ODE TO THE GROVE: Rooted in Love

By Renee Tate

Ode to the Grove: Rooted in Love is a love letter expressing my gratitude for growing up in the community of Love Grove. The community in and of itself may not have seemed like much to an outsider, but the people living there made it special. The neighborhood lived out the words: “Love your neighbor as yourself”.
Love Grove allowed me to breathe in a time when that was not easy. It nurtured me and sheltered me yet prepared me to face the world with faith and conviction. For me, there will never be a place as special as Love Grove.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 10, 2024
• ISBN: 9798369417348

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ODE TO THE GROVE

Rooted in Love

RENEE TATE

Copyright © 2024 by Renee Tate.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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.

Rev. date: 03/06/2024

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

858757

CONTENTS

Dedication

Epigraph –

Preface

Prologue

Chapter 1 Beginnings

Chapter 2 Grandma

Chapter 3 Mom

Chapter 4 Grandpa Willie

Chapter 5 Children: Us And Ours

Chapter 6 Uncles and Aunties

Chapter 7 The Seed Sowers: The Community

Epilogue: Reflective Me

DEDICATION

To my grandmother, Josephine Canty, my mother, Alma McKoy, my sister Johnnie Mae Drayton…. this one is for you.

This work is also dedicated to everyone who has ever lived and currently lives in the community of Love Grove.

Everything I do – I owe it all to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ….

I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

EPIGRAPH –

Home is where our story begins…

Home is the starting place of love, hope, and dreams.

PREFACE

The writing of this book began as a reflection on my seventy years of life. The reflection became cathartic memories and emotions long forgotten but yet so close to my heart and who I am. As I reflected, I found myself in a place of eternal thankfulness for the blessings of God; blessings that I did not even know were blessings because my young mind was not able to comprehend and appreciate what God was pouring into my life. I could have been born and lived anywhere but He in His ultimate wisdom placed me in an awesome family and allowed me to grow up in Love Grove.

This book reflects memories of the place, family, and friends that I hold in my heart with deep appreciation and love. They helped shape me into the person I have become, and their influence will always be a part of my heart and character.

PROLOGUE

Love Grove is located on the north end of the city of Wilmington, North Carolina. Love Grove was named for the Love Grove Plantation. The plantation, according to history and tradition, states the plantation was owned by the Love family who had been in the area since the early 1800s, and thus the name.

Ben Steelman, Star News reported that "according to local historian Bill Reaves, the name was in common use in local newspapers by 1850. The area was bought or leased as farmland through the 1880s. However, in 1909 Margaret C. Darby & Co. began offering 50-by-100-foot lots in the area for prices ranging from $100 to $125. By the 1920s, Love Grove was a