Alone

By Lola Grimes

Abuse and trauma as a child, frustration, poverty, lack of educationaEUR"these had a great effect on the way life took its turn. Not asking for advice, Lola made her decisions of how she felt what she saw or heard. Never looking back at where she came from, not knowing where she was going, looking for love and happiness took her through much disappointment. The will to overcome poverty made her not give up her way of life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781640829893

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Alone

Lola Grimes

Copyright © 2018 Lola Grimes

All rights reserved

First Edition

Page Publishing, Inc

New York, NY

First originally published by Page Publishing, Inc 2018

ISBN 978-1-64082-988-6 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64082-989-3 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

I dedicate this story to my mother and father, I love them still. We had a lot in common. They gave life to eighteen children not knowing how they would survive. Only God gives that kind of strength. I am not ashamed; I was not totally naive. So……much thanks to my parents for they saw me for who I was.

Living in Oklahoma Was Hard

In the forties, times were rough. Poor sharecroppers had to work hard to make ends meet. My father was one of Creek County best farmers, and he had eighteen children, which made him good. We lived on a three-hundred-acre farm. My father was a good man; whatever he did, he did well. We had every kind of animal for work and to eat, most things farmers would be content with, although we were always broke.

Mama took flour sacks with a little lace, made us the prettiest dresses, prettier than those in Sears & Roebuck catalog. Sunday we went to church. I enjoyed the preacher preach and tell of the people in the Bible. Papa couldn’t sing too good, but he tried. His prayers were so sincere I saw tears in his eyes. We didn’t miss church unless the weather was too bad to travel. Mama did not go some Sunday’s. She said, I’m too tired. She would stay home and cook the best dinner. They did the best they could. We were never hungry, but little was said of an education.

Out of eighteen, two finish high school. When my brothers were old enough, they join the army, and my sisters got pregnant and married. No one told me, but I knew something was wrong. Schools were segregated. There was little money appropriated for blacks’ schools. Our books were used and worn. Some had a chance to learn that could stay in school. My sisters and brothers didn’t attend until the crops were harvested. He would let us go some time once a week. We were busy shaking peanuts, picking cotton, and pulling corn. We worked like slaves when the roads were too bad for the bus to reach us. It was woodcutting time. Rain, sleet, or snow we worked. I don’t think Papa realized what harm he was doing to us.

My mama taught us to cook, sew, and do the things women should do in life. At the county fair, we won first prizes. I won first prize for bread and butter pickles. My family came home with blue and red ribbons. My father gave us money to ride the Ferris wheel and other things. This was about the happiest time of the year I can’t say negative things about my parents; they did their best.

Papa was from a broken lifestyle. My grandmother left my grandpapa with six children to raise. Some of his bitterness showed; we had to suffer. My mother stayed pregnant; she suffered the most. As a little girl, I heard and saw many discouraging things. Was it a blessing to be the twelfth child, or was it a curse? I wanted my family to be happy.

There were things my parents told us. Stay away from white men when alone. Beware of drunken Indians. Always run in two’s or more, and my sister Shirley was my running partner. On our way to get the mail to the creek that was full of snakes, we ran so fast, and we didn’t get bitten. We laughed. God had to be watching over us.

My father had a dream that one day he would have enough money to buy a place of his own. Taking care of us was too much to save for buying a farm. I can’t imagine how tough it was.

The Fire

It was in the month of September. My family was about a mile and a half from the house, working, stripping cane, and making syrup at the mill. Mama left me in charge. I was six. My brother Jesse was two,