Eason Family Reunion

Memories of the Eason Homestead-Gerry Sue

Ribbon candies at Christmas

The fireplaces being boarded up

Sleeping on the back porch with Mama, Poppa and whatever cousins were around

Shelling peas on the back steps

Churning butter on the back steps

Mama’s chickens

Mama cleaning fish—ick

Mama frying chicken—yum

Mama’s cornbread—hot with real butter

BUTTERMILK—heavenly

Real Grits

Eating watermelon in the backyard

Playing in the dirt and mud—an idyllic life

The vegetable garden

Vegetables like corn, orca, green beans and Aunt Mary’s mint plants

Fresh snow with syrup on it

The washhouse and wash day and the ringer washing machine

The house always having someone there

Never ‘having’ to wear shoes at Mama’s

Everyone eating at the kitchen table—it looked so small when I went back as an adult

Always having something to do and someone’s lap to cuddle into

The big black wall phone in the hall

Mama’s secretary with its secret drawers and hiding places

The big mahogany four poster beds in the adults’ bedrooms

Sitting on the kitchen counter eating raw dough among other things

Mama’s pies

The front porch and that wonderful swing

Watching thunderstorms and heavy rain from the front porch or the screened back porch

Mama’s Singer Sewing Machine

The quilts Mama made

The ever marvelous attic, all the wonderful treasures up there and all those big old pictures in even bigger frames

The front room furniture and sitting nicely with a frilly dress and shoes and socks—being ladylike

The front room full of people for Mama & Papa’s 50th Wedding Anniversary party

The little golden bells on the cake squares

Going back to Texas for Mama’s funeral and the front room full of people again

Running up and down the hall and in and out the doors

The really majestic stairs up to the attic

All the big windows open along with the doors on really hot days and the breeze from the electric fans

The closet in the bedroom 16 feet off the floor (maybe a bit less)

The smell of the storm cellar

Dad’s radio repair shop and all the intriguing things in it

The windmill and water tower

The pecan trees

PECANS

Pecan Divinity

The burrs in the grass and being placed in the middle of it barefoot because I had annoyed one of my cousins

The weeping willow

Horney Toads and lizards

The pond with its fish

The really dark and small garage

Mama’s flowers and flowering plants and bees

Sitting on the back stairs at night and looking at the stars

My birthdays, my birthday cakes and my dolls

Always being in a happy place and knowing I was loved and cherished by one and all