Let’s reminisce
August 1978 – my life changed forever.
I was ten years old and my parents had decided two years earlier that they did not want to raise their children in Garland Texas. The city, according to my mom, wasn’t a good place. Looking back, it wasn’t a bad place either. Regardless, we had started building a house in East Texas two years earlier and it was almost finished.
So, my parents packed up their four kids, (my two sisters and little brother) and we moved to my grandparent’s twenty-eight-and-a-half-acre farm. His name was Truman Wigington, and he was, to my ten-year-old mind, a giant. Six foot three and over two hundred pounds. My grandmother’s name was Ellen Wigington, and I’ve yet to meet a sweeter person, or a more talented one.
I had spent two weeks during a few summers with my grandparents in the past, and so I loved being out in the woods. The road to reach their house was a dirt road, right off Highway 155 north, about four miles outside of a small town called Big Sandy. I remember so fondly that crunching of the tires on the rocks and sand as we’d turn on Persimmon Road. That sound meant we were almost to Memaw and Papaw’s!
And this time, it was forever.
My uncle had had a house built on an acre that my grandfather had given him. He had moved out of the other house on the property that my grandfather was letting him live in. Now, it was our turn to live in this two-bedroom, tin-roofed house. It was, in a word, heaven. Yes, there were mice, and yes it had loose windows and it had no air-conditioning, but when it rained, the most beautiful music you ever heard played out on the roof. The porch was covered and we kids would sit out there during the rain and watch the water drain from the roof’s edge.
Firewood.
One early September weekend morning, my grandfather pulled up to the house with his tractor and small trailer with my cousin James in the back. James was five but being five didn’t mean you got to get out of working. The truth is, we wanted to be where Papaw was, he was kinda stuck with us. The tractor was a Farm-All Super A. The trailer was the pick-up bed of a 1930’s era truck. This was to be my first lesson in cutting firewood. I didn’t get to use the chainsaw; my job was to pick up the logs and put them in the trailer. But I’ll never forget it. It was my first time to really take in the smells of the forest.
There is nothing like it.
Pine and cedar hints on the wind as the breeze laments through the trees on a cool fall day. The mighty oak comes crashing down to provide us with fuel for the winter. My grandfather gave me instructions on how to split wood, how to start the wedge and use the sledge hammer to drive it. Little did I know this would be good for me. Building strength and coordination. The work was hard, but the reward was coming back up to Memaw’s biscuits and gravy, with sausage and eggs waiting for breakfast.
You walk into their house and the foodstuff overtakes you, your stomach growls and Memaw smiles. The best food was made by Memaw! Their house always gave you this welcoming warmth that wrapped you from head to toe.
I am blessed to have such memories.
To be continued…
(*This is not the actual tractor but it sure looks a lot like it.)
(My grandparent’s old house, with my cousins James, Melissa and Joe, along with my little brother, Phil, sitting on the porch. If you look closely on the right, you can see the old trailer we hauled wood in.)
I miss them terribly. Simpler but still perplexing times. I love you brother. Thank you for sharing!
Agreed! I miss them so myself. There will be more to come. Love you too!
this is awesome, im a distant cousin Louise wugginton, flygare i live in ut, we have a daughter who lives in Princeston Texas, she loves it there they have a small ranch, we live it there.
Thank you Louise, Texas is a great place! We visited Utah last year and it was fantastic! I love Utah.
These are the memories that are most heartwarming. We are truly blessed! Love you
Thanks Julie! Love you too!
It is awesome you have such a descriptive memory! i remember Uncle Truman and Aunt Ellen but only got to see them a few times a year. i, like ypu, looked at Truman as a giant. I loved them both very much. Looking forward to the rest of the story!
Thanks Lesli! Love you!
What a great writer you have become Michael, you got that wonderful talent from your Memaw also. She would be so proud of you, and the success you are finding through your writing. Mom and Dad both loved their grandkids very much and left them a wonderful legacy to carry on – not money, but memories….. and as we all know now, that is what really counts in this life. Can’t wait to read part2…. love you and keep up the good writing!! Aunt D.
Thank you Aunt Donna! You are so right, memories are the most important thing you can leave behind. Those cherished moments that bind us to our loved ones forever. Love you!
I remember riding my dirt bike from Mom and Dad’s house to see Phil and James over there during the summer. i always wanted to see the hotrod you were building, but i think you sold it before i got to see it. Simpler times but good times.
Hey Obie! Man I wish I had known you wanted to see it, I would have shown you. But yeah I sold it. I loved that thing but I was married and didn’t have time for it anymore.
I believe simpler is better. Thanks for stopping by!
Mike, these are the memories that need to be added to your family genealogy. Future generations will enjoy reading about these times, as well as current generations.
You are convincing me I need to put pen to paper about my memories as a kid. Thank you! Hugs! Love you and your family.
Hey Lynn! Thanks for stopping by! You’re right, it does need to be added. I’ll have to get with my aunt Carole and see about doing that. You should write your memories, for they are what is eternal about us.
Be blessed!
Don’t forget the BLT’s that she’d make for lunch and she always had a pitcher of the best sweet tea ever! That was my favorite place to be growing up. I miss them so much.
Oh that’s so true! Those BLT’s rocked! Her tea was perfect. I miss them too!