Cotton & Corn: A Place, A Life, A Memory - Chapter 9

Nine

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Living Room Decor

We visited Grandma Charlton on occasion and I remember one time she served us fried apples, which I thought were delicious. Grandma tended to get a bit lonely after Grandpa passed away, so Pa made sure we visited as often as we could.

In the spring of 1936, Grandma fell into failing health and Pa drove down along with Richard to stay with her for a spell, leaving Ma with all of the farm work, including the milking and feeding of our cow, takin’ care of the two horses, carin’ for what chickens we had left, and things like that. I helped as much as I could and Ma was very appreciative. She made me a doll out of the nicest material she had and she made one for Mary too.

I remember one evening after school when I was watching Teddy and Mary, that Mary just cried and kept on crying. I tried everything I could think of to help her stop. She finally told me that she missed Pa so much that it hurt. She was also worried about Grandma and all. I calmed her down and we prayed for Grandma, Pa and Richard. She finally fell asleep in my lap.

Grandma passed away shortly after and we all went to Union City to her house for a few days. In them days the person’s coffin was placed in the living room and the family stayed with it around the clock until the day of the funeral. They wanted me and Mary to sleep in the bedroom right off of the living room, but I put up such a fight that eventually they took us two girls to a neighbor’s house for the night, James and Karen Tennison. The Tennisons had been long time family friends and even helped Pa and Richard take care of Grandma for a spell, so me and Mary felt just like we was with family.

"It ain't the silly trinkets and things you accumulate that have meaning in life," Grandma once said to me, with the fiery passion in her elderly eyes that was so typical for her, "It's the memories you make and the folks you knew. Those are two of the only real God-given pleasures this short life has to offer you. And memories are secret treasures that God lets us keep in our hearts."

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“Boo,” Richard jumped up to scare his sisters from the other side of his grandmother’s casket when the two girls entered the room.

After the screams subsided their father entered the living room to see what the commotion was about.

Richard knew trouble was on the horizon and quickly apologized for his disrespect, adding, “I didn’t mean nothin’ by it, Pa. I was just—”

“I don’t want to hear about it now. We’ll deal with this later. Folk be comin’ soon and we got to get a move on, so you youngins try to stay outta trouble.”

After Mr. Charlton left the room, Rae Ann said snottily, “Boy are you gonna get it, Richard.”

“I know, don’t be remindin’ me.”

“Absent from the body and present with our Lord,” Rae Ann mumbled softly.

“What?” questioned Richard inquisitively.

“A thing I read me in the Bible about bein’ with the Lord and all.”

Richard always envied how much his sister knew about the Bible, history, and all of those things. But he also knew it took a lot of time studying in order to know and understand all of that information.

Mary asked quietly, “What do you think it’s like for grandma now? I’m guessin’ she ain’t in no more pain.”

“No, I recon not,” Richard replied. “What you think, sis?” Richard questioned Rae Ann.

“Oh, I think she is just as fine as the taste of a fresh baked apple pie topped with freshly cranked vanilla ice cream.”

“Now you’re makin’ me hungry again, thanks,” Richard lamented.

Teddy entered the room and informed his siblings, “Pa and Ma said we all should wait outside why they get everything ready for the trip to the church.”

The Tennisons drove the four Charlton children to the church in their car so Mr. and Mrs. Charlton could be alone together during their drive. Upon arrival at the church the Tennisons and Charlton youngins were greeted by Father McNeary who had made the trip to Union City from Hinton to officiate the funeral.

“Welcome, folks.”

Rae Ann looked around, remembering her grandfather’s funeral, “This is such a nice place.”

“Nice?” Richard did not understand his sister’s comment.

“I mean nice in the sense of it bein’ pretty, peaceful, and havin’ sort of a special feelin’ about it.”

“Yeah, I get it, sort of,” Richard agreed.

Teddy, wishing to take part in the conversation, said, “Sort of Holy feelin’ in a way.”

“God is Holy,” Mary blurted out.

The group entered the church and seated themselves quietly.

Many folks arrived and began to fill the church. Elvin and Gertie Bromley, Gertie was Mrs. Charlton’s cousin, had made the trip all the way from Sacramento, California. It had been many years since the last time they visited. Elvin had related a story he remembered from his childhood years to Hilda once that haunted her thoughts from time to time. His grandmother had commented years after the funeral of one of her own cousins that it was such a hot day that she had wiped the sweat from the brow of her cousin before the casket’s lid was closed. Mrs. Charlton never shared this tale with any of her children, needless to say.

Once all of the mourners had arrived the services began, “I wish to extend my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of….”

Rae Ann stared at the beautiful stained glass windows around the church. She loved seeing the artwork, especially in this church, and wished that her family would come here more often, not just for funerals. Maybe there will be a wedding here one day, she dreamed.

Once Father McNeary completed his introduction, Rae Ann focused her attention on his words…

“A reading from the book of Ecclesiastes chapter three,” the priest announced.

