Walking Among Memories

When I was a wee girl my Grandpa Delk told me stories of his youth. (he was born in 1915)…he must have been 45 when I first remember his stories…

Seems back then there were preachers that came round and held what was called “Big Meetings” they would build a brush arbor and have the meeting outside…the Preacher would stay as long as The Holy Ghost was there…Usually about 2 weeks time. The people would come from all over to hear the traveling preacher. They came in buggies, wagons, buckboards, horse back and they walked…a few had a Model T…That was a great thing to see…this would have been about 1925…

Many families would see each other for the first time in years…it was a great time…the boys played baseball when the time allowed.  The girls played Tag or Red Rover.

It was a great time to socialize too…I can imagine…The ladies supplied the best cakes and pies!Everywhere there was good food to be eaten.

Today I walked among some of this…as I visited Piney Grove…Piney Grove’s Big Meeting as my Grandpa called it…I could hear the choir singing wonderful old songs, Miss Ruby singing so loud she could have been an opera singer! with her big voice…the outside old table has been replaced  now with a modern concrete one..anyway I remember  the old one it was strung from tree to tree and made from screen wire. The ladies brought their table cloths and put their food on top of it and covered the food with another cloth until everything was ready and the food Blessed by the Preacher with his big voice.

Us kids liked to play under the table as there was a place that washed during hard rains and it was higher under the table and that area was seldom used. The table was strung from tree to tree big oaks I assume or hickory trees. I remember three trees but am not sure. 

We were all dressed up for church every Sunday but the Fourth Sunday of August was special…we were dressed especially pretty (like Easter or Christmas)  It was a big deal, Grandma made so much food! Green beans, Potato Salad , Deviled Eggs, Cakes, and Her Special Chicken Pie. (consisted of chicken and a creamy broth and the best dumplings and pie crust ever made and not made since her passing by anyone)  We use to kill a chicken (Grandma was much better at this than Grandpa) for the pie… and the eggs came from the farm chickens, potatoes, beans, corn, all raised in her garden! and then she had fresh cucumber  pickles about 3 days  old…Carmel Cake was a specialty my Grandpa loved as was the chocolate cake…my Great Grandma Essie Delk was known for her cakes (especially her Pound Cake)  cooked in a wood cook stove…. 

Sunday came and all the people came back to Piney Grove. Uncles and Aunts ,cousins friends any one that had been to Piney Grove. People stood and told of their family members of long ago buried in the cemetery, stories how they loved the church and how much it meant to them.

My Great Aunt Lala, Great Aunt Blanche, Uncle Mitchell and Aunt Iris lived in High Point NC, and I thought it must be a really long way from Jackson Creek! This was my Grandpa Delk’s family still living. Then occasionally my Great Aunt Virginia would come in from “Up North” and her six children they stayed with Grandma and Grandpa. It was a lot of work for Grandma but she loved them…and took good care of them…It was always exciting when they came and we cleaned the 2 bedrooms upstairs to accommodate them they also stayed in High Point with Uncle Mitchell.

Aunt Lala and Aunt Blanche would stand and speak when the Preacher gave the opportunity to talk. They told of loved ones they could still see sitting in the pews and things about them…with big tears in their eyes…I was a kid and thought what in the world makes them cry I heard but did not understand for I had not lost anyone I loved…and a “Time and Era” lost forever…Now I know …I walk with the dreams, memories, and yes (the ghosts sometimes) of long ago.