When I think of Miss Jessie Gore, I think of a true Southern lady and a Rebel to the core. She was a petite woman. She wore her long gray hair woven into a braid and swirled around her head. She always had a few stray hairs slipping out of her bun and framing her face. It was a very pretty old face. Just by looking at her you could tell that at one time she had been a beauty. It seemed she always dressed in long skirts, but that may be my imagination at work.
She lived with her sister in an old house on Mayfield Highway. I never saw her house, but I always imagined it to be a two story relic left over from the Civil War. There would be a winding road leading to her home, surrounded by red maple trees and ancient oaks. I have no idea what it really looked like, but in my mind this was "Miss Gore's" home.
Her house would be filled with books and a cat or two. I always believed she read southern romance novels. Her passion was teaching history. She made the Civil War come alive to me. She had a big influence on me concerning that subject. I still love to read about the bloodiest war the United States ever fought. I find history fascinating. She was by far my favorite teacher in school. I wish I had listened more and talked less in her class.
We were a rowdy class, often causing Miss Gore to have to take a "Goody's" powdered aspirin because we had given her a headache. She would always come back from the water fountain with a smudge of powder on her nose. Sometimes we would tell her and sometimes we wouldn't.
Another thing I remember about Miss Gore, was the fact that she hated the Supreme Court. She called them "the nine devils dressed in black". If we wanted to get her off track and not study---all we had to do was ask a question about the Supreme Court and she was off and running. While we were writing notes to each other and ignoring her completely. She thought it was horrible that someone could be appointed to a position in government for life. After a few of the Justice's we have had----I may have to agree.
It was during the Spring of 1961 when the Bay of Pigs began, or as most referred to it as "The Cuban Missile Crisis." We would hear jet planes fly over our school from Paducah on a regular basis.
There was a horrible, loud horn that blew the alarm in school if a Civil Defense warning had been issued. If you weren't scared before the horn blew, you would be after it did. We had to practice this several times so we would know what to do.
When we heard the horn blare, we were to hide under our old desks, in case they weren't our planes flying overhead and we were being attacked. Not much of a safety plan. However, considering a crisis like this never occurred before it was the best they could do. Miss Gore kept us as calm as possible.
People began building "bomb shelters". Families put their own plans together to help keep their loved ones safe. Mama and I no longer lived with Mamamae and Granddaddy. Daddy refused to build a bomb shelter no matter how much I wanted one. And I wanted one really, really bad!! Our plan was to go the the basement of the Methodist Church. I wanted to go deeper than that!!! Daddy refused to even go there.
Even as a kid, I watched the news, I remember watching Nikita Khrushchev take off his shoe and slam it on the table at the United Nations and say "We will bury you!!!" I ran out of the room and told Mamamae about this. I couldn't understand why he was so mad at us. Mamamae didn't know why he was mad at us either. This just reinforced my desire for a bomb shelter.
My family wanted me to stop watching the news. Fat chance of that!!! I wanted to know what was going on in the world.....and I wanted a bomb shelter--bad!!
That crisis passed, and another one took its place. It has been this way throughout history. I have finally chalked it up to human nature and accepted the fact that some things never really change.
We bought a home with no basement. Seems like history repeats itself, even in the smallest details. Once again no bomb shelter or a basement in sight. This time it would not make a difference either, because we live within a 10 mile radius of a nuclear power plant.....if any thing really bad happens ---we will never remember it.
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