If you need to get caught up on Part 1....go here first.
I have a couple of warnings. First of all...this is a long post and it's the most I've ever written on my blog. Secondly, I apologize in advance for my poor literacy skills. I'm not a writer but what I have to say does come from my heart.
Out in the country...the REAL country, in a small town called Vernon, Alabama.... this is where the story begins.
Billy and Hellon Johnson were High School sweet hearts and got married only 1 week before senior graduation. My grandmother still hasn't given me a clear answer on why they couldn't wait. :) Memaw (my granddaddy's mother) raised all the kids herself after her husband died when my granddaddy was only 6 years old. I've been told that she was the sweetest and kindest hearted woman, with such a gentle spirit. Wish I had a picture here of her because you can tell that just by looking at her.
Memaw became disabled and needed to be taken care of so my grandparents bought Memaw's house and she lived in a trailor next to the house until she died. This is where they lived when my mom was born. This was the house and land that I visited for probably the last time on Sunday.
Right down the road sits the church where my grandmother has attended for over 50 years. My granddaddy was an Elder here until he became sick with cancer and had to resign. I remember the day he resigned. It was extremely emotional for everyone because my granddaddy had such a passion and love for the church.
My grandmother mentioned this one little story about granddaddy at the little party Sunday night. She shared this in front of her church family. She said, I remember when Billy was teaching class and he said to you all...."I wish you knew what was truly in my heart for all of you." And that is so true. My granddaddy prayed fervently, with a loving heart, for everyone. He cared for his church family so much and only wanted the best for everyone...eternal life in Heaven.
Kingville Church of Christ....tons of memories here. My grandmother has been a huge asset to this church and the ladies ministry. I know they will miss her greatly! My granddaddy has been greatly missed here for a long time.
I just love these old pictures!! I just showed Caley this picture and she said, "But why does she have that kind of hair." Funny stuff!
My granddaddy died of colon cancer in 1993. I was 14 years old.
We have more updated pictures but I didn't have any at my house. Thank you Cortney for sending this one to me. I'll add more later.
My grandmother has obviously been doing a ton of packing. She's been going through things that she probably hasn't looked at in 50 years. She showed us around the house and told the grandkids to take whatever they wanted. She had a table full of books.
These are a few of the books that my granddaddy use to study with. You see, he STUDIED the Bible like God tells all of us to do. I remember getting dressed for church on Sunday morning and watching my granddaddy shining those black boots and then after he was finished he would sit down and study God's word before church. God knew exactly who my granddaddy was.
I looked inside these books and all of them show the same thing....underlining, notes, thoughts, scripture. My granddaddy knew how to study.
This was one of his Bible's. He wasn't afraid to write inside of his Bible either. This tells me how strong his faith was, unwavering and strong. I have so much to learn. His focus was where it should be and I get so wrapped up in my busy world and forget to take even 10 minutes most days to study God's word. This should be our priority and at the top of the list. Shame on me.
I can remember as a child, walking down the hallway in my grandparents house and hearing a voice in my grandparents bedroom but unable to understand exactly what they were saying. As I tip-toed closer I could tell that it was my granddaddy praying. He was ALWAYS on his knees praying. He would call us each by name (the grandkids) and pray for us each to one day marry faithful Christians and have faithful children of our own.
Even in church, my granddaddy would sometimes get on his knees to pray in front of the church. I have never seen anyone else ever do that. Why aren't we on our knees more? Humble and gracious, he was a servant.
At my grandparents house we had times where we would all take turns reading the Bible out loud and saying our prayers. It was a necessity and priority. These are memories that I will take with me forever.
One of his favorite verses was Matthew 6:33. "Seek ye first he Kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Another was....1 Corinthians 14:40 "Let all things be done decently and in order." My granddaddy believed strongly that church was a place to worship God, not carry on about things of this world. I think we need to be really careful about this.
Another favorite verse of his was in II Timothy 4:7 when Paul said, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." That was my granddaddy.
I had to snap a picture of my mom and Aunt Carolyn. Love it!
Can you believe my grandmother kept these Bride magazines? These were the ones my mom looked at before she got married.
And on to one of my biggest fears as a child......
The doll. My grandmother kept all of my mom and aunts baby dolls. This one in particular always freaked me out. Wonder why?
Let's take a closer look.....
After posting this I'm sure I'll have nightmares tonight. My sister, brother, and cousins, had the best time teasing me with it. I'm serious....I was terrified of the thing.
Thought this was appropriate for the moment.
My grandmother does not like to throw things away. This Octagon Soap was sitting on the table. Never been used and it obvisouly looks very old. She said this was they had to use with a wash board to get your clothes clean. So neat. I can't believe she saved it!
I actually found these newspaper clippings with the Octagon Soap listed there in the middle.
Wow. I wish milk was still that cheap.
This is my grandmother's recipe box. Old and used but carries a ton of wonderful recipes.
There's my grandmother's Sweet Pickle recipe in her handwriting.
This is a letter my mom wrote in the Third Grade to my grandparents and Aunt Carolyn. I love reading things like this.
She even kept some of her old hats she use to wear.
The kids had fun modeling for me.
This one could almost pass for Davey Crocket.
These were some of her old purses.
They were all wrapped up in plastic. She took care of ALL her things. She's never wasteful!
This was my mom and aunt's baby rattle.
Some unused Christmas stamps from 1968.
One of my grandmothers favorite things to do it play the piano. She can read music and play by ear. I remember us all sitting in the living room singing Christmas carols as my grandmother played during the Holidays. My mom decided to play a little on Sunday. I actually have my grandmothers older piano at my house.
Found these books in the storage closet. These were apparently some book my mom and aunt use to read.
Never heard of Trixie Belden books. Have you?
This is my grandmothers Coo Coo clock. My mom said that it came from Germany. It was the neatest thing to watch as a child....watching the birdie come out at noon and say "coo coo, coo coo". This is at my house now. Still trying to figure out where I wanna put it.
The orange shag carpet....had to get a picture of this. This carpet was in my Aunt Carolyn's room. I remember when all the grandkids would come and stay, we would pair up and take a room to clean. We would actually rake the carpet to make it look nice and neat. Grandmother would judge to see which room looked the best. My mom had pink shag carpet but it was replaced several years ago.
My moms room had a pink theme, and here was her pink phone. I just love the sound it makes when you dial the numbers.
This was my granddaddy's whip that he used to gather in the cows.
I wish I had a picture of this while it was still mounted but they had just taken it down from the wooden post. This was the bell that Memaw use to ring when it was time for dinner. All the kids would know to come home and eat. Ben took the bell home with him.
If you haven't figured it out already, my grandmother doesn't care about the things in this material world. It's all just stuff. I have so much that I'm excited to learn from her now that she'll be closer.
So many memories. I'm so glad that she's getting to live closer to the family but keep her in your prayers. I'm sure she has a tough journey ahead. As she always says, the good Lord knows better than we do and He'll take care of us.
