In the Shadow of Barrett's Mountain: A Memoir

By Cathy Hickerson

If ever there were two little girls reared as differently as night is from day, whose early lives were shaped and influenced by polar-opposite ideologies and mindsets, it was me and my mother.

 

Born into the Baby Boomer Generation, life for me in the shadow of Barrett's Mountain, although filled with its share of ups and downs, moments of conflict and unthoughtful behavior and words, was as near to idyllic as one can get without crossing over into the realm of fiction.

 

With deep roots planted firmly in a loving, nurturing, stable environment, my homelife was characterized by parents who, although imperfect and made mistakes, had developed an unbreakable bond with each other wrapped tightly around the biblical principles of fidelity, a deep, abiding love for each other and for their children, and dependence upon and fierce faith in God. Their lives were centered around the little Baptist church we faithfully attended and the well-being of their children and their extended family.

 

The pages of my mother's childhood were colored in stark contrast to mine. The firstborn child of a just-turned sixteen-year-old mother, my mother's young parents created an unstable, unhappy, and dysfunctional home. Divorce ensued after the birth of their second child who was born three years after mama.

 

A second marriage was entered into by my grandmother shortly thereafter to a man who drank alcohol excessively. My mother and her younger brother became witness to the physical and verbal abuse of their mother by their alcoholic stepfather. After one year of marriage, my grandmother divorced for the second time, and at age twenty-six, entered her third marriage with yet another man who abused alcohol.

 

While her mother and stepfather worked nights in a cotton mill, mama, who was still a child herself, was given the responsibility of caring for her five younger siblings. With all that she had experienced and witnessed during her short life, along with having been given the huge responsibility of being second mother to her younger sister and four younger brothers, an ill-fated life was in the making for my mother.

 

Her upbringing provided no spiritual moorings. No biblical principles were instilled into her. The destructive cycle that had been set in motion during her childhood and on into her teenage years could have easily been repeated by her in her adult years. The statistics proved it. How easy it would have been for her to have patterned her life after those in authority over her. The mold had been set. The tragic scenes had been played out and were etched into the heart and soul of an innocent, little raven-haired girl who could do nothing about her situation but stand back and observe, the tape recorder in her mind set to 'play' all the while. The odds were not in her favor. Not in the least.

 

But God…

 

Although she nor the man she would marry knew Him not, the most-high God had a beautiful plan for their lives. With grace and mercy, He miraculously and lovingly intervened and "gave unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified." (Isaiah 61:3)

 

In the Shadow of Barrett's Mountain. Depicting the first eighteen years of my life, giving praise to the God and Savior of my mother and daddy, Who, through His grace and mercy, became my God and Savior.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cathy Hickerson
• Release date: Jan 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9781736226940

Cathy Hickerson

Born in Hickory, NC, I am blessed and proud to continue to call NC home. I hold a BS degree in Education and a MA in Higher Education. Having taught in both public and private schools, I retired as an instructor with the NC community college system in 2015. My husband, Lynn, and I have three children and six grandchildren. Being a longtime beach lover, I enjoy walking along and relaxing beside a sandy shore. The ebb and flow of waves toppling and crashing onto the seashell-strewn shore, leaving a trail of suds on the sand as the salty, greenish-colored water recedes, has a calming, almost tranquilizing effect on me. My ability to sit on a beach for hours gazing out upon the vast expanse of water, somewhat hypnotized by its sights, sounds, and smells, has never waned. Not in the least. The mountains are just as delightful to me as the ocean. Hiking along wooded trails listening to the enchanting sounds of the forest takes me back to the days of my childhood when I roamed through the woods behind my mama’s dream house, enthralled by the wonders and beauty of God’s glorious creation. My family and I still hike wooded trails as often as we can. We have enjoyed some of our most special times together as we walked along leaf-strewn paths, sharing thoughts and truths about life, love, and lessons learned. My Passions: God, Family, Playing Piano, Reading, Writing, the Great Outdoors

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In the Shadow of Barrett’s Mountain

A Memoir

Chapter 1

Humble Beginnings

MY PARENTS WERE BORN in what is often referred to as the Silent Generation—those born between the years 1925 and 1945. Sandwiched between the Greatest Generation and the Baby Boomers, children in the Silent Generation grew up in conditions complicated by WWII and an economic downturn from the Great Depression Era. Often referred to as traditionalists, this generation is considered the wealthiest generation due, in part, to the fact that they viewed work as a privilege and not something to be avoided, refused, or taken lightly. It became necessary for a large majority of those who were underage during this time period to financially assist their families with the basics of food, clothing, and shelter. Many were reared during the height of the Depression, and preservation had been ingrained and drilled into them by their parents and grandparents to the degree that they tended to be savers instead of spendthrifts, frugal as opposed to freehanded. They believed in earning one’s own way, taking work that was available whether it appealed to them or not. It was generally understood that children growing up during this time period were to be seen and not heard—thus the name Silent Generation.

RAYMOND AND ESTHER Triplett Crouch were parents to four small children when their fifth child, Kenny Ray, was born in Caldwell County, North Carolina, near the end of the Great Depression. With an uncanny feeling that she would not survive the birth of her fifth child, Esther had prearranged for her yet unborn baby to be taken and reared by her older sister, Maggie Triplett Gentle, should her worst fears be realized. Raymond had agreed to the arrangement.

