Pawpaw Clark, Stories From My Dad

Marvin Elgie Clark lived in the mountains in a little town called Crossnore, NC. Crossnore was about 1 hour away from where dad lived.  He was a carpenter by trade and loved to farm and live off the land.  He loved the outdoors and liked raising chickens & cows.  He also had several Honeybee Hives that he used to collect honey. Paw Paw was a worker and always stayed busy. He lived to be 103 years old. 

Dad remembered how they would always drive up the mountain at least once a month on Sunday after church to visit Paw Paw & Maw Maw Clark.  They would always eat lunch with them and spend the afternoon.  Dad has great memories of these Sunday visits where his family would drive up the mountain in the car together and then come back home.  Dad said they did this as long as he could remember from when he was a little boy until he went on his mission.  Dad and mom would take me and my sisters up to visit on Sundays after church when we were little too.

Dad told me a story about how he, his dad and his brother would go up to Paw Paw’s to plant potatoes in a big field every spring and then harvest them in the summer.  They would raise and harvest about a 100 bushel of potatoes and put them in a cellar and use them to eat all year.  They always had plenty of fresh potatoes to eat.  They also would go up and help Paw Paw cut and split wood that he would use in his wood stove to heat the house all winter.  Dad remembers a time after he was married and about 29 years old when he was helping Paw Paw split wood for the winter.  He was 85 years old then.  They worked from about 8:00 am to 4:00pm and Paw Paw worked right beside them the entire time.  He would ask dad and his brother Randy if they needed rest.  Dad said he was unbelievable and could basically still out work them at 85 years-old.  This is amazing because my dad and his brother were young and strong and are very hard workers.

Mawmaw Clark, Stories From My Dad

Emma Jane Clark lived to be about 91 years old.  She had a stroke when she was 35 years old that paralyzed the left side of her body.  She could not use her left arm and had to slide her left foot along with a brace on her leg as she walked.  She did not use a wheelchair until she was about 80 years old.  She was a hard worker that loved her family and did not know what the word quite meant. She was a great cook also that knew how to cook everything and spoil her children and grandchildren.  She loved to farm, can and preserve things.  She always kept the house nice and clean and loved to cook for her family.  Dad said that Maw Maw Clark loved it when they would come to visit on Sundays.  She always would have a meal cooked to serve a king.  She always would have potatoes, gravy and the best biscuits in the world.  She would have chicken and usually some other meat with cream corn, slaw, green beans, deviled eggs, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, applesauce and corn bread.  Then she would have some kind of homemade cake and a pie just out of the oven!  Then she would always insist that dad and Pa Pa Dan eat more because they looked like they had lost weight!  My dad was always a big boy and never looked like he had missed a meal.

Maw Maw loved to swap recipes and share cooking ideas.  Dad said that Maw Maw would always say she didn’t understand why he had to go so far off to school at BYU.  She worried and would write him letters.  She also worried when dad went on his mission to New Mexico.  Maw Maw & Paw Paw Clark were Southern Baptist and never joined the church.  They were good Christians that never missed a Sunday.  They raised PaPa Dan good and prepared him to join the church when he was 18 when he met my Nana. Maw Maw Clark was always proud of dad for serving a mission and dad believes that they will accept the gospel one day.

Mawmaw Dot, Stories From My Dad

Dorris Ann Bowman Winters was born in to the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints, and had a wonderful family. She married Don Winters and had six daughter, one son, about thirty grandchildren, and eighty great grandchildren that she was able to meet and love before she passed on. Maw Maw Dot was Dad’s favorite grandmother.  Probably because she lived with dad’s family when he was about eight years old and then again when he was a teenager. He had the opportunity to spend more time with her.  She was the best cook and always made the best food.  She knew how to spoil all her grandchildren and always make them feel special.  Dad has many special memories of her.  

