Dear Alison, the Road Long Traveled
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About this ebook
After listening to me tell of the events of my life, my granddaughter, Alison, would say, Grandma, please write these things down so I wont lose them. At the age of ninety, I started writing the events of my journey down the road long traveled.
Alison and I invite you to travel with us through laughter, tears, hardships, the Great Depression, World War II, love and romance, and sickness and sorrow, to doors that closed, through doors that opened with faith, and much happiness along the way.
Pansy Ferrell Latta Dodson
Pansy was born in Durham, North Carolina, the middle of five children to Lelia and John Green Ferrell. She attended school and graduated from Durham High with the Class of 1941. She was an active Presbyterian all of her life. She worked with youth for fifty years at two different churches. At the age of ninety, she published Blessings and Hugs from the Sisters. She worked in industry for thirty-eight years. She loves gardening, nature and reading. Now at the age of ninety-one, she is writing down her memories for her granddaughter, Alison Slocum. She presently lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She can be reached at: gmapfd@bellsouth.net or www.pansydodson.com.
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Dear Alison, the Road Long Traveled - Pansy Ferrell Latta Dodson
Copyright © 2014 Pansy Ferrell Latta Dodson.
Author Credits: Author of Blessings and Hugs from the Sisters
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
ISBN: 978-1-4908-2364-5 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4908-2366-9 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-4908-2365-2 (e)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014901164
WestBow Press rev. date: 1/31/2014
Contents
My First Funeral
A Tribute to Lizza
Mother’s Advice
002_a_cairoe.jpgThe Slocums celebrate Christmas
This book is dedicated to Alison and her family. To Alison for giving me the reason for writing it and to Myrtle Frances, my daughter; her husband, Ken; and my grandchildren, Dan, Chris, and Alison. Each of them has brought purpose, love, and joy into my life as I have traveled this long road.
Special thanks and love!
A special thanks to my two sisters, who got me started and have traveled with me on this adventure. Violet died September 5, 2012. Madeline is still by my side, supporting and encouraging me.
25100.pngDear Alison,
You have always enjoyed hearing about the events in my life. So many times you have said, Grandma, please write these things down so they will not be lost.
Well, Alison, I have decided now, at the age of ninety, to start writing for you. I am thankful that so far my memory still seems to be intact.
In my first memory, I was about two and a half, and my grandfather was holding me. My father and mother both worked at the Golden Belt textile mill in Durham, North Carolina. My sister, older brother, and I stayed with my grandparents while our parents worked. Before I was three, my grandfather died of blood poisoning. He scratched his ankle on a crochet needle belonging to my grandmother, it got infected, and he died. I also had an uncle who died from smallpox. You do not hear about smallpox now.
There were two babies born after me, and both died very soon after birth. Seven years after me, Madeline was born. Since she was younger, she and I did not have much in common while we were growing up. Violet was a little more than two years older than me. Mother had five children who lived, and I was the middle one. The oldest was the only boy. The youngest child, Frances, was born thirteen years after me. Mother started to name the girls after flowers—the first Violet, the second Pansy, and the third Rose. Rose died as an infant, so she stopped naming us after flowers.
I remember going to Fuller Memorial Presbyterian Church with my mother. We sat in a small side pew. I laid my head in her lap, and my feet almost reached the end of the pew. I nursed milk from a round baby bottle with a large nipple on it. Most children nursed from the bottle until they were three or four years of age. There was no commercial baby food in 1922. I wonder what the mothers used for diapers in those days. A lot of clothes were made from feed sacks. These sacks came in colors and prints. They were sewn into teddies, slips, aprons, bloomers, and dresses. Feed for hogs, cows, and horses came in the bags. I think some of these bags could have been used for diapers.
I remember that at the age of five, I was in the nursery at church. Ms. Clara O’Neal was my teacher. In the spring, she gave each child a flower plant in a clay pot. She always gave me a pansy because my name was Pansy. I was a very active child. Now I would be termed hyperactive, but