Uncle Tommy

by Sheneka Land

My first memory of Tommy Bohannon was on a hot summer day when I was just a toddler. I had been locked in a bedroom with only a raised window to provide relief from the sweltering heat that engulfed the little project house apartment. Being so young, I had no concept of time, but my hours in that room had to be of some length because eventually I had to use the closet as a bathroom after I had drained a baby bottle filled with Coca Cola. You see, I am just one in a multitude of those who suffered or are still suffering the effects of childhood neglect and abuse.

Uncle Tommy had married my mother’s oldest sister (Aunt Bertie) shortly before his retirement, and they lived directly across the street in a project house apartment as well. Eventually, they heard my cries of desperation and appeared outside the bedroom window. Uncle Tommy held a kitchen knife which he was using to pry the screen off the window. I’m sure he must have tipped his fedora hat off his forehead, as he often did throughout my childhood when he was determined to complete a difficult task. Though I was very young, I remember that day as clear as memories from this morning. Finally, the small-framed man reached through the window as I held my little noodle-like arms up to him. I remember the relief I felt as my body grazed against the windowsill on my way to freedom. Uncle Tommy and Aunt Bertie took me home with them, gave me a warm bath and fed me a bowl of Total cereal which I absolutely hated!

By the time I was seven years old, I had been legally adopted by my aunt and uncle. Uncle Tommy was the one stable force and positive influence throughout my childhood years. He taught me how to read music, play the piano, and tend a vegetable garden. During the summer months, he took me to the library to check out armloads of books, always encouraging me to read and learn. Some afternoons we would sit together under the shade tree after a day of mowing or picking blackberries to earn money for my school clothes, reading and swapping sections of the newspaper. Sometimes he would have me read out loud to him, and I can still hear his hearty laugh ending with soft grunting when I mispronounced the word totally as “toe-tally.”

I miss my beloved Uncle Tommy, and I would love just one more chance to lay my head against his soft flannel shirt and drink in the faint scents of Old Spice cologne and Bruton snuff that lingered on him. Just one more chance to let him know how much his Christian walk and love influenced my life. Just one more chance to share my personal struggles and glean from his wisdom. Just one more chance to sit on the piano stool with him to play a piano duet. Uncle Tommy was a treasure in the midst of a difficult childhood…a thread of grace forever woven in the tapestry of my life.

About The Author

Sheneka Land is an ordained minister and a graduate of the Pentecostal Theological Seminary. She enjoys speaking and writing and is co-author of From Rejection to Validation (pathwaybookstore.com). Sheneka pursues opportunities in care ministry where she can spread the news of hope and transformation to the suffering. She is mother to four sons whom she homeschooled for twenty-four years. She and her husband, Jon, currently reside in Cleveland, Tennessee. www.thethreadsofgrace.com