He remembers how Maw Maw loved the holidays and especially Christmas.  She would always put her Christmas decorations up the 1^st of November and leave them up until January 2^nd! She decorated the inside and out of her house in grand fashion as she kept collecting more decorations over the years.  All the grandchildren loved Maw Maw’s Winter Wonderland! She said time went by so fast that she had to get them up so she could enjoy them before it was time to take them down. 

Dad remembers buying a box of chocolate covered cherries for Maw Maw when he was about 12-years-old and wrapping it up for her Christmas present.  She loved chocolate covered cherries at Christmas.  As years went by and Dad wanted to buy Maw Maw better gifts, he would always include a box of Chocolate Cherries for Christmas as a gift.  Maw Maw always said that was her favorite gift from Dad.  Maw Maw always knew how to make each grandchild feel special!

Dad would help Maw Maw with chores at her house when he was a teenager and in college when he came home in the summers.  He would help her mow her grass and always wash and wax her car.  When dad was in high school Maw maw would have him wash her car and give him money when she taught he was going out to do things on the weekend.  Dad would tell her that he did not want her to pay him that he liked helping her because he loved her.  Maw Maw Dot would say, “Now, I know you can use a little money and this isn’t much but you are going to take it because I said so! It is not near enough pay for the job that you do for me, but I want you to take it son because I love you!”  Dad always will cherish those times that he spent helping Maw Maw Dot with her chores!

Pawpaw Don, Stories From My Dad

My dad shared some stories and memories he had of his grandfather Brownlow Mcdonald (Don) Winters. Paw Paw Don lived in the mountains in a town called Asheville, NC which was about an hour and ½ away from where dad lived.  He moved down from the mountain to live in Connelly Springs where dad lived when he retired. That was when dad was about 17 years old. Dad and the family were excited when Paw Paw decided to move near them.  He was a painter and worked for a company where he would spray paint big machines and equipment.  He learned the trade of painting when he joined the Navy at the age of 17 years old.  He helped paint the USS Enterprise when he was in the Navy.

Pa Pa Don loved Nascar Racing before it was popular.  He was a big Chevrolet fan and always pulled for Cale Yarborough who drove a Chevrolet or Oldsmobile most of his career. My dad remembers how he would always go out to his car on Sunday afternoons and listen to the race on the car radio for hours.  Paw Paw had a neighbor / friend that he worked with for years and called “Stroop”.  Stroop was a big David Pearson fan and he and Don would always make friendly wagers/bets on the race for bragging rights.  Pearson drove a Ford and Stroop was a big Ford fan.  Don would always say he did not care if Yarborough did not win the race just as long as he finished ahead of Pearson!  Dad remembers listening to some races when he was eleven & twelve years old with Paw Paw Don on his car radio.  He loved it when Yarborough beat Pearson and he had bragging rights at work all week and would harass his friend Stroop!  When Yarborough lost to Pearson he was not very happy to say the least.

Paw Paw Don loved to hunt and fish and spend time outdoors with his grandchildren.  My dad cherishes memories when he took him deer & squirrel hunting on several occasions when he was a teenager with his cousins Mike & Tim Carpenter.  Mike was the oldest grandson and dad was the second oldest grandson.  Dad had lots of cousins on his mother’s side of the family.  They would go out in the woods early in the morning before dawn and take good turkey or bologna sandwiches to eat for lunch.   They would stay out in the woods all day and hunt.  Dad said that they did not shoot too many deer or squirrels, but they sure enjoyed the time out in nature with Paw Paw.  He always had good stories to tell and good advice to share.

Dad most cherished the summer days that he would go out fishing on the lake with Paw Paw Don.  He would usually take dad fishing out on Lake Hickory at a cabin with a dock.  The man that owned the cabin was named Sam Herman and he was a friend of the family and member of the church.  They would always refer to this fishing place as Sam’s Cabin.  Paw Paw would take dad with his cousins and sometimes with Dad’s younger brother and sister to Sam’s Cabin to fish. This was their favorite place to fish.  Sometimes Dad and Paw Paw would go alone and dad really liked that.  Dad was always a good fisher!  Unlike hunting, they would always seem to be successful fishers and catch many fish that they would clean and cook for dinner.  They would put extra fish in the freezer and save for later. 

