Big Mama and Daddy Man: Treasured Memories

By Thelma King (Tulli) Taylor

Prayer of Faith

"A great mixture of stories that remind you of the flavor of life, that will season your soul as experienced through a precious friend and faithful saint. This collection is so heart-warming. I laughed. I cried. I was swept up in the stories and was taken to another place and time." -Executive Pastor Eric

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Sep 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685566241

Thelma King (Tulli) Taylor

Thelma King (Tulli) Taylor details accounts of growing up in a loving environment with a youthful, positive tone in the book that says it all. She hopes to honor Big Mama and Daddy Man and show her great respect and love for her family.

Book preview

Dedication

In memory of Thelma (Big Mama) and

Griffin (Daddy Man) Wells.

The last words Big Mama spoke to me were, I have worked hard all my life, and I regret having nothing of value to leave my children. She never realized that she left a great spiritual legacy, and the biggest was the gift of love.

Table of

Contents

Dedication 3

Foreword 7

The Rocking Chair 9

Old Birdie 13

Aunt Alice’s House 17

Cornmeal Mush 21

E. E. Hatchett School’sCafeteria Etiquette 25

Sunday School Card Collection 29

Old Blue 33

God’s Poor Little Rich Girl 37

The Reunion 41

Going Home 49

Foreword

Thelma Jean Mullins-Wells (Big Mama) was born on September 28, 1909. Her father, Waymond Mullins, died that same year she was born. Big Mama’s mother, Tennie, was stricken with polio and, unable to nurture nor tend to her properly, entrusted her care to her fraternal grandfather, Gilbert Mullens. Gilbert and little Thelma, only nine months old, moved from her birthplace of Mt. Eden, Texas, to his hometown of Wielder, Texas. Even though times were hard and work scarce, when he did work, it was from sunup to sundown, and transportation back then was a horse and buggy. It would be twelve years before Big Mama would ever see her mother again. She said she would never forget their first visit and how they looked alike; she noticed that she walked with a limp. She would fantasize about when she would reunite with her mother one day for good. Thelma’s mother’s visit was brief, and she told her that she was going to Waco, Texas, to look for work and would try and send for her when she was settled. Well, that never happened, and so Thelma would continue to experience life with her grandfather and soon would be a woman with her own children to raise.

One lunch period inside E. E. Hatchett School, Big Mama decided to tell Mr. Hatchet her story; he, too, was born in that area of Gonzales County. Mr. Hatchett listened intensely to her story of being separated from her mother for thirty-eight years. She described her mother’s appearance and pointed out that she had polio and walked with a limp. Mr. Hatchett remembered a classmate named Beatrice whose mother fit those descriptions. He said he believed this is the same family that comes from Oklahoma City to Gonzales, Texas, every 19th