Angels In Heaven, Watching Over Us.
Howard Clayton Philyaw b. 9/26/1930 Grottoes, Va. d. 8/1978 Jefferson, W.Va.
married:
Dorreen marie Beales..b. 12/27/1931 Loudoun County, Va. d. Dec. 14, 2005 Kingsport, TN.
The daughter of Henry Jefferson
Beales and Mabel Ann Carlisle-Beales.
**Mom and dad met when my mother was but thirteen years old. Of course they both lied and told one another they were a couple years older than they really were. My father was a good-looking man or "Boy", and my mother relates how she use to take walks down the road to meet with him at the Old School House. My mother was from a strict up bringing, as her mother was a Reverand, who use to travel
to Churches and Preach as a Guest Preacher. Anyway, Mom tells how my grandmother would never allow her to see boy's, so mom would have to sneak down the street to see my father. Even to the point of taking children she babysat for walks in the stroller, just to see my father. At first glance my grandmother did not like my father. She thought he was from a "Bad" Family. Because they drank, and the boy's pretty much ran around, without much authority. This did not disuade my mother, however. She continued her "sneaking".And as she tells, My father chased her skirt tail around every corner. Well their persistence paid off. Finally my grandmother gave in. My mother had to bring him to the house to meet her mom. My mother was livid. She say's she was so scared. Scared my grandmother would run him off. Well Dad was tougher than that. In a couple of years they married. And it didnt take my grandmother long to change her tune. She always said that he was the Best Son-In-Law she ever had. There was nothing my father wouldnt do for her.
Howard and Dorreen had five children. three girls and two boys. The first two were born in Loudoun
County, Va. , the third(Me) in Arlington, Va. and the last two in Prince William, Va. I think we tried to stay close to my fathers jobs. Although he worked for the same company over 25 years, many of his job-sites were in different locations. That is what brought us back to Loudoun County when I was young. My father had a huge construction site he would be working on for a couple of years so we moved there to save him travel time. As well as most of my mothers family still remained in Loudoun.
I was about 9-10, so I pretty much grew up in Loudoun County. And today, much of my Family still
lives in Loudoun or within 30 miles or so.
** Our Family remains close, our mother is still living. We all try and spend as much time with her as possible. You just never know how much time you really have.
*** That is why it is important to me to uncover our family history, and discover our roots. What do we have to leave our children? I need to find the "Soul" of it all. Where it all began. Who were these people and what were they like. When I was a child, I use to love to listen to my fathers stories. Tales from the
"Old Days". We would all just sit in awe and listen intently as he spoke. The hardships, the Values..all of it. What do we have to leave our children? Our children have everything. They arent learning Values, they dont have to earn anything..They have Video Games, Tv, Computers, Cell Phones, Palm Pilots. They don't even have to think for themselves. Sure I have a couple of hard Tales to tell, I didnt have it sooo easy growing up..But I didnt have to walk 10 miles to school. I didnt have to put card board in the soles of my shoes to cover up the holes. I didnt get farmed out as a young boy during my summers out of school. For me, just knowing all of this makes me appreciate everything that I have, but I had to Work for it. Kids today, arent learning that. I want my children to know their roots. To know the sweat on the brow of their grgrgrgr-grandfathers. I want my children to have these stories to pass on to their children.
Stories of a time that may just be forgotten..
Never Forgotten..