Dad remembered a time when Paw Paw took him (12-years-old) and his sister Tammy (7) and brother Randy (6) fishing one summer day on the lake at Sam’s Cabin.  Paw Paw took out two ten foot ropes and tied one around the waist and through the belt loops of Tammy and Randy’s pants and tied the other end around a tree so they could get near the edge of the water but not fall in. Dad was a proven fisher and good swimmer so Paw Paw didn’t worry about him falling in the water.  They all caught lots of fish that day!  Dad’s sister Tammy still remembers that fishing trip to this day and says how embarrassed she was to be tied to a tree like Randy.  She would talk about it many times to Paw paw as she grew older and how it embarrassed her.  Paw Paw would say, “Sis, it is better to be embarrassed than 10 foot under the water with a chance of not coming back up! It worked out just fine and you will understand better someday when you have children of your own.”  Tammy ended up having 4-boys and 1-girl and she did understand as she used the same kind of techniques Paw Paw used on her with her young sons when she took them fishing!

Stories From My Mom

My parents and grandparents were always insistent that we get an education and graduate from college.  They made HUGE sacrifices to make sure we had the things that me, my brother, and my sisters needed to finish our schooling.  They supported everything we did in the church and were very proud of us.  They would come to all of our piano recitals, dance recitals, ball games and anything else we were involved in.  Family, church, school, and hard work were the most important things to them.  I clearly remember each of them teaching and demonstrating these principles to all of us.  They were also very charitable.  They would give all they had to help someone in need. 

I hope you girls know that church, family, school, hard work, and charity are very important to me.  I have tried to live this way and I hope I have shown you girls this by example.  You are far better than me at each of these things.  I know you will teach your children to value these things also.

Love Always,

Mom

Grandmother Jackson, Stories From My Mom

Grandmother was a very hard worker.  She loved to work in the kitchen.  She was an excellent cook.  One of my favorite things that she would make was a pineapple cake.  She taught me how to make the “7 minute icing” and the pineapple syrup that went on top.  We always had that cake at special events when I was growing up. 

She was also an excellent seamstress.  She made the most beautiful quilts that we all still enjoy today.  She made them out of old dresses of ours.  She made us each a baby quilt, a quilt when we were about 14 and another when we were married.  These quilts took her about a year to make.  She did them all by hand.

Grandmother never got a driver’s license.  She never drove a car.  She was always so calm and I used to tell her it was because she never had to drive and deal with traffic.

She was very practical and felt that you should “make do” with what you had.  I remember when I was planning my wedding, there was a lady who wanted to charge over $100 to make me a vale.  Grandmother, who hardly ever spoke above a whisper, laughed out loud.  I remember we were all shocked.

Grandmother never joined the church in this life.  Grand daddy had died pretty early in life and I think that was part of the reason.  She came to church every Sunday and everyone in the ward loved her and called her Grandmother.  She lived with us from the time I was about 12.  She lived to be 96.  When she died, we all went to do her sealing to Grand daddy.  It was a rushed day and there was some confusion about the paperwork in the temple.  It seemed a little chaotic especially for the temple and I remember asking the sealer to please stop for a minute so I could tell them something about Grandmother.  I said “Grandmother never rushed in her life.  I don’t think she would like this sealing to be rushed.”  Then I told them about how she loved to quilt and how she loved her family more than anything in the world.  I really felt like Grandmother was there and everything seemed to settle down.  I think she would have liked that.

Grandaddy Jackson, Stories From My Mom

Jesse Tildon Jackson was born in 1905 to Fonnie and Grace Jackson. There were four children in the family, Mary, Jesse, Inez, and Bertie.  He married Mildred Addie Guthrie. I don’t remember much about him because he died when I was 5.  He had pancreatic cancer.  I remember he was very quiet and calm.  He was not a tall man and he was very thin.  He smoked a pipe on occasion.  He used to work a crane and he served in the marines in 1926.  He did his basic training at Paris Island SC.  I remember him being very kind and taking time to talk with me when we would go to visit him in Tennessee where he and Grandmother lived until he died.