Much to everyone’s shock and bewilderment, twenty-three-year-old Esther Crouch died May 8, 1935, twelve days after giving birth to Kenny Ray—my daddy. Along with her twenty-eight-year-old husband and newborn son, the young mother left behind fifteen-month-old Mildred, three-year-old Lester, five-year-old Joyce, and six-year-old Edith.

Although Esther had named her youngest child Kenny Ray at his birth, Maggie and her husband, Frank, nicknamed him ‘Bucky’ when he was only a few weeks old. They also gave him the surname ‘Gentle,’ but no formal adoption was ever pursued by them. For sixteen years, daddy was known as Bucky Gentle, at which time his nickname was shortened to ‘Buck.’

While growing up, daddy had been made aware of the fact that he had been born to Esther and Raymond Crouch and, on occasion, had been taken by Maggie and Frank to visit his biological father.

Maggie and Frank already had two sons of their own when they took daddy into their home after Esther’s death. Their oldest son was eight years older than daddy, their youngest, six years older. Grandpa and Grandma Gentle were living in Caldwell County when daddy was born. They later moved with their three sons to Wilkes County, North Carolina and lived there until daddy was twelve or thirteen years old. The family then moved to Alexander County where grandma and grandpa obtained employment in a cotton mill located in the Liledoun Baptist Church area. The mill’s owner had built small, white houses for the employees, and my grandparents moved into one of these homes which allowed for a shorter commute to the mill. A year or so later, grandpa bought a small farm off what is now known as Teague Town Road.

As is common with most teenage boys, daddy was a restless young lad. The move to Alexander County had been difficult for him. Having no say in the matter and being forced to leave friends, familiar surroundings, and his maternal grandmother, Clarice Elmina Pipes Triplett, a woman to whom he was very close, daddy became more and more discontent as he grew older. My grandmother once told me that after they moved from Wilkes County, daddy was never the same. He became withdrawn. Arguments between him and my grandfather grew more and more frequent and heated, often ending with daddy leaving home for a day or two before returning. Perhaps the changes in him were just part and parcel of the rebellion many teens exhibit during those turbulent and confusing years for both parent and teen. Who is to say his behavior and attitude would have been any different had he been allowed to live with his maternal grandmother when the family moved? It was a decision with which my grandmother grappled for a long time—the decision to not allow daddy to remain in Wilkes County with his Grandma Triplett.

As a teenager, daddy detested school and was quite often a no show. At age sixteen, he dropped out of school, and for a short time, worked at various odd jobs in and around Alexander County. Unable to find his niche in Alexander County and at the invitation of a close childhood friend named Dale, daddy moved to Charlotte where he and Dale accepted work as brick masons with an independent contractor. Starting pay was seventy-five cents per hour, and a forty-hour workweek meant a gross pay of thirty dollars per week. It was more money than he had been able to earn with any of his odd jobs and enough to provide for his needs as well as some of his wants. He was excited to learn a new skill, motivated by the fact that he did not want to have to return to living with his parents. He loved them, and he knew they loved him. But to not succeed in providing for himself and living on his own would mean he was unable to survive without their financial assistance. At least it would be perceived by him that way, and perception is reality, even if it is obscured by one’s own thinking.

Daddy had never worked in construction before, but it was a job that seemed to fit well with his overwhelming desire and need to work mainly outside. He once said he would rather dig ditches in the rain, sleet, or snow for the rest of his life than to be cooped up inside a building eight or ten hours a day. Being a quick study, it wasn’t long before daddy had learned the trade well.

He gave serious thought to settling down in the Charlotte area and honing his skills in the construction business. Daddy had an independent spirit and dreamed of one day owning his own company. He knew he did not want to be an employee for the rest of his life. Work was plentiful in the area, and from what he was hearing on the job, expansion of the Queen City was expected. There was little doubt in his mind that he would always have a job in construction if he were to remain in Charlotte, regardless of whether he was an employee or an employer.

As Providence would have it, nineteen-year-old Kenny Ray would not remain permanently in Charlotte. A dark-haired young lady from the small, rural community of Dudley Shoals, North Carolina, would soon enter the picture. His life would be forever changed by that encounter.

MY MATERNAL GREAT-GRANDMOTHER, Nora Helen Fisher, was born on June 2, 1892, in Caldwell County, North Carolina. Her parents were William Fisher and Barbara Overcash Fisher. Nora had one sister, Lindsey Fisher, and one brother, Murray Fisher.

Born on August 3, 1890, Todd Lloyd White married Nora Fisher on June 14, 1911. From May 1912 to April 1924, three children were born to the couple: Boyd Rudolphis, Annie Elizabeth, and Verna Lois—my maternal grandmother. A farmer by trade, Todd Lloyd White died on November 9, 1926, at the young age of thirty-six, leaving Nora to rear their three children ages fourteen, eight, and two.

On February 26, 1928, Nora married her second husband, James (Jim) Avory Keller, who was born on April 16, 1900. From December 1928 to June 1933, three children were born into their home: Catherine, Leonard, and Harvey.

Sixteen-year-old Verna Lois Bumgarner and twenty-year-old Lonnie Eugene Bumgarner became first-time parents to a baby girl whom they named Betty Jean. Verna Lois, who had just celebrated her sixteenth birthday exactly seven days earlier, gave birth to her firstborn in her mother’s house. Two years and eight months later, Verna gave birth to the couple’s second child, a son, who was also born in Nora’s house.

Verna and Lonnie divorced after the birth of their second child, leaving the young mother destitute and with no choice but to move in with Nora