I remember

I sometimes think that my great-grandmother Mama Brock wanted to be a writer. She died when I was very young so I did not get the opportunity to really get to know her. Among my grandmother's things (Laura Winifred Brock Hayes) I found papers written by Mama Brock, almost like she was keeping a journal but all the pages are scattered. "Mama Brock" Edna Lillian Rainwater Brock was born May 12, 1885 and she died March 30, 1978. 

I am grateful that she kept record of some of her life. Here in 2011 it is sometimes hard to picture a school without a restroom or running water. A school that only lasts a few months a year. I wonder what they would think if they knew that today's schools are trying to be extended to 12 months a year. 

Here I am posting a few pages that she wrote. These were hand written by her so I had to try and decipher it the best I could because the pages are faded and at places really hard to read. 

I hope you enjoy! 

God Bless!

I Remember

I remember when I was younger than I am now, say 65 years past. We only had meetings once a month, we had Sunday school every Sunday. Bethlehem Baptist was just one large room, no bathroom facilities in units the only heat we had was two wood stoves in either side of church our lights were small kerosene lamps hung on the walls with a reflector in back of them. Our Baptismal was either a pond, the river as a pool a half mile from the church. The Rev. Will Milles Baptized me in August of 1898 along with 24 others. I was between 12 and 13 years old. We would walk 2 and three miles to church also to school. We also just had a one room school house and wood heaters. We only had five months of school per year. three in winter and two in summer but I loved to go to school and have always loved going to church, people in those days suffered except a very few that was considered rich and they didn't have any more conveniences that a poor person just maybe more expensive things and more food, and better houses.

When I was a little girl canning fruits and vegetable was unknown they dried fruits and vegetable killed and cured a lot of meat raised there own chickens and milked their own cows. So they had plenty food but no hamburgers or other junk that most young people live on today.

We had to either do our wash at a spring or draw water, put cloths in a 12 or 15 gallon Iron wash pot and rub them on a rub board. Our heat in the home was a fire place with a chimney we heated our Irons by the fire to iron with, we were lucky if they were ironed good without a little smut on them, families stayed closer together then. We had our Bible and we read it often, because their was not papers coming to your doors everyday to read. We would go to a country post office one or twice a week to mail letters, and pick up mail.