Jesse's parents, Fonnie and Grace Jackson

Jesse in about 1925

Bertie, Mildred, Jesse, and Grace Jackson

Cheryl, a friend, and Jesse Tildon fishing at Conway's Lake in SC

Jesse and Mildred

Add caption

Jesse's mother Grace

Jesse (Left) at the Paris Island, SC Marine Base

Jesse (Left) at the Paris Island, SC Marine base

Jesse (Center)

Mildred and Jesse

Grandmother Emery, Stories From My Mom

Lee Emery lived most of her life in larger cities.  I knew even at a young age that we knew each other in Heaven before we came to Earth.  As I grow older, I realize how much we are alike.  Grandmother was raised by her Grandmother, Susanna.  Her biological father left before Grandmother was born and never married her mother.  I’m not sure where Grandmother’s mother was when she was growing up.  She never talked about it.  Grandmother’s grandmother used to make sauerkraut and sell it.  I remember her telling me that.  She loved her grandmother and she was good to her.  Eventually, Grandmother’s mother came back and she married a man who owned a butcher shop.  Grandmother lived with them from this point on and helped in the butcher shop.  She had a ½ brother named Joe who was very eccentric.  He never married.  He was a wonderful artist, loved photography, and kept his motorcycle in his kitchen.

Uncle Joe

Grandmother had many jobs in life, most of them in retail or restaurants.  She and Grand daddy owed a supper club in which she cooked and he played piano in a band.  They ran a bed a breakfast also.  This was the time that a Yankee came to stay and asked her to cook him “1 grit”.  She used to laugh a lot about that.

Jesse and Mildred Jackson, Cheryl Jackson Emery and Eddy Emery,
and Alma Louise and Edward Emery

She was a cook at a fish house one time and made really good catfish stew.  She could cook anything really well.  The only thing she made that I didn’t like was oyster dressing.  That is just because I don’t like oysters.  Everyone else really liked it. (I loved this dressing!!)

I remember spending the night with them when I was little at their lake house.  She had a special room fixed just for me and my sister, Mary.  She would make the BEST breakfast, more than you could ever eat.  Her grits were always perfect!  She would always pour the biggest glass of milk and you couldn’t get up from the table until it was all finished.

I remember when I was really little, she would take me to the grocery store.  I was little enough to ride in the front of the buggy.  She would talk to me like we were best friends.  She would always buy me animal crackers in the little boxes that look like a circus railroad car.  I still like those today J

Her last job was working at a small department store in Lexington, SC called “Sessions”.  She worked in the little girls department.  I used to love going in there after school or on Saturday to see her.  She always looked so pretty.  She always wore panty hose and high heels.  Sometimes I would just come in to say “Hi” other times we would go to lunch.  She always talked to me like we were best friends.

Grandmother joined the church shortly after her and Grand daddy were married, but he didn’t let her go very often.  They were very supportive of our membership in the church, but they didn’t go.  When the Columbia Temple was build she said, “I want to go to that temple.”  Grand daddy would not let her go.  She always paid tithing with her money and said one day she would go.  When Grand daddy died she was about 83.  She started making plans to go to the temple.  She attended the classes and got her temple recommend.  We all went with her to be sealed in the Columbia Temple.  I remember her saying, “I told you I was going to go in this temple.”  I remember sitting in the Celestial room with her and all of us were sitting on the floor at her knee.  She said, “ Now I don’t have to hunt for my grandchildren in Heaven”

I used to take her to get her hair fixed every Thursday at 10:00 when I lived in SC.  Katie was a baby and that was part of our weekly routine.  Then we would go out to lunch and the grocery store.  I loved doing that for her.

