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Barefoot In The Sand: Remembering the Waning Days of the Hopewell Community (1998) Bruce C. Gragg 104/123

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In the early 40’s Papa’s sister, Olive Carter, and her husband Ivy,
and often their two younger daughters would visit. They lived just
inside of Ga. at the time. They visited regularly until they built
and moved to Lake City, then they didn’t come as often. Uncle Ivy
called Burnette, ’’May Belle” with the emphasis on the Belle. That
was not her favorite way of having her name pronounced, matter of
fact she detested it very much. Uncle Ivy was a very big teaser, he
could tease just about everyone about something. Everytime they
visited he managed to get around to teasing me about something. At
election time he would always come politicking for someone usually
not our choice, but he still tried to convince everyone how to vote.
The times most memorable of their visits were before we moved into
the new house. Uncle Edwin at this time had not even floored the
house. It was pretty well finished outside, but there was much to be
done inside. There was a connecting structure joining the old to the
new, we still lived and ate in the kitchen area. The Carter girls,
Grace and Lucille always raided Aunt Mabel’s pie closet to see what
good things they could find to eat. They were not married and still
lived at home. They would always find some goodie and come back to
the front yard walking the floor joist, a good balancing act, a
smoked link sausage in one hand and a biscuit or baked sweet potato
in the other. This they enjoyed, our leftovers, ham, fried chicken,
baked sweet potatoes, smoked sausage, cold biscuit or what ever.
Early in the year they may even have found a little fruit cake left.
Shortly after the war when many friends and family had moved away,
everyone got away from much of the Sunday afternoon visits. Life was
so much slower then, everyone was more relaxed, and took time to be a
neighbor.

After Uncle Ivy and Aunt Olive moved to Lake City, Grace and Lucille
were married and started their own families and the visits just
weren't the same. This all too often is the case as families grow up,
and move out on their own, and breaks a routine. Afterwards there is
a void there that takes a long time to fill. We always enjoyed all
our various relatives coming for a visit or going to see them.

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