“To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born,

    And a time to die;

A time to plant,

    And a time to pluck what is planted;

A time to kill,

    And a time to heal;

A time to break down,

    And a time to build up;

A time to weep,

    And a time to laugh;

A time to mourn,

    And a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones,

    And a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace,

    And a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to gain,

    And a time to lose;

A time to keep,

    And a time to throw away;

A time to tear,

    And a time to sew;

A time to keep silence,

    And a time to speak;

A time to love,

    And a time to hate;

A time of war,

    And a time of peace.”

Not a sound could be heard as the priest continued, “Just as God placed seasons in nature, life has its seasons also. There's springtime when new things in our life begin and our hearts are filled with the excitement as we anticipate what the future has in store for us; summertime comes, when we work hard in the heat of the Oklahoma day doing everything God has for us to do; when fall comes we reap the harvest from the good seeds we planted earlier in our lives; then winter comes and brings an ending to certain periods of our lives. Winter can bring trouble and hardship, God says 'But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many.' Remember during the winters of your lives to remain filled with hope, because another spring is coming, riding on the wagon of life and it's just around the corner.”

Rae Ann sat quietly as the priest continued talking about her grandmother’s life, her service to the church with working with orphans and troubled children, and so many other things she never knew about her beloved grandmother. She learned that Grandma Charlton had even made quilts to sell in order to help struggling families get by during these intensely hard times in Oklahoma.

Father McNeary began to walk down the aisle that separated the two sections of church pews as he continued to speak to the crowd, “Christ once told a Jewish ruler named Nicodemus that a person must be born spiritually, 'Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.' You must call out to God in sincerity if you wish to know Him.”

The priest slowly made his way to the rear of the church saying, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life; I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Christ died for our sins, he was buried, and he rose again alive the third day. These are but a few of the words we have from God to contemplate before we also die and leave this world. Remember… as many as will receive the Lord, God gives the power and the right to become his children, and that is for everyone who chooses to believe in him.”

The mourners had never heard a priest talk this way during a funeral service before. They did not know that the patriarchal grandmother of the Charlton family had requested a strong and unforgettable message to be delivered to her family and friends at her funeral when the time came.

After returning to the front of the church Father McNeary continued, “Call out to God today if you will. If you will truly confess with your own mouth that Jesus is your Lord, and believe within your heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead... you will be saved. The Bible also states, ‘For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation’."

After the funeral and burial, the family returned to their late grandmother’s house for a special potluck dinner. Close friends and family members came with casseroles, fresh baked breads and rolls, salads, fruit, and desserts. The Charlton children were very pleased to see so much food in one place at one time.

“Mighty fine gathering,” commented Elvin Bromley to no one in particular.

Overhearing him, Rae Ann added, “And great food, too.”

Gertie Bromley joined the two and made the observation, “You are growing into such a fine little lady, Rae Ann. I’m astonished.”

“You remember me?” questioned the bright-eyed girl.

“Of course I do. Your Ma sent us a copy of a family picture a while back. It was a mighty fine photograph at that. So very sorry that little Sarah Jane isn’t here with us. My heart just breaks to think on it.” A tear ran slowly down her cheek.

“Please don’t fret. I had me a wonderful dream about my sister and she was ok.”

Mrs. Bromley did not know exactly what to say, but simply smiled back to Rae Ann the best she could.

“Mr. Bromley changed the subject, “I been talkin’ with your Ma and Pa a bit about movin’ out to California. Times aren’t so rough out there right now. He said that it was somethin’ he might consider if this drought kept eatin’ away at the land like a wild animal feastin’ itself on a dead carcass. Your Pa is quite the poet.”

“California,” Rae Ann mumbled. In school she had read a book about California that had a lot of photographs in it.

Mrs. Bromley informed, “We left some presents for you youngins in the back seat of your Ford Model T. That’s a mighty fine automobile your Pa has out there. It looks brand spankin’ new.”

“He got it a while back. Some friend that had died gave it to him,” Rae Ann informed. “You got us presents?”

“Yes,” Mrs. Bromley affirmed. “A child can always use a present, can’t they?”

“Yes, ma’am, they sure can.”

Mr. Bromley returned to his previous subject, “Once your grandma’s house sells and all the family divvies up the proceeds, I think your Ma and Pa will have a little money to help them out for a spell. I’m still hopin’ they will consider movin’ to sunny California. It would sure be nice to have family nearby.”

Rae Ann dreamed and prayed about movin’ to California one day, but being the realist she was, she knew that would take a considerable amount of resources to accomplish, and she also knew that saving money these days was something very few sharecropping families knew anything about. Times were tougher than a boxer like Jack Dempsey was in the ring, but hopeful dreams sometimes helped soften the toughest days’ hard-hitting blows.

Chapter Ten: As Chickens Grow