Tommy's Story...Our Memories...

 Tommy and I grew up about seven miles from each other in a small southern town in Western Kentucky named Clinton. We were 11 miles from the Mississippi River. There was a sign posted on Highway 51, the main road running through the center of town,  stating  " Welcome to Clinton-- Population 1600". The eighteen years  I lived in Clinton, the population sign never changed. I laughed  about this oddity when I was a teenager.  Now as I remember the old sign, I find its memory  very comforting. I also wonder what happened to the sign. I hope it is hanging in someone's den instead of at the bottom of a trash dump. Funny how something that never mattered before matters now.

When Tommy and I visit Clinton, there is not a piece of wood or any remnant of a home or building showing that either of us lived in Hickman County.  Every home we lived in as children has been torn down. The land belonging to other people and families. We drive by and look at where we used to live, telling stories to each other we already know.

When Tommy and I went home this year for the family reunion, we first stopped at Barbara's to say hello.  Soon we were reminiscing about their childhood. I began taking notes so I could get the story straight.  I still don't have it exactly right. There were chunks of memories I had never heard before. We decided to meet on the following Monday to drive through the back roads and countryside. While taking photos, I listened to see and hear their story. I wanted their stories as they saw a road, a creek or a sign post that brought a memory to the forefront of their mind. Some of the things they hadn't thought about in years were at times sad and at other times down right funny.  I think I got the most enjoyment listening to how they played and how they fought. I am surprised any of them made it to adulthood. I also have a renewed respect for Mrs. Carter. She and Mr. Carter did a remarkable job raising children with the resources they had to work with, especially Mrs. Carter.
                                      

This is one of two photos I have of Mrs. Carter's mother, Birtie George Campbell. Tommy talks fondly of her. She has a story to be told some day by someone who knows the story better than I do.   Tommy remembers sitting on the back porch drinking Coke and eating peanuts together. Once he told me that Grandma Birtie would give him a quarter to drive the tractor to the store for the sodas and peanuts. He likes that memory.

While we were on our trip up and down the back roads, Tommy, Bobby and Trea sat in back of the SUV.  Barbara drove and I took photos of their memories. Our last stop was Reelfoot Lake, where we ate dinner and walked the nature trails. That story is for another blog. Tommy and I loved every minute of it. The stories were nonstop as Barbara and Tommy remembered their childhood. Some of the stories were bittersweet, as with all families not everything was as it should have been. However,  it made them the strong men and women they are today.

                                             
I think this is Johnny standing in front of the old home place on the Utterback farm. Tommy was basically raised on this farm. It is where he learned to drive a tractor, buck hay, help with the garden and anything else that was required to keep a family of two adults and eleven children fed and clothed. Everyone who was big enough to work had chores to do daily.

This photo is of Bobby and Barbara kneeling in the back. Tommy, Joe Neal, Johnny and Joanie from left to right in front of them. I think Tommy was probably 7 or 8 in this photo.

Tommy often talks about how he loved to slip off and go hunting with a 22 rifle or fishing.  He liked to ramble around in the woods. He still likes to do this.

A double wide mobile home now sits where the old house used to stand. The big tree at the edge of their yard is still there and so is the old dirt road the kids walked to get to the back fields to work.
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This photo of Tommy is about the earliest memory I have of him. I guess he was about 9.

 When we were in the 7th grade we had our first school dance. It was held in the library at Central School. Tommy and I taught each other how to slow dance. We took turns leading:)  When the dance was over, Tommy didn't have a ride home so I took him out to the car with me. I told Mama, Tommy was coming home with us.  If looks could kill, I would have been dead on the spot! I don't think I said it exactly right and Mama did not give me a chance to reword it. Instead Mama took him to our mobile home on Waterfield Drive and let him out. Tommy had to walk to the poolroom to catch a ride home with his brother Bobby.  The next time I brought him home to stay...we were married.

Tommy and his family went to Oakwood Methodist Church. Most of the Carter's are buried in Oakwood Cemetery. We walked through there and I saw the graves of friends we went to school with. Our best man, Danny Joe King is buried there so is Joe Neal, Tommy's brother. He was our groomsman. He died so young.

Tommy spent a lot of time fishing in Moscow bottom. Fishing is still one of his favorite hobbies.  
                                              

When Tommy turned 19 he enlisted in the Marine Corps. This photo was taken when he first came in on leave from bootcamp and ITR.            
                                     

 

When Tommy was young, his life was filled with brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles and cousins by the dozen. They played music on the back porch, sock ball with a broomstick in the summer, and ate Mrs. Carter's checkerboard cake for Christmas. They each have their own memories of growing up in a big family. I have enjoyed being a part of this family for 43 years. I especially love number five son, number 8 child.