Pearl: A Journey of a Lifetime

By Dorothy a. Campbell

There are many stories of African-Americans who migrated north during the 1960s and then returned to the South for their golden years, but there is only one Pearl Hammond.

Pearl: A Journey of A Lifetime will take you from a rural farm in the South to The Motor City at the height of the Motown era. Laugh and cry with Pearl as she builds an award-winning career and falls for "Mr. Music," only to see her marriage crumble despite her best efforts.

Between her travels to Jamaica with "The Crew" siste

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 13, 2014
• ISBN: 9781628383300

Book preview

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PEARL

A Journey of a Lifetime

31444.jpg

Dorothy A. Campbell

Copyright © 2014 Dorothy A. Campbell

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING, INC.

New York, NY

First originally published by Page Publishing, Inc. 2014

ISBN 978-1-62838-329-4 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-62838-330-0 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Title

Copyright

Preface

Chapter 1

A Night of Turmoil

Let the Journey Begin!

All About Aunt Gayle

Chapter 2

All About Ruby

Adolescent Years

All About Aunt Oralee

Chapter 3

Life During the Motown Era

College-Bound

Graduation Day

All About Sol

Chapter 4

Our First Jamaican Trip

All About Gordon

All About Vanessa

Chapter 5

An Evening on the Town

Life With Gordon Hammond

Wedding Reception Party

Chapter 6

Marriage Life

Paradise

All About Melissa

Trouble In Paradise

From Bad To Worse

Chapter 7

The Onset of Depression

Mr. Carter’s Retirement

Chapter 8

Retreat in the Bahamas

All About Charles

On the Job Romance

Life with Charles

Chapter 9

Immersion

Loss

Best Moment

Chapter 10

Feelings Of Remorse

Acapulco: The Great Escape

The Straw that Broke the Camel’s Back

Best-Kept Secret

Almira’s Heartbroken Decision

Chapter 11

All About Avis

1975: An Eventful Year

Chapter 12

Trouble at Allied

Almira Returned to Beaufort

Disagreement Among Friends

Reminiscing

Chapter 13

Vacation in San Francisco

The Crew’s 10th Anniversary

A Revelation

A House Is Not A Home

Chapter 14

Forever Love

A Crew Loss

The Reunion

Chapter 15

Savannah Here We Come

Chapter 16

The Johnson Family Reunion

All About Nina

The Death of Almira

Three Daughters

Chapter 17

Mourning Uncle Paul

The Concert

Chapter 18

Charles in Jamaica

What About Us?

Chapter 19

Retirement and Aftermath

Chapter 20

Melancholy

Reminiscing

Chapter 21

Patti LaBelle Concert

Chapter 22

The Trip to Connecticut

Forty-Nine Years Later

Concerned Children

Chapter 23

Community Service

I Want to Live

A Bright Idea

A Trip to Allied

Chapter 24

The Trip Home

Chapter 25

Miss Louise: Town Courier Part 1

Chapter 26

Miss Louise: Town Courier Part 2

Chapter 27

The Death of Miss Louise

The Death of Sol

Celebration at the Beach

2011: My Year

Chapter 28

A Premonition

Another Death

Chapter 29

A Trip to Savannah

Happy New Year

Chapter 30

Summer 2012

Coming Out of a Trance

Chapter 31

Pearl’s Big Date

Honeymooning in Sumter

Chapter 32

The Grand Finisher

The Journey Made Clear

Chapter 33

All About Old Man Thompson

About the Author

Preface

Hello readers, my name is… Oh, I’ll tell you’ll later. Today is Oct 16, 2012. Something wonderful is happening today. It’s Pearl Johnson-Hammond’s 68 th birthday. You will learn a lot about her. She was born in Beaufort County, South Carolina. Pearl’s birth name is Pearlestine. She is the second child of John and Almira Johnson. John called his baby child Little Pearl. Pearl stands 5 ft. 4in., weighs 130 pounds. Pearl’s weight is evenly distributed. She was described in her young days as having a figure like a Coca Cola bottle. She doesn’t look her age. She has a full head of hair like Oprah Winfrey, with few grays, which she covers with a dark brown rinse. Pearl has beautiful dark brown doe eyes. She has smooth, dark brown skin with few wrinkles and full lips. You might say,

She was something else in her youth.

