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did you and your father share any interest together – what and why?
(on today’s slip of paper drawn from the jar)
my father was…
tall, dark, and handsome
the strong silent type
light-hearted
easy going
laid back
a great kidder
could add large numbers in his head
served in the military for 24 years
traveled the world
would haul me around to ballgames, dances, friend’s houses
was very patient
down to earth
soft spoken
was a big flirt (according to my mom)
I always thought I took after my dad, until I made this list. I think we had the same personality, easy going. I wish I had gotten to know him better.
Tell about the houses you lived in childhood – addresses, phone #s, etc.
(on today’s slip of paper drawn from the jar)
Oh which house? Where to begin?
There was the house in the country near Ft. Bragg, North Carolina – big yard, garden. I was in first grade, and I remember this was our first house after living in Army housing, and my parents went back to their roots – growing vegetables, canning, freezing. I witnessed first hand what it means by ‘running around like a chicken with its head cut off’. My dad went to Korea while we lived there, my mom got a job, and my brother and I became latch-key kids. Once when we came home from school, the house had been broken into. My brother said he was going to call the sheriff. I thought he had lost his mind, they don’t have sheriffs any more – that is just on Gunsmoke – call the police! The TV dinner was popular at our house during this time, and my mom would save the aluminum comparted trays and refill them with home cooking for our own personal TV dinners.
Then the next house was a duplex in Army housing at Fort Rucker, Alabama. This was great fun, paved sidewalks for bike riding, lots of neighborhood kids to play with, warm weather, just 90 minutes from the beach at Panama City, Florida. We would walk from the school in a line down the sidewalk through the houses to the nearby playground or swimming pool. Once while walking single file a mom ran out to tell our 4th grade teacher about the assassination of President Kennedy. Also while living on the base, my mom became very good at bowling and even golf.
After leaving LA (lower Alabama) when my dad retired, we moved to the mountains of North Georgia. Our first house was just a little 4 room shack house without a bathroom. It was an adventure to say the least. My folks once again went back to nature and their roots, planting a garden, having chickens, and even a couple of calves. The little house served as a roof over our heads for a couple of years while my dad built us a new house. My brother was 5 years older than me, he listened to the Beatles and Roger Miller. While in the little house I joined many other young girls in watching the Monkees – ooohhh Davy Jones! By the time we got in the new house, my brother was out of high school and well on his way out of the house. The house had wonderful large windows – floor to ceiling – along with a beautiful front door and mantlepiece that had been salvaged from an old house torn down by my father.
As a military family, we moved around a lot and did not develop ties to any one place. The longest time I spent in any of our houses was about 5 years. There is no old homeplace to go back to visit, to pass down to the kids and grandkids. There are just places we stopped for a while before moving on to the next place. But it was always home where ever we were, a home with a family and a pet or two.
I feel fortunate to have married into the family I have now, everyone is so close. My husband and his sisters only ever lived in one house growing up, the one their dad built. The land we live on now has been in the family for over a half century, and plans are to pass it on for future generations.
one word on how to live successfully…
(on today’s slip of paper drawn from the jar)
what is success?
Webster’s defines it as: favorable or desired outcome; the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence.
what is your definition of success?
a mother may think success is getting through a rough day with a toddler, or worse yet – tweens
one’s idea of success may be attaining her goal of making that long anticipated trip to Fiji
another may have a long term goal of wealth and fame
so what is it, the key to success, secret of success?
first figure out what success is to you, then go for it
if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again
okay, I think I have it, the one word to success is
WORK
Hard work spotlights the character of people; some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all
Do you remember any of your four grandparents? Any greats? What were their names? Any memories that you have.
(on today’s slip of paper drawn from the jar)
My dad’s mom was Susan (my namesake), we called her Mama Austin, and I was 9 when she passed away. I remember her being very old and frail, sitting in the wicker chair on her front porch in McDonough. My father was the baby of the family, so his parents were much older. I never met my grandfather on dad’s side, he passed away before my time.
My mother was the oldest of her siblings, so her parents were much younger than my dad’s. Daddy Hanie and Mother Hanie, they had a big old house in Ellenwood, Georgia. He worked as a mechanic out back of the house at the garage. She was a good cook, I remember drinking sweet iced tea from big glass goblets with lemon. She bought little six ounce cokes in green glass bottles. She would wash the dishes in a big porcelain sink with a separate dish pain for rinsing. The side porch off the kitchen was a great place to sit on the glider or shell peas out of the garden. After supper she sometimes played cards – canasta, samba.
Later she moved to live next door to us and was always crocheting something. Folks said she was strong willed and stubborn, but I remember her as soft and sweet and fun to visit. I remember when she told my boyfriend (now husband) to take off his hat at the dinner table!
I remember the story of when she was very old and blind and in a home, her son was asking questions to get down some family history and she asked him, “What are you doing, writing a book?” Maybe we should…
