"Hazel, an Unquenchable Spirit"

By Mack Pitts

“Hazel, An Unquenchable Spirit” began as a writing assignment with the intent of telling his personal story. But, as Mack Pitts delved into the project, it soon evolved into the story of his remarkable mother, who overcame many mountains and obstacles throughout her life to fulfill her dreams for her only adopted son.

This is Mack’s third book. Writing was also a dream for him. The responsibilities of life and family necessitated his working multiple jobs which put his writing on the back burners until he retired from the Postal Service where he was a carrier for 30 years.

After retirement from Civil Service he also delved into a second career as a Massage Therapist. He is employed at a prestigious spa and fitness center in Dallas.

It was a great joy for Mack to tells his mom’s story and share her struggles in hope of encouraging others along their path in life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
• Release date: Sep 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9781489742117

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"HAZEL, AN

UNQUENCHABLE

SPIRIT"

MACK PITTS

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Copyright © 2020 Mack Pitts.

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 author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

LifeRich Publishing is a registered trademark of The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc.

LifeRich Publishing

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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.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright

© 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress.

All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

ISBN: 978-1-4897-4210-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-4209-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-4211-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022910073

LifeRich Publishing rev. date:  06/28/2022

CONTENTS

Prologue

Reflections

Threads

Run, Baby Run!

Dancing With Music

Wait a Minute Mr. Postman

Secret Demons

My Baby

Bon Appétit

The Projects

We Have a House!

Animals, Animals, Animals

Crutches and Chairs

Roots

Keep it Flowing

Red Clay

Ring the Bells

School Days

Skeletons

Epilogue

Summation

PROLOGUE

We all are given many gifts in life at various times and for sundry reasons. Be it birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, Holidays, mother’s day, father’s day, Valentine’s Day, or just for no other reason than someone loves and is thinking of us. My mother’s greatest gifts to me were her unconditional love, and her story; My Mom, Hazel, an unquenchable spirit!

I hope you can make a story out of what I’ve told you, but between all those times I didn’t give you was severe heart ache, severe heart ache that I will never forget. And maybe people will believe if they keep praying. God will answer prayer. He sent me a boy for twenty years of praying. He sent me something to love. What my life in the future will be is up to God.

Hazel Pitts 1977

REFLECTIONS

It seems we do not fully appreciate the love and sacrifices of our parents until we mature in age or go through the pain of losing them. So it was with me. Often as a young child I thought my mother to be smothering, over protective, and controlling. Now, as I look back in reflection, I see a different story emerge.

First, I must give some context to understand my mother. She was handicapped and raised me on crutches. When I was in elementary school, she became pretty much confined to a wheel chair. Mom finally acquired a motorized wheel chair which I and my school friends thoroughly enjoyed riding in all over our house. The country singer Sonny James bought her the electric wheel chair. Mom lost her leg in a car train accident when she was 17 years old. Her dad, Mack, a second person, and Mom were riding in what looks like might have been a 1934 Chevrolet standard coupe. They were driving through the East Texas countryside.

The weather had been extreme that year in Texas. April 14, 1935 brought Black Sunday when dust storms rolled across much of Texas blacking out the sun for hours and days. May 30-31 brought severe flooding with as much as 20 inches of rain throughout central Texas. The Colorado River recorded a Great Flood. But the weather was not a factor in Mom’s accident, to my knowledge.

They stopped at a rail road crossing to allow a passing train to whiz by. There was only one long front seat in the vehicle. Next to Mom was her dad, then the other person who was a lady of unknown identity. I have been told by two sources they were enjoying a rather risqué joke being told by her dad. Unbeknownst to them, a speeding car was fast approaching them from the rear. One source said this vehicle was a truck. I was told, as I grew up and learned about this event, that the drivers were a young couple who were oblivious to the stopped vehicle ahead of them. They might have been lost in the scenery, or laughing at a joke themselves, or their eyes might have been locked in the rapture of their love. But, for whatever the reason, my mother’s destiny was about to be inexorably altered.

My mom’s car was rear ended and pushed into the path of the passing train. Her dad and the other person in the front seat were killed. Mom was somehow pushed back into the trunk of the car.

When rescue workers finally arrived they did not realize there was a third person involved in the accident until they heard Mom’s faint cry for help from the dark tomb of the trunk. She was pulled from the jaws of death. Mom was severely injured and went through over three years of surgeries and recuperation. In her own words,

I was left with a mangled body!

She ultimately became an amputee with her right leg being removed just below the hip, which made it difficult and painful to wear a prosthesis. These events molded her, as a potter molds a lump of clay, into the person she became. She became determined not to let these circumstances, or any hardships either hinder or overcome her.

I was told by another cousin, Mary, that Hazel blamed her baby sister, Francis, for this tragedy. Francis had wanted to spend the night at her sister, Lodema’s house. Mother felt Francis was spoiled and always got her way. So Francis talked her dad and mom into allowing the overnight visit. They were on the way to pick up Francis when the accident occurred. Thus Mother’s dad was killed, the other mystery rider died, and Mom was handicapped all because of a spoiled child’s wish to spend the night. That’s how Mother framed the event in her mind.

Another cousin, Deloris, who was but 4 years old, remembered when the news of the accident reached Mack’s wife, Willie. She was also at her daughter, Lodema’s house, where Francis had spent the night. Someone came to the door with the tragic news. Deloris remembers Willie screaming and Francis nearly fainted. The sorrow was overwhelming!

There was very little government assistance or programs for the disabled at that time in America. Mom decided to take her plea for assistance in overcoming her circumstances to the very top of the government, President Franklin Roosevelt. Mom might have been the first advocate for the disabled. She hitch hiked to the White House to see the President.

On the way there she picked up some PR in a newspaper article written about her plight and journey. When Mom arrived in Washington, she was not able to