I remember one time long after she had died that I was driving on the interstate on a very rainy day.  I had a very strong impression about Grandmother and was remembering some of the times we spent together.  Just at that time, a car hydroplaned and spun off the road hitting a tree.  I truly believe Grandmother was near watching over me and kept me safe.

She had the best smile and the best laugh and I miss her every day.

Grandaddy Emery, Stories From My Mom

Edward Robert Emery and Alma Louise Lee Emery

Edward Robert Emery lived a very hard life and grew up in the depression.  He never knew his father and his mother was an alcoholic.  He had 3 sisters (Ruth, Mae, and Grace) and a brother (Charles).

His house had 2 sides, one side the rented out and the other they lived in.  The children were left to fend for themselves most of the time.  His grandmother stayed with them some and would help.  He said that he would fight on the street corner as a little boy when he was about 10.  If he won the fight, he would get a quarter.  He also said he would steal tomatoes from off of the missionaries back porch to eat.  The missionaries taught him the gospel and he was baptized when he was 10.  He never went to church again.  He made Grandmother get baptized after they got married and they never went to church.  When my dad was 8 he made him get baptized and they never went to church.  After my mom and dad were married, the missionaries knocked on the door one day when my dad was at work.  My mom told dad about it and was so excited to join the church.  He said “we are already members”.  My mom was baptized the next week and we always went to church. 

Jesse and Mildred Jackson, Cheryl and Eddy Emery, Alma Louise and Edward Emery

Agnes Evelyn Joyner Emery (Edwards Mother)

I remember Grand daddy being very generous and kind when I was little.  He smoked and worked construction with my dad at a nuclear power plant when I was in high school.  As I got older, he became very difficult to be around.  He was very grouchy and did not use kind words to anyone.  He was actually arrested one time for disorderly conduct when he was about 70 and had to serve community service by playing the organ at the retirement home.  He could play VERY well even though he never had a lesson.  He could play anything by ear.  When he played he seemed happier.

He was always supportive of everything we did in church, but he never went.  He bought us a piano so we could take lessons and he would come over and play sometimes on Sundays.

Grandmother Jackson

Addie Mildred Guthrie Jackson was born to William Rufus Guthrie and Mary Ann Walker in Paris, Henry County, Tennessee on April 29, 1905. She was their fifth child. Here sister Era May born in 1897 only lived a year. Then Dollie Lee, Harlie Walker, Annie Edrel, Mildred Addie, William Clarence, James Ripley and John Dorris were born into this good Christian Family.

Back: Dollie, Fred, Annie, Mary Ann, Mildred, William Rufus, Pa Jackson

Front: Christine(Dollie's Daughter), Harley, James (Jimmy), Clarence, James Harold (Fred & Annie's Son), Lowell (Dollie's Son), Dorris

Rufus Guthrie

Grandmother Jackson always shared stories of her childhood to her children and grandchildren and later even her great grandchildren. These stories became a beautiful part of everyone of those children's lives and they continue to be shared today.

Mildred and her two sisters were especially close their entire lives, but as all children they played pranks on each other. Mildred would say how she loved her older sisters and always wanted to be with them. One day, Dollie and Annie were tired of her tagging along so they dared her to climb up a big tree in their yard. Mildred took their dare and managed to climb quite high in the tree; the only problem was that she needed to get down. Dollie and Annie laughed and danced around the tree assuring her that she could get down if she tried hard enough and they ran off to play on their own. Mildred said she sat up in that tree quite a while before anyone missed her and came to help her down.

Her brothers were hard workers and they loved to play all kinds of sports. Jimmy loved baseball and was very good. One day Mildred was helping in the kitchen when Jimmy came in and starting picking at her and teasing her. She said she took it for a minute or so, then she began to chase him around the table and she threw a wooden rolling pin at him hitting him on the elbow of his pitching arm! He always said she ruined his chanced to play pro ball! Jimmy raised his family in Humbolt, near Paris ans was a very successful businessman. He always looked after his sisters. My grandmother, Cheryl, had fond memories of spending summers with her Uncle Jimmy and his big family. As she saw the love they had for each other she decided that she too wanted a large family of her own one day. While Jimmy never played pro ball he encouraged his children  in sports and he himself was a champion checker player. He even played checkers on the Today show once. All of his nieces and nephews loved to play against him even though he would wipe them out in no time and laugh and laugh at their desire to beat them.

