Encourage, Enlighten, & Inspire.
AUG / SEPT 2010
11
FOR GOOD MEMORIES, WE ARE THANKFUL
------------“The Miracle of Our Bread and Fishes” -------------
I
t was so odd to have Daddy around the house. It was even stranger to see him sick. Daddy was not a sickly man. In fact,
he was 225 pounds of pure muscle. His arms were like strong tree limbs. I can remember him holding his arms straight out from his side and letting us kids grab hold and swing on them. But Daddy was sick. He was so sick he couldn’t work, sleep, or anything else. In fact, he was in pure misery just sitting still. He was covered from the tips of his toes to the top of his head, inside his body as well as outside his body, with the most horrible, thick patches of rash a person can ever imagine. His tongue was so swollen, it would hardly fit inside his mouth and his ears stood out from his head like stiff flags. The rash was so bad, it affected his heart, lungs, and all internal organs. It was now a matter of life or death. That’s why he had not been able to work. When Daddy didn’t work, he didn’t get paid and when he didn’t get paid, there was no money to pay bills or buy groceries. This was the place where we were at this time. When everything was as it should have been, every penny had its’ place. Mama had gotten some advice from her friend, when she and Daddy had first come to Springhill and he began working at the International Paper Company.
“Lonna,” her friend said, “Always give God his ten percent first. After that, put ten percent away for hard times. The rest is yours for whatever you need. But always give God his ten percent first.” Mama had always followed her advice. At times, it wasn’t easy. With ten of us to feed, and bills to pay, Daddy’s paycheck from the paper company only stretched so far. The weekly grocery bill was twenty dollars. In those days, that twenty dollars would fill the back of the old Chevy station wagon with groceries. Now, Daddy was sick. He hadn’t been able to work for several weeks. Groceries, as well as everything else, were getting very low. Mama used the canned things that she had put up from the garden. We still had fresh milk from the cow and fresh eggs from our chickens, but we would need to buy some more chicken and cow feed right away. Our cupboards were looking pretty bare. Mama did what she could by adding more water to the soup bone and more gravy to the sparse pieces of meat. She still made her big, delicious biscuits as long as the flour held out. Stretch and save as best they could, the day finally came when almost everything was gone. The cupboard was practically bare. There was no soap for bathing or washing clothes; flour, sugar, and cornmeal were
down to nothing; we had no fruits or vegetables. The homemade breads were a thing of the past. In short, we were close to desperation. We needed a miracle! Early one morning, Mama made an appointment in Shreveport, about 60 miles from our house. The appointment was for Daddy to see a doctor who had treated Dad’s bad knee. Mama and Daddy had somehow put two and two together and found out that when the doctor drew fluid off Daddy’s bad knee and injected it full of cortisone, the horrible rash and whelps would get much better. This was why the trip to Shreveport was planned. So, we all loaded into the old Chevy station wagon and headed to Shreveport. It took us an hour to get there. Usually we kids would stay in the car. Daddy would park close to a big tree where it would be shady. This way, we could get out and play a little until Daddy’s visit with the doctor was over. Finally, Daddy was finished at the doctor’s and we were headed home. While passing through the big city, we would get an occasional whiff of some delicious aroma drifting from some of the restaurants. I can remember a small man pushing a tiny little cart and selling hot, fresh, roasted peanuts. Oh, how good they smelled! Our stomachs growled and ached, but there was no money for such things.