Pearl has all the characteristics of a polished businesswoman. She isn’t a strict religious individual. She attended church infrequently to please her mother. Pearl is able to fit into all age groups. Many of her closest friends and associates are the same ages as her two lovely daughters. She has a degree in Computer Science and Information. She graduated tops in her classes. She is living in her own home in Beaufort and working through some of the traumas she experienced in her marriage and early childhood.

Pearl thanks God for each waking day. She is closer to God today than she has ever been in her lifetime. She feels God has helped her with many problems in life. That’s why Pearl should be happy today, but she isn’t. She’s a little under the weather. She has a lot to think about. She received two disturbing phone calls last night that changed her life.

Pearl is a very generous person. She’s going to allow you to share her thoughts. You’ll get a glimpse of the past 68 years of her life, private and personal. You’ll understand why she’s in a state of turmoil this morning with a hangover. She’s going to start her journey off with a dream. It’s about the death of her father at the precious age of three. I’ll be describing the major individuals in her life throughout her journey.

Chapter 1

A Night of Turmoil

October 16, 2012

8:30 a.m.

Pearl is sitting on her deck, bathing in the sun, thinking:

"Last night, I was happy because today is my birthday. I’m 68 years old. I have my health, all my teeth and hair. I have two wonderful daughters, one goddaughter, three grands and one adopted grand. I’m grouchy at times; I guess it’s my age. I was watching my favorite TV show last night, when I was interrupted by these two calls that upset me. I couldn’t sleep. I knew I had serious problems to deal with today. I paced and talked to myself for two hours. I finally took a drink of brandy, went to bed and fell into a deep sleep.

Here I am this morning with all the classical symptoms of a hangover. This is my first hangover since my problem days with Gordon."

This morning, Pearl forced herself to make coffee to help her clear her head. Pearl needs to do some soul-searching to digest the mess she heard last night. She took her coffee to the deck, spilling it along the way. This is where Pearl loves to think and meditate. The deck is her favorite spot. She calls it her Paradise Deck. It’s attached to her bedroom. She built her home in 2000, but couldn’t afford to build the deck. With God’s blessing, she was able to build it in 2008.

Pearl did something unusual today. After sitting down, she raised her legs up and placed them on the banister. She allowed the sun to bathe her exposed body. Today, Pearl is acting like a 25-year-old because she has a date for lunch. Listen, Pearl is thinking:

The rays of the sun are making me drowsy. Let me sip on my coffee. It’s such a beautiful morning. Oh, I wish this headache would go away. I’m going inside to get some Extra Strength Tylenol. Pearl went inside and returned to her resting place. Pearl is talking to herself,

"Let me get back to what I do best, ‘Think!’ The Tylenol and coffee seem to be working. I hope thinking about my life will clarify things. Pearl, you are too old for this. That was a bad night. All those crazy calls. Now, you’re feeling like a drunk coming off a binge.

"He said, ‘I’ll be there at 12 noon!’ I have two hours to work things out. My friend informed you, I’ll be sharing my thoughts about my life with you all. Maybe you can learn from my successes and failures in life. My friend failed to tell you, I’m a music lover. There’s a song with lyrics for my every thought and emotion. Just a little warning: you’re going to hear me sing, hum and pat my feet to many songs of the past. These songs helped me to live through the joy, pain and sufferings in my life.

"My life is like a cake. I’ll be sharing the icing on the cake with you. It’s up to you if you are willing to accept the icing or dare to cut into the cake. Good luck! I don’t know where to get started. There’s an old saying,

’Start at the beginning and work your way to the present.’ You know, it’s nice to have company when you walk down 68 years of your life. I feel like I’m slipping into a trance. It’s OK, I can still think and I know you are with me.

Let the Journey Begin!