The brothers often found themselves in trouble of some sort and Mildred loved to tell their stories. Living on a farm meant that they all had chores. Jimmy had to chop wood one afternoon and while chopping Clarence approached him and started taunting him as he worked. Jimmy said "I bet you won't put your foot on this chopping block and let me chop it!" and Clarence took the dare and said "Oh yes I will!" The brothers were nose to nose! Well Clarence DID put his foot up on the block and Jimmy DID chop his toe! They were both surprised by what happened and how quickly it had taken place and Jimmy went running for his mom. Their mother took control right away. There were no hospitals or doctors close by to run to, so most sicknesses or accidents were handled right there in the home. After Clarence was feeling some better, their mom asked what on earth they had been thinking! Clarence said, "Well gee! I didn't think he would actually chop my toe!" and Jimmy said "I didn't think he would be dumb enough to leave his foot on the chopping block!" They both learned a life lesson with that little experiment.

Some years later Clarence was out hunting when he climbed over a fence and his gun went off hitting him, he never fully recovered from this. But even with that he was a wonderful father to his sons. He had a little grill in Paris and worked long hours to support his family. He was able to send all three of his sons to college. Clarence was the first of his siblings to pass. He was always proud of his family and respected by all who knew him. My Nana talked of how she always loved going to see her Uncle Clarence at the grill. She said he made the very best hamburgers, and when she got to enjoy one along with an RC Cola it was quite the treat!

Mildred loved to talk about their buggy trips. When she grew up and had a family of her own and they were loading into the car she would often mention how when she was little they would all load up into the buggy and how it seemed near impossible to get all of the children in at one time. And just as soon as they did her daddy would inevitably say, "Just a minute, I just have to grab a drink of water before we leave!"

As I said they lived on a farm and were all hard workers, but Saturdays were special and often meant a trip into town. They would leave early in the morning as it was a long walk. Then one day their daddy managed to buy a car! One Saturday, much to their surprise, he told Dorris and Jimmy they could take the car into town! Of course the boys were excited and off they went. After a long and wonderful day in town, they began their long WALK home. Yes, they forgot the car! Until they reached home and and their daddy asked quite alarmed "Where on earth in the car?!". They had to walk all the way back to town and retrieve the car. That turned out to be the easy part as they were teased all week by the entire family!

You might be wondering about Dorris' name, it is actually John Dorris, and although most people called him John, to his family he was always Dorris. Once when he was a teen, he wrote a note signed it and dropped it in a stream near his house. A year or so later he became sick and had to go to the hospital. In the small town of Paris everything made the newspaper, so there was an article about Dorris Guthrie being admitted to the hospital. While in the hospital he had an unexpected visitor. A young man from a town a few miles down the road came to visit Dorris, explaining that he had found the note in the bottle and had come thinking he would see a pretty young lady named Dorris in the hospital!

Mildred married Jesse Tildon Jackson on April 7th 1931. He Served in the Marines and was stationed in Paris Island, South Carolina. They had three children, Perry, Julia Cheryl, and Nyle. Their son Perry passed away as an infant. The family had many fun memories growing up and loved spending time with each other and visiting their family back in Paris.

