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Monday, April 25, 2011

Tin Roof Memories

There's not a single rain shower that I don't think of my childhood days at my
Papa & Grandma Ely's house in Pennington Gap, VA.
Every summer, we go down to visit for a whole week.
My Dad, Mom & me would sleep in the front bedroom ...
& right outside one window was the tin roof that covered the root cellar.
Let me tell you, there's nothing quite like going to sleep to the sound of rain on a tin roof.
To this very day when it's raining outside, I can close my eyes & almost feel myself sinking down in that big ol' comfy feather bed, all the while wishing for a tin roof like Grandma had.


These are memories that I will forever treasure ...
& I love how easily they flood over me ...
sometimes just from the sound of a rain shower.
Try as I might to duplicate them {I did buy a feather mattress topper},
nothing quite compares to those simple times when I was a kid ...
falling asleep to the pitter-patter of rain on the tin roof.


This is the old home place ... my Papa & Grandma's house on Puckett's Creek.
That's my Grandma & me on the porch.

I LOVE this picture of my sister, Lisa, standing between our grandparents.


This is another favorite ... my beautiful Grandma Daisy Ely.

Precious memories, how they linger.
How they ever flood my soul.
In the stillness of the midnight.
Precious, sacred scenes unfold.

11 comments:

  1. I love this! I can just feel the warmth. I wish I could go back in time to special people and places of my own.

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  2. What lovely memories! You were so blessed to have had that sort of upbringing.

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  3. Blessed, indeed, & so grateful. I want to go through my mom's picture albums soon & hopefully get some copies to share on my blog.

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    1. I MISS LEE COUNTY SO MUCH I WAS BORN AND RAISED THER AND MY FAMILY IS STILL THERE IN WOODWAY.MY NAME IS LISA GIBSON MY MOTHER IS AUDREY GIBSON RAMEY. EVERYBODY KNEW MY PAPAW CURTIS MILES HE WAS THE TRASH TRUCK DRIVER FOR MANY YEARS

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    2. Hello, Lisa! So glad you stopped by and left a comment. I will share this info with my mom. Lee County, VA is a special place for so many people.

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    3. I was born in Lee county born at Pennington hospital in 1949 ! I now live in Indiana moved here in 57...I too have fond memories from there..wish I still lived there !

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  5. Angela, somehow you are either my 2nd or 3rd cousin; my parents were grace and coy ewing; I loved Daisy and Daniel so much when I visited my aunt mae and grandmother Cora across the creek from them; she always had the most beautiful smile and was always so kind and sweet; Although it has been years ago when Claude was pastor of the church in the Bottom; it still holds special memories for me; love you and Gpd bless you and your family

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    1. I know we are related to some Ewings -- Jim & Zuane Ewing for sure -- so we may be cousins at that!
      Thank you for sharing your special memories with me! That holler holds a lot of them for so many people.

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  6. Greetings! I found my way to your blog via another story of a story or another story (lol) about old log cabins. Anyhow, your memories of Pennington Gap brought so much back for me. I am nearly 40 and I have been through Pennington Gap many times mostly as a kid though. I grew up in Ohio but nearly every summer our family would head for the Appalachian's and spend time in KY, TN eventually making our way to Richmond VA to visit my favorite great Aunt & Uncle. Anyhow, my mom Linda Ruth Howard (Harris) was born in Pennington Gap to Clell Dudley Howard and Hazel Ruth Carter Howard. My grandpa worked in the coal mines, but eventually moved his family to Indianapolis when my mom was about 10. Anyhow, I remember my dad would always stop at the spring-fed pipe jutting out of the mountain where we would refill our glass bottles of Grape Ne-hi (which back then you couldn't get Grape Ne-hi in Ohio). Our station wagon did not have A/C so we would stop for good while at the pipe to play and cool down. Like you, my mom never wanted to stop and visit as most relatives had died or moved away. She had a smattering of cousins still there. My great grandma was Celia Mae Cooper (Howard) and she was married to William Henderson Howard. He is buried in Cooper-Parsons Cemetery along with many other near and distant relatives (I cannot recall right now but somewhere in there we are related to Chadwell Ewing as well). Anyhow, I know the mountains are in my blood (between my mom's side and my dad's side...his side was from Hazzard KY), and I always have a longing to return to my roots. Also, I vaguely remember the one time my dad convinced my mom to actually stop and visit family was after I think my uncle Delmer has died. We found the house my mom lived in, long abandoned and buried deep in the thick kudzu. We walked up the hillside to what I think was Cooper-Parsons Cemetery but I am not sure. I just remember the grass being tall and my dad telling us to watch out for snakes. We also stop at someone's house...old friend's of my grandpa Clell I think. We sat on their porch and drank lemonade and ate biscuits and helped snip green beans. I remember this family being so poor but didn't hesitate to share what they had. Anyhow, sorry for the long post. Perhaps we'll find we are related too!

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    1. I left a more detailed reply on the Pennington Gap blog post that you shared.
      I am so glad that you left all this info & I'll share it all with my mom.
      Blessings~

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