My latest book, HALLEY, awarded 2015 Jefferson Cup Honor for Historical Fiction. Available at: NewSouth Books:\u00a0www.newsouthbooks.com\/halley and Amazon<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a wonder I even liked my cousin, Pearl when we were growing up in
\nthe 1940s and 50s.\u00a0 She was beautiful and she was good.\u00a0 She was also
\na hard worker.\u00a0 My Grandmother Junkins, whom I know meant it for my
\nown good, was always comparing me to Pearl to point out precisely
\nwhere I needed improvement.\u00a0 Unfortunately for Maw, I never got fired
\nup for self improvement.\u00a0 The way I saw it, Pearl was born with
\nadvantages I didn\u2019t have.<\/p>\n
She had a happier family for one thing.\u00a0 Her father was a religious
\nman, but not a fanatic.\u00a0 Her parents adored each other and their three
\nchildren.\u00a0 In addition, Pearl was born beautiful.\u00a0 She inherited the
\ndark complexion and black hair of her Cherokee blood from both
\nparents.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t need any cosmetics to enhance her looks and
\ndidn\u2019t use them.\u00a0 Slender and graceful, she moved like a dancer.\u00a0 She
\nhad a beautiful smile, but if she had moments of hilarity, I never saw
\nit.\u00a0 Dignity seemed to come to her as a birthright.<\/p>\n
As Maw reminded me frequently, Pearl was a worker too.\u00a0 Her mother
\ndied when Pearl was a teenager, and since the older daughter was
\nmarried by this time, all the housework and cooking fell to Pearl.
\nUncle Roy\u2019s house had no electricity, so she cooked wonderful meals on
\nher mother\u2019s old iron cookstove.\u00a0 She milked the cow, churned butter,
\ntook care of the chickens, fed the hog, and still looked like a
\nprincess.<\/p>\n
And she sang.\u00a0 Uncle Roy and his children formed their own gospel
\ngroup, specializing in songs that the Chuck Wagon Gang made
\nfamous–\u201dWalk on the Sunny Side,\u201d \u201cAfter a While,\u201d and \u201cSome Glad
\nMorning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Young men around Carter\u2019s Quarter noticed Pearl for sure, but most
\nwere too intimidated by Uncle Roy to court her.\u00a0 One boy didn\u2019t get
\nscared off.\u00a0 Jimmy Nolan was Pearl\u2019s brother\u2019s best friend, and the
\nfriendship allowed him to see Pearl other than in church.\u00a0 He took
\nadvantage of that to try to impress her.\u00a0 Perhaps because he was a
\nlittle younger than her, Pearl refused to give him any encouragement.
\nJimmy finished high school and was drafted.\u00a0 During eighteen months of
\nservice, he saw a lot of the world other than the mountain of Georgia,
\nbut he never saw another girl that interested him.\u00a0 When he came home
\nhe had made up his mind that he wasn\u2019t going to take no for an answer.
\nHe later said the only way he could see her was to go to every church
\nservice in the country, and that\u2019s just what he did.<\/p>\n
My grandmother did not approve.\u00a0 As far as I knew, she had no specific
\ncomplaints about Jimmy.\u00a0 He simply wasn\u2019t good enough for Pearl.\u00a0 But
\nthen nobody would have been good enough, in Maw\u2019s opinion.\u00a0 She called
\nhim \u201cthat Jimmy.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cThat Jimmy was setting with Pearl in church again
\nlast Sunday,\u201d she would report, frowning, or \u201cThat Jimmy was at every
\nrevival meeting last week, setting with Pearl.\u201d\u00a0 Finally, it was,
\n\u201cThey say that Jimmy is trying to talk Pearl into marrying.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marry, they did, and life changed for Pearl.\u00a0 Jimmy loved boating and
\nhunting.\u00a0 If Maw had still been living, she wouldn\u2019t have believed her
\nPearl in a swimsuit or strollicking all over the country on hunting
\nand boating trips, even after they had a daughter.<\/p>\n
On one of my last visits to Uncle Roy\u2019s house, I had a glimpse of the
\nnew Pearl.\u00a0 She and I were both wearing jeans.\u00a0 Probably in response
\na look or a comment from Uncle Roy, Pearl said, \u201cDaddy doesn\u2019t like us
\nwearing pants.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not me you have to worry about,\u201d he replied.\u00a0 \u201cRead your Bible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pearl winked at me, and as Uncle Roy left the room she said,\u00a0 \u201cThe old
\nfolks won\u2019t ever change, but I think we\u2019re okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded.\u00a0 I was okay.\u00a0 Thanks to Maw\u2019s comparisons, I\u2019d improved more
\nthan I probably ever would have done on my own. And if I never made
\nA+, that was all right too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My latest book, HALLEY, awarded 2015 Jefferson Cup Honor for Historical Fiction. Available at: NewSouth Books:\u00a0www.newsouthbooks.com\/halley and Amazon It\u2019s a wonder I even liked my cousin, Pearl when we were growing up in the 1940s and 50s.\u00a0 She was beautiful … Continue reading