Mildred and Jesse Tildon

Julia Cheryl Jackson 

Nyle Jackson

Julia Cheryl and Nyle

Julia Cheryl

My Nana spent so many summers with her Aunt Annie as she was growing up. She always loved her visits there. Her and Aunt Annie's sons would go to vacation bible school together, catch lightening bugs on Sunday nights after church, climb trees, and probably drive her Aunt crazy. Nana said what she remembered about Uncle Fred, Aunt Annie's husband, was that he drove a big road scraper. With so many dirt roads this was a much appreciated service. She was really little but she remembered very well the day he sat her on his lap and took her for a ride on that big tractor. She remembered thinking that he must have been very important to have such a wonderful job. She remembered his passing as well. At that time, it was common to have the viewing in the home and she remembers vividly that time. Her Aunt Annie was young even though she didn't realize it at the time. She had never learned to drive, so her son taught her. She never drove very much except for to church on Sundays and to the little store in town but she drove! One day my Nana was riding with Annie and her sons and one of her sons said "Mom you are going to get a ticket!" Annie replied "Why? I'm not speeding am I?" and her son said "No, but you are going to get a ticket for going too slow!".

My Nana loved spending those summers with Aunt Annie, Aunt Dollie, Uncle Clarence, and Uncle Jimmy and his family. She liked to visit some with her Granny and Great Aunt Bertie too. Granny was such a good cook and Aunt Bertie was so much fun! Her caramel popcorn was delicious! She thought nothing of cooking up sweet treats late at night, she was wonderful!

Mary Ann Walker (Granny)

Young Betty and Jimmy

When Mildred's Husband Jesse Tildon Jackson retired, they both moved back to Paris and had their little trailer park on Aunt Annie's Farm. They all enjoyed each other and got along so well! My Nana would take her family to visit them for several weeks during the summer. 

Even after Jesse passed, Mildred continued to live in Paris near Annie and Dollie. Jimmy would check in on them regularly and Dorris would stop by when he could. Mildred and Annie worked at the little Sally Lane candy store close to the farm where her great grandchildren (my mother and her siblings) loved to visit her and watch them make candy. They also felt it their duty to try out all of the samples!

After Annie passed Mildred went to liver with her daughter Julia Cheryl, my Nana, in South Carolina. She was always so sweet and easy to live with. She and my Nana's husband Eddy never had a cross word.

Jesse Tildon, Mildred Annie, Julia Cheryl, Eddy Emery, Alma Louise, Edward Emery

Mildred loved her grandchildren and great grandchildren. For a time they all lived on the same street in South Carolina and she absolutely loved this. I was very little when we lived near her, so I don't remember much about it. But my older sister and mom always talk about how much she loved us and would do anything with or for us. Grandmother Jackson was agreeable to anything the kids wanted to do, whether it was play school, or hair dresser, or even Disney World. One day my Papa Eddie walked into the house and heard a bell ringing and thought something must be wrong. He went back to check and there sat Grandmother in Mickey Mouse ears ringing a bell for my cousins Jillian and Andrew to come find her. Eddie laughed and said Grandmother they aren't here. They had gone home leaving her in her Mickey Mouse ears. It did embarrass Grandmother a little, but it was so sweet!

My Nana worked at Lexington High with the special needs students, and she asked Grandmother if she would like to do some volunteer work with these students. She was so excited to help. She went two days a week for a year or so and then went one day a week for the last few years she was able to help. She loved the students and they loved her. The school gave her a plaque recognizing her as volunteer of the year. She loved this and always kept it proudly displayed on her bedroom wall.

Grandmother attended The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints with my Nana every Sunday for the twenty years that she lived with them. Everyone loved her and called her Grandmother and she loved all of the member.s She really loved Relief Society and always enjoyed participating in any extra events that they offered. She learned many hymns and would sing them often. She never joined the church but after she passed my Nana did the Temple work for her and her husband. Her and her family had such deep love for each other. I know they are together with their sweet families waiting on us to join them one day. My Nana is sure that she is still singing You Are My Sunshine to everyone in heaven. This was her and my Nana's favorite song. I love my Grandmother and Grandaddy Jackson so much, and I cannot wait to see them again one day.

Harley, Dollie, Annie, Mildred, Jimmy, Dorris, Clarence (Insert, He had already passed when the picture was taken)