Lake, on the Ogeechee River in our Emanuel County.

Daddy loved freshwater fish and they had the best fish and seafood, and would find nice big bream, shellcrackers, or redbreast for daddy and reserve them for him, often calling to make sure he was coming so they would not serve them to anyone else. He and mama and us kids too, would eat there every Friday and Saturday night, and daddy went there "alone," on Tuesday nights. It was the night he took for himself, I have told y'all before that daddy did as he pleased.

Actually it was nice for him to be gone, there was less tension in our home when he was elsewhere, so mama took it as her night off, as he made it his night out. Mama would buy a couple flavors of ice cream, she loved Neapolitan, so she got a gallon of it, and then usually vanilla or chocolate too. She bought those big Sunbeam jelly rolls to slice up, Sunbeam cinnamon rolls, a Sunbeam pound cake, and a Sunbeam chocolate cake, as well as those little Sunbeam sponge cake dessert shells, and then frozen strawberries or peaches in syrup to put in them.

We loved it. Yes, I know you recall when Sunbeam was "IT" in our region and made the best of everything. But I do recall when I was in second grade, saying to a teacher who did not know our family, that we ate ice cream and cake on Tuesday nights. She thought we were poor and neglected, with no food in the house. I almost got us investigated by the "welfare folks," before someone assured them we were not poverty stricken nor neglected. It seems as a little boy, I was always saying things to embarrass mama and daddy or cause them headaches by telling things to grownups.

I recall when I was about four years old, I was riding with mama and daddy, all the other kids were at home, and daddy stopped at the old Forestry Unit that was adjacent to the old fairgrounds and Four H Clubhouse, all of which except the Four H Clubhouse was sold, and torn down to make way for the first Walmart we had, in the shopping center where Sonic is now. Beside the Forestry Unit office were a few very big, old slash pines. On this particular day, a man, who daddy knew, and was a Peacock, was cutting one of those big pines down with a chainsaw.

Now, don't worry about me using real names, this was 1962 or 1963, so if he ain't dead by now, well he oughta be. As we sat aways away in the car, daddy was giving an expert play by play critique of the man and how he was attempting to cut the tree down. Daddy was sure the man was going to kill "his fool self," as we say, and more than once daddy said the man was a fool. Fast forward to late in the evening of the same day. A neighbor family up the road, had a death in their immediate family, and it was in the days of home viewing,

so mama and daddy took me with them to visit with the family for a few minutes at their home. They did not take me in the room where the person was laid out, or course, so I was toddling around in the folk's living room where a small crowd was talking quietly among themselves. For some unknown reason, I walked over, looked up at the neighbor lady who's home we were in, and asked her, "do you know Mr. Peacock?" She smiled down at me and said sweetly, "yes I do." I replied, "well, daddy said he is a fool."

How was I to know that was her brother? And, how was I to know that was him just a few feet away, because I would have never recognized the man without his chainsaw! We left. That was not the first time mama and daddy quietly spoke of selling me to the gypsies. I was a classic case of a kid who knew too much and not near enough. I will close us out now, and I hope you enjoyed the visit, I know I did. Numbers 6: 24-26 KJV ..... we boyz three, babee conway, lil merle, & me