Picture This
In 1994 Kevin Spencer sang a song called "Picture This". It was about looking through pictures in an old shoebox and the memories that it brought back. Well, there were some pictures uploaded from a cousin that brought back many memories. Some were good memories and some were difficult to think about. Let's take a stroll down memory lane.
The first one was all of us kids standing by a car. I don't remember the picture, I had to be about 4 or 5. I was surrounded by my relatives. My family is from Mabscott. The Thorntons moved there in 1947, The Traynhams moved there long before then. The town Mabscott is a coal camp named for Mabel Scott. It is divided into several sections. As in most coal towns the black people lived in the hill portion and the white people lived in the lower lying section. I am familar with both parts, because I have been to both parts, especially as an adult. I remember us walking to Fred Davis store, what they in Mabscott called "The Hard Road". One time we stopped there as an adult and ran into Buzz Keller, who showed us the new church. Mabscott Holiness. We had seen that sign when we would come to Mabscott and turn in at the warehouse to go visit both sides of the family.. So we went to a lot of events at the church. I did several interviews there with Charles Johnson and some of the other people that came there.
Getting back to the original story. My parents met each other in 1947 in Mabscott. Eventually they would marry. The Traynhams lived up the street across from the Thorntons. The Fergersons lived directly in front of the Thorntons. My mother's family was a family that consisted of 13 children, she was the second oldest. At the time of her death they ranged in age from 74 to 47. I ended up with an aunt my age, an uncle just a little older, an aunt younger than me and an aunt about four years older. I also had three cousins on the Traynham side of the familty that were my age. When we would visit Mabscott, there was a lot of playing and fun, playing with the aunts, uncles and cousins. We all got along, until the adults got involved. Sometimes adults can get really strange about how much time you spend with one side of the family as opposed to the other. if they would have left things to us kids things probably would have worked out better. I remember spending the night at Mascott a lot. We usually stayed with Pamela and Tara my aunts. For the most part we had a good time. Sometimes they would spend the night with us at our house When we were kids it was fun. Then we became teenagers.
Leave it to a teenager to complicate things. Whe you get to be a teenager its all about the looks and the image. My mom started Weight Watchers, and of course I gainned weight as a teenager and she put me on a diet. So that altered the way we ate. When we went to Mabscott, there was some jealousy going on. Then the other cousins came in from out of town complicating things even more, because they had lived in several places as a military family does. They were full of new things to try and do and sometimes things were not well recieved. It got to be who had the most hair, who was the thinnest and competition for male attention. Someone put a post on FB wanting to start a racial discussion. When did you first realize that you were black, well I posted that I was five when I realized i was different from everyone else around me. It was difficult growing up in an atmosphere were times were changing. I went to an all black school and was told that when I got to junior high things would be different I would fit in more. Yeah Right!!! I even had trouble in church. At 14, I remember going to a church out of town, they were going to pray for the youth and people refused to hold my hand or shake it, because they thought that I was white. My grandmother was a real fair skinned woman. You just deal with things as they come, but that is why I have NO TOLERANCE for racism of any kind. I was never really accepted in the communitty we grow up in because I didn't act a certain way, people thought that if I got a suntan and wore a "Fro" I would be accepted, but over the years I have learned to take people as people. I couldn't act the way I was expected too, my parents were strict, and my mother always wanted me and Sharon to be able to take care of ourselves. So that meant going to school doing well and working when the time came. Sometimes my parents were a little over protective. That was because they loved us and wanted us to do well in life. I am not bitter about life, it is what it is and you just deal with it as best you can...
When looking at the picture of all those carefree kids, our lives turned out to be a challange. Serry passed away a few years back. Gary is still around , so are the rest of us. Life took us so many different ways. Carolyn married her sweetheart they have been married since 1972, Jervis had been married since 1984, Gary is married and has grown children so is Pam. I was the last one to marry in 1999. I married at 41 to a man I met at work. My grandparents passed away. My grandfather Staples in 1975 , my grandfather Joe Thornton passed away in 1980 my grandmother Clara passed away in 1994, my grandmother Staples in 2002 My aunt Evella in 2000. Both homeplaces are still there, the Traynham homestead is falling down, Tara lives in the old homeplace. Carolyn and Sam have a nice place on the other hill in Mabscott. I live in Beckley... interesting picture...