Winter 1946

The earliest memories I can recall was being in bed asleep after my daddy’s funeral. I was dreaming about the events that occurred earlier that day at the graveside. It was a cold January day and the sun was shining brightly. Everyone was dressed in black coats and hats. You could see smoke coming from their mouths as they cried and mourned. It was a windy day. You could see dark clouds and lightning forming a short distance from the graveyard. The wind started blowing dresses, coats and hats up in the air. My family looked like black birds flying in the sky. As the grave diggers rushed to lower the casket into the grave, Mommy let out a loud, animal-like cry and became uncontrollable. Family members rushed to her side, knocking Melissa and myself over on the ground. As I struggled to get up crying, Horace, my 5-year-old cousin, picked me up, hugged me and patted me on the back. I felt comfort in his little arms.

I woke up crying and screaming. Mommy came and cuddled me. I don’t know who was crying the hardest. Mommy said,

Everything is alright, baby. At that young age, I knew everything would never be alright again. I was in pain. My daddy wasn’t coming home and nobody would bring him back. They put him in a hole. I wanted to go to my daddy but I was afraid of the hole.

There were other dreams. In one dream, the family turned into big black birds and they flew away with my daddy. In another dream, I saw my daddy walking across the field. I would follow him, crying and calling his name. He disappeared in front of my eyes. I had those dreams repeatedly for a while.

Mommy remained at my bedside. Today, I can’t imagine the pain she endured. She lost her husband, now she was losing her child, grieving for him. I stopped eating and started losing weight. Mommy invited Horace over to feed me. She knew how close we were. I would go to the door each evening looking for daddy to come home. I would say to mommy,

I miss daddy. Why don’t he come home? I did everything in my power to keep Mommy in the room with me. I was afraid of losing her also. Melissa, my older sister, was a deep sleeper. Once she fell to sleep, thunder wouldn’t arouse her. I was afraid to go to sleep because of the nightmares. One night, I said to Mommy,

Mommy can you pray with me tonight? I will come to your room and pray with you tomorrow.

Mommy agreed." We got on our knees and started praying,

Now, I lay me down to sleep, I pray to God my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray to God my soul to take. I said,

Mommy, I don’t like that prayer because I don’t want to die. Mommy said,

Pearl, you can pray to God in your own words. God loves that better. I said a prayer. Mommy kissed me on the forehead and said,

Good job, child! That’s how our nightly prayers started. Mommy started telling people how well I could pray. As our prayer sessions progressed, Mommy and I started feeling better. I started eating and playing again. After things settled down, my life was happier.

I lived in a big house. We nicknamed it The Big House, which was built by my father. The house had two porches. It was white washed with green shutters. My grandfather built chairs for the porch and yard to match the house as a wedding gift for my parents. The house was surrounded by pine and oak trees. We had china berry and mulberry trees in the front of the house. We were surrounded by fields. We had a creek running on the right side of the house. The house was a good walk from the main dirt road. We had relatives in walking distance from our house. The house had a living room, dining room, kitchen and three bedrooms. Our room was called The Nursery and it was the largest. Mother had the room decorated in baby blue and pink. Melissa and I used to fight over the colors of the room. My favorite color was baby blue. Melissa would try and take baby blue away from me. I loved our room because you could look out the window on the side porch. When I couldn’t sleep, I would look outside and watch the moon and stars. It became a fascination.

We had farm animals and vegetable products. We worked in the fields. My mother had her own garden. To make a long story short, my family were poor farmers but able to feed and support themselves. I had a close-knit family. There was Melissa and plenty of cousins to play with. I was especially fond of Horace. Horace and I paired off going to and from school. We didn’t see each other after school much because we had chores to do. I thought Horace was the prettiest boy in the whole world. He had pretty dark skin with pretty white teeth. He had this cute coy smile and a little lisp when speaking. He was tall like a tree.

Everyone was under the impression Horace didn’t know how to swim or he was a poor swimmer. I remember we used to sneak off and go down to the creek. We would shed our outer garments so they wouldn’t get wet and go swimming. I couldn’t swim, so I held on to Horace’s back. He swam to the other side of the creek. I almost fall of his back one day when we saw a water moccasin slide into the water. We got out fast, put our clothes on, and went home as if nothing happened.

