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The house that I knew as Grandpa Nelson Shelton’s house was built by his grandfather Robert Alexander Nance (or Nantz, I’ve seen both spellings used on family documents; Mom says it depended on whether they knew how to write the letter “z.”) in the year Nelson was born, 1905. At the time the house was
Dad’s philosophy about discipline was not unlike that of other fathers in the area, which was to ignore children unless they did something intolerable. When the intolerable happened, justice was swift and firm. “Act like somebody,” was his usual first warning if our behavior edged toward the unacceptable. He did not expect to give a
There was no electricity at the Old House until long after Mom and Dad were married, so washing was done pretty much the same way it was in the nineteenth century. While the children were growing up, each was assigned a task on wash day, like carrying water or tending the fire. Mom remembers that
Grandpa Nelson were notoriously difficult to please when it came to gifts. Even the most thoughtfully selected gift would often be met with an exclamation that everyone in the family came to dread, because almost all of us heard it around Christmas and birthdays: “Well, whudja get me that fur?!” I especially remember one Christmas
Mom has had trouble with her back for most of her life. So did Grandpa Nelson and many of her siblings. Grandpa Nelson used to go to Dr. Brown, his favorite “choir-practer,” as he called him. He enjoyed coming up with his own pronunciations, so he would sometimes announce he was going to the choir
When I first put Mom’s memories of Alexis Baptist Church on Facebook, several people (me included) doubted her account of the men and women sitting on opposite sides of the church. I assumed it was a trick of her 93-year-old memory. While she does have occasional lapses of memory, this seemed to be the most
Dad was always close to his Uncle Jim and Aunt Vera Lineberger. They hosted the Lineberger family reunion for years, and we always attended, along with a hundred or so relatives. But our little family also visited several times a year, especially after Grandpa Charlie died. Uncle Jim lived in the old family house, referred
As I mentioned before, Mom strongly opposed any of us boys having a BB gun. As the oldest, I was the first to ask for one, and I triggered the strongest reaction. Now this was when almost all men and boys in our circle were hunters. Mom’s brothers not only owned guns, but Uncle Ray
I have to admit that the first time I saw “A Christmas Story,” my mouth dropped open. Ralphie wanted a Red Ryder BB gun, but his Mom objected, saying “you’ll shoot your eye out.” My Mom opposed my owning a BB gun for exactly the same reason. But in my case, Mom had facts on
It is hard to be alone when you are sharing a 10 by 10 foot bedroom with two younger brothers. But I was often determined to try. Not that I disliked Gary and Charles, of course. We played together exceptionally well, sibling rivalries being something we watched others practice with quiet surprise. But they were
Rabbit Box Blog 