OUR STORY
Francine's Story
Francine’s Words:
The first real was memory I have was August 27, 1939 when I was 3 years old. We lived far out in the country and my daddy went to town or some where and brought a doctor back. We did not have a telephone, or even have electricity. Mom was in the bed , daddy took me out side and walked me up and down the old dirt road for a long time, carrying me in his arms most of the time. Finally the old doctor came out and told us we could come in and there was my mom and a new baby sister. She was nothing like me as she weighed 91/2 pounds. I remember they asked me who she looked like and I said the fat man up the road, and everyone thought that was funny and kidded mom about it. Of course I did not know why and I was happy because I had made everyone laugh. They named her Lethia Dell . Well most of my memories then were only of being so proud of my new sister and although I was three years older we were real close.
During the next couple of years I started remembering a lot of my extended family. The two very special people that I remember most were my maternal grandfather and grandmother, Papa and Mammy. I loved them very much, especially Papa. Mammy was not well as long as I remembered and she was very sweet but most of my memories of her was being bed ridden. I remember going to spend the night with them and I would love to sleep between them in my “hole”. They had a big feather mattress and I would sink down in the middle of the bed and I thought it was my on special hole. Papa would take me for walks in the wood and we would pick violets. I would have “growing pains “ in my legs and he would sit and rock me in a rocking chair in his lap and rub my legs until they would quit hurting. I followed him around like a little puppy every where he went.
I also had a maternal great aunt that I remember so well. She was a real character and I really loved her also. Mom had started getting fat again during this time and although I was 51/2 years old I did not know where babies came from. One evening mom sent me home with Aunt Mattie to spend the night. She had two daughters, Elizabeth and Mary. They love to play the guitar and sing. All of moms family was very musically talented. They would play and sing and Aunt Mattie would dance. She loved to dance. I got a stomach ache that night and she game me some blackberry wine for it, which stopped my stomach ache, but my mom had a fit when she found out as she did not believe in alcohol . But it sure did taste good to me.
The next morning April 27, 1942, they took me home and, lo and behold, there was a little baby brother waiting for me, W.C. Well I really fell in love this time. I loved that little baby so much and mama would let me sit on the bed and hold him and I would pretend he was my baby. I have always had very strong maternal instincts.