Horace and I was always getting into something. Our grandfather had a large field of watermelons. He prided himself on being able to meet the needs of his family. Well, one of our neighbors was an elderly woman who lived by herself. She had a little garden. She had some of the smallest, sweetest melons. Horace and I would sneak in her garden and steal her melons. We would burst the melons on our knees and use our hands to eat the melons. We left the rinds in the garden. One day, the lady came to my grandfather with the rinds in her hands. She accused us of stealing her melons. My grandfather became irate. He cursed her. He said,

How dare you come in my yard and accuse my children of stealing. I have a field of melons of all kinds. They don’t have to steal from you. Well, Horace and I came up with a plan. We decided to continue eating her melons. We would dig holes to bury the rinds and cover them with grass.

On our good days, we sat in the yard and watched the clouds. We saw animal formations in the clouds we could identify. Sometimes we disagreed on the shapes, but Horace always gave into my opinion. He looked after me like I was his baby sister. He had an older brother, Paul Jr., and sister, Sarah. I liked Horace the best because he was nice to me and we were close in age. He and Aunt Gayle protected me like I was someone special.

All About Aunt Gayle

The late Gayle Wilson was married to Almira’s youngest brother, Paul. He served in the Marines. Paul came home at the age of 20, married Gayle, age 14. She was a pretty brown-skinned girl with long wavy black hair. She always had a crush on Paul. When he came home in his uniform, she was determined to marry him. He upset a lot of people in her family and Almira’s family over the marriage. Paul took his bride and left Beaufort. He returned two years later with a homesick wife and two babies. He sat her up in a house and returned to sea. The next time he returned home, Gayle became pregnant with Horace. Ladies and gentlemen, Pearl wants to continue with her childhood experiences.

Aunt Gayle had lots of chicken on her yard. I loved playing with the baby chicks. One day, I got this bright idea. I wanted to know if the chicks could breathe in water. I decided to fill a Quaker Grits box with water. I stuck the baby chick’s head in the water. I ended up with a handful of stool and a dead chick. I was in a state of shock. I threw the dead chick in a ditch. The next day, Aunt Gayle had all the children looking for her missing chick. We looked for hours. She finally came to the conclusion, a snake caught her chick. I never said a word.

I always wanted to know what made things work. At the age of seven, my curiosity got the best of me. I knew my father was electrocuted installing electricity in rural areas. Mother taught us to avoid it. I wanted to know what caused the bulbs to light up. I placed a chair and climbed on top the kitchen table. I unscrewed the bulb and stuck my finger in the socket. I found myself on the floor with the chair on top of me. Again, I was in a state of shock. I never told anyone. As you can see, I was a danger to myself. Horace looked after me as much as possible.

This relationship with Horace was six years in the making, when Mother decided to move to Detroit. I was devastated being separated from Horace. I didn’t have time to say goodbye. I was nine years old. Mother brought books for us to read on the bus. Melissa read and slept at intervals. I sat, feeling sad and near tears. Mother kept watching me. She finally said,

Pearl, I know you miss Horace. I interrupted her and said,

I miss Horace. I want to go back home. Mother looked at me, bewildered. She said,

You’re going to meet people and love them like you love Horace. Mother’s conversation helped me. I thought,

I guess I have to go to Detroit.

We arrived in Detroit in August, 1951. It was a hot day and we were hungry. We ate all our home-baked biscuits and bologna. Aunt Oralee had a large meal for us. I was amazed at the tall buildings and people on the streets. Everything scared me. Melissa was ready to explore the place. I held on to Mother’s dress tail. She showed some concern. After we ate, Aunt Oralee looked out the window and called some children upstairs. She introduced them to us and told them to take us to the store to buy candy and ice cream. I was reluctant to go, but Aunt Oralee shoved me out with the rest of the children. She wanted to talk to Mother. I enjoyed my first trip to the store. I brought my first Push Up ice cream.

