Lexington
William, his grandparents, his great-grandfather and myself spent the day in Lexington, NC. We were there visiting aunts and uncles and having a great time. We first went to aunt Ruth’s house. She had a small little black dog named “Millie” who gave William a few good licks on the face to show him who the boss was. Will spent the time playing with cars and trucks that we brought, while the main topic was the health of all the Lexington family members. She showed us a few pictures my great-grandfather and I was able to show her a picture of her grandfather (yes, my great-great-grandfather) much to her delight. I promised to get her a copy. Ruth commented on how there are needs around the house that need to be taken care of, but she quoted her father saying: “There comes a point in time where you just get so old there just is no need in putting any money into it.”
After that we stopped off at the old home place. My dad showed me woods of where he played when he was little and was in the area visiting. My fondest memory of the place was when I was 5 or maybe 6 visiting my great-grandfather and having him give me a cookie as a departing gift. I have another memory of siting in this large room with all the brothers and sisters gathered around the TV watching Lawrence Welk. There was an aunt there who used to let me sit on her lap and she told me stories. I believe this was one of my grandfather’s sisters who has since passed, but it is a memory well worth sharing.
We left there to visit Uncle Lamont and his wife Mary. Will was excited to have a playmate there by the name of Noah. He was three as well, and both of them had a great time rolling around a footstool or what really amounted to a beach ball. It was just flat in the middle. Noah was Lamont’s great-grandson, who was born five days after William.
We spent a very short time there, then stopped off at the cemetery where family members were buried. My dad commented that he hasn’t been there since his grandfather passed away in the 70’s. It was good for all of us to pay our respects and reflect on our memories.
The next stop on the tour we stopped off to visit my granddad’s youngest brother Laurence (not Welk). We thought they weren’t home, but it turned out it was the wrong house. Ha! Luckily the man who did live there knew where he lived and directed us down the next street over. There we rang the doorbell and was greeted by aunt Mary. She let William color with crayons and let him have at it with an old tea set. Will took each little cup, and lined them up on the carpet like he does his cars and trucks. It was rather comical. Laurence was out buying a saw blade, but returned soon there after. Both Laurence and Mary asked me about school and Jessica. They remember spending a great deal of time with myself at the hospital a few years ago when my granddad had a stroke and was recovering.
Our last stop was at Lexington Barbecue for a chopped pork sandwich and ice tea. You can’t go to Lexington without stopping by for barbecue. The best in the Carolinas.
A great day with family members albeit a tiring one for all.