The first one was all of us kids standing by a car. I don't remember the picture, I had to be about 4 or 5. I was surrounded by my relatives. My family is from Mabscott. The Thorntons moved there in 1947, The Traynhams moved there long before then. The town Mabscott is a coal camp named for Mabel Scott. It is divided into several sections. As in most coal towns the black people lived in the hill portion and the white people lived in the lower lying section. I am familar with both parts, because I have been to both parts, especially as an adult. I remember us walking to Fred Davis store, what they in Mabscott called "The Hard Road". One time we stopped there as an adult and ran into Buzz Keller, who showed us the new church. Mabscott Holiness. We had seen that sign when we would come to Mabscott and turn in at the warehouse to go visit both sides of the family.. So we went to a lot of events at the church. I did several interviews there with Charles Johnson and some of the other people that came there.
Getting back to the original story. My parents met each other in 1947 in Mabscott. Eventually they would marry. The Traynhams lived up the street across from the Thorntons. The Fergersons lived directly in front of the Thorntons. My mother's family was a family that consisted of 13 children, she was the second oldest. At the time of her death they ranged in age from 74 to 47. I ended up with an aunt my age, an uncle just a little older, an aunt younger than me and an aunt about four years older. I also had three cousins on the Traynham side of the familty that were my age. When we would visit Mabscott, there was a lot of playing and fun, playing with the aunts, uncles and cousins. We all got along, until the adults got involved. Sometimes adults can get really strange about how much time you spend with one side of the family as opposed to the other. if they would have left things to us kids things probably would have worked out better. I remember spending the night at Mascott a lot. We usually stayed with Pamela and Tara my aunts. For the most part we had a good time. Sometimes they would spend the night with us at our house When we were kids it was fun. Then we became teenagers.
Leave it to a teenager to complicate things. Whe you get to be a teenager its all about the looks and the image. My mom started Weight Watchers, and of course I gainned weight as a teenager and she put me on a diet. So that altered the way we ate. When we went to Mabscott, there was some jealousy going on. Then the other cousins came in from out of town complicating things even more, because they had lived in several places as a military family does. They were full of new things to try and do and sometimes things were not well recieved. It got to be who had the most hair, who was the thinnest and competition for male attention. Someone put a post on FB wanting to start a racial discussion. When did you first realize that you were black, well I posted that I was five when I realized i was different from everyone else around me. It was difficult growing up in an atmosphere were times were changing. I went to an all black school and was told that when I got to junior high things would be different I would fit in more. Yeah Right!!! I even had trouble in church. At 14, I remember going to a church out of town, they were going to pray for the youth and people refused to hold my hand or shake it, because they thought that I was white. My grandmother was a real fair skinned woman. You just deal with things as they come, but that is why I have NO TOLERANCE for racism of any kind. I was never really accepted in the communitty we grow up in because I didn't act a certain way, people thought that if I got a suntan and wore a "Fro" I would be accepted, but over the years I have learned to take people as people. I couldn't act the way I was expected too, my parents were strict, and my mother always wanted me and Sharon to be able to take care of ourselves. So that meant going to school doing well and working when the time came. Sometimes my parents were a little over protective. That was because they loved us and wanted us to do well in life. I am not bitter about life, it is what it is and you just deal with it as best you can...
When looking at the picture of all those carefree kids, our lives turned out to be a challange. Serry passed away a few years back. Gary is still around , so are the rest of us. Life took us so many different ways. Carolyn married her sweetheart they have been married since 1972, Jervis had been married since 1984, Gary is married and has grown children so is Pam. I was the last one to marry in 1999. I married at 41 to a man I met at work. My grandparents passed away. My grandfather Staples in 1975 , my grandfather Joe Thornton passed away in 1980 my grandmother Clara passed away in 1994, my grandmother Staples in 2002 My aunt Evella in 2000. Both homeplaces are still there, the Traynham homestead is falling down, Tara lives in the old homeplace. Carolyn and Sam have a nice place on the other hill in Mabscott. I live in Beckley... interesting picture...
Comments
Post a Comment