We spent the night with Aunt Oralee and went to a rooming house the next day. We had a large room on the second floor. The rooming house was on the same block Aunt Oralee lived on. Mother monitored our activities closely. We spent one month in the rooming house. With the help of Aunt Oralee, Mother brought a small wood-framed house. She used the insurance money she received when father died. It was in walking distance from Aunt Oralee. People thought we were wealthy. Mother looked for work and placed us in school.

Mother cleaned homes for wealthy families. It was hard work, but she received leftover foods and used clothing for us. That’s why I love all kinds of breads today. She collected clothes from her employer’s neighbors to wash and iron for extra funds. Melissa and I started blending in with our peers.

We were the new kids on the block. The children called us Geechees. They didn’t realize we were physically strong because we worked on a farm. They tested us out and got whipped. They decided to leave us alone. Melissa was outgoing and made friends easily. There were gangs all over the city. You had to belong to some group. I became friends with a girl named Big Ruby. I met her the first day, I dared to step outside by myself.

Chapter 2

All About Ruby

Ruby Prescott was the youngest of six children. The eldest sibling was a sister. She had four brothers in between. They were aggressive boys. Everyone knew the Prescott Boys. Ruby was just as tough. She was big and tall for her age. At the age of 13, Ruby was 5’ 6" and weighed 180 pounds. She has old burnt scars on her face. The scars are the result of a childhood accident. She covered the scars with makeup. She was knock kneed, immaculate in dress and hair styles. She lived in a nearby housing project. Ruby was checking out the new kids from Beaufort. She took Pearl under her wings immediately. Pearl liked Ruby. She walked Pearl and Melissa to school every day.

Ruby wasn’t your typical cute little teenager, but she acted like she was as cute as any girl in school. She was full of confidence. Boys and girls flocked to her. It’s time to get back with Pearl on her journey. She’s waiting for me to finish.

Ruby developed a close relationship with me. Melissa developed her own friends. Melissa showed no concern about Ruby’s strong attachment to me. Ruby played a major role in my adult life. We confided in each other with the exception of Horace. I imitated Melissa and Ruby constantly. I earned money running errands for Aunt Oralee. I started buying gifts for Ruby every holiday. One holiday Ruby said,

Pearl, why do you buy me gifts? I said,

I buy gifts for you because I don’t want to lose you. Ruby grabbed my neck under her arm and ruffled my hair. She said,

Don’t buy me any more gifts! I’m your friend! After that conversation, I felt secure, and accepted Ruby as a big sister.

Mother taught Melissa and me how to wash and iron our school clothes. One day, the cord separated from the iron. I often wondered what made the iron hot. I decided to test it out by sticking the cord in the outlet. Well, guess what happened? The cord started shooting sparks and flipping around in the air like a snake. I snatched the cord out. You know that old saying, God looks after babies and fools. It’s true! I never said a word to anyone. I was 11 years old at the time. Today, I’m afraid of electricity.

Adolescent Years

Spring 1954

Mother never openly discussed menstruation with us. I became aware that Melissa was menstruating. Mother didn’t always have money to purchase Kotexes for Melissa. She would save clean white cloths for her to use. I started menstruating the night after my 12 th birthday. I kept it to myself. I hated my periods because they were painful. I used aspirin, and I didn’t want to go to school for fear of staining my clothes. I started using the cloths Mother had for Melissa. She couldn’t figure out what was happening to the cloths.

I remember when Mother first discovered I was menstruating. It was in April 1955. We took a car trip to Beaufort. On the way home, to my despair, I started bleeding. I used whatever I got my hands on to catch the blood. We stopped off in Ohio to stay overnight with a relative. I went to the bathroom. A relative saw blood in the toilet. She told Mother I started my period. Mother came running all excited. They made a big fuss over me. I felt good and glad my period was discovered. The incident made me ask one question,

Why didn’t I tell Mother for six months? I don’t know. I had an inner shyness, I guess.

Summer 1956

Mother worked hard for four years. Melissa and I felt sorry for her. She always stayed home when she was invited out. We decided we were old enough to look out for ourselves and we told her so. After some debates, she caved in. Mother socialized