By: Martha Jean Whitehead Killian
August 2011
Listen…do you hear that…? It’s dry flies. Just the sound takes me back to my childhood…
We just got through eating a wonderful supper of fried catfish that Daddy caught the last time he went fishing. Mama had frozen the fish in milk cartons filled with water. Mm…Mama’s homemade slaw and hush puppies were especially good tonight. Zola brought her homemade baked beans. She found the recipe in the Birmingham News. Tressie ate so much he got a stomach-ache. Mama was so busy picking the bones out for Dougie and Kenneth that she was still eating by the time Zola cleared the table.
Tressie carried Dougie’s play pen out on the front porch while Daddy took the garbage out back. Now, it is time for my favorite…Daddy’s homemade ice cream. Daddy went to the ice house to get the large block of ice while Mama was starting supper.
While he mixed the ice cream, Tressie chipped the ice with the ice pick. Kenneth and I started turning the crank but, we didn’t last long before Tressie had to take over.
We thought it would never freeze.
“You young’uns don’t eat that ice…! That salt will dry up your blood. Sit back and wait ‘till your daddy gets that lid off.”
Mmm… I believe that was the best ice cream Daddy ever mixed up.
After the ice cream dishes were cleaned up, Mama and Zola finally settled down to relax. Dougie fell asleep while playing in his play pen. Kenneth, just like every night was never ready to go to sleep. I was just about ready to fall a sleep when I heard Zola say, “Wake up Tressie! It’s time to go!”
Daddy had just rolled him anotherPrince Albert, as Tressie roused up and lit his pipe. All I could say was, “Aw… y’all don’t go…stay all night!”
“Naw…we better go!” Zola was always on pins and needles to get back home.
I wanted them to stay all night. I always enjoyed their company. They were like substitute parents to us since, they had no children of their own. I guess the fact that Mama and Zola were fraternal twins made us all closer to them.
“Please, please stay.” I had a way with getting what I wanted at that age. “Y’all can sleep on the couch!”
I guess you are wondering how two people were going to sleep on one couch…it had a nice double hide-a-way bed in it. That’s what it was called back then. Today it is called a sleeper-sofa.
“Aw… come on Ann”, that’s what Tressie called Zola, “let’s stay.”
“Well… it is gettin’ late. I guess we can.”
They would have to drive from our house inNorth Birminghamto their duplex apartment onGraymont Avenueacross from Legion Field. It was about a twenty five to thirty minute drive for Tressie. Zola wouldn’t let him drive over twenty five and that was too fast sometimes.
It was going on eight o’clock. Back then there was no day light savings time. Dark came early.
I was so happy. They were going to stay!
Kenneth finally fell asleep in Tressie’s arms.
We all awoke the next morning to the wonderful smell of Royal Cup Coffee, bacon and eggs, Daddy’s homemade muscatine jelly, he had just made a couple of weeks ago. He built his own arbor out of old pipes in the backyard and plantedmuscatinevines that grew into a beautiful canopy. We had an abundance of muscatines every season. Daddy’s jelly paired with Mama’s homemade biscuits made the start of another perfect day in my childhood…
The last one to go to bed last night was the first one to get up this morning.
Thank you, Mama. I love you!
