Where do I even begin with the discussion of two of the most wonderful people on planet earth? I’m a niece so I’ll try and see the life of Mary and Ralph through the eyes of members of the community. However, first I’ll speak through "my" eyes. Memories I have of these two wonderful parents are awesome. Joy was having them for lazy Sunday dinners, usually consisting of fried chicken and biscuits, or chicken & dumplings!;) Their sons, John and Wayne would be with them of course and we’d take off to play while the adults laughed and chatted about the past week events. (Brothers & sisters) Mary was my Dad’s sister; my mother was Ralph’s sister. The bond was defiantly there among the families. Mary & Ralph had been considered the icon of the family. Ralph had been the eldest in the Honaker family, Mary the youngest in the Gillespie family. A model couple and parents, they were loved by every member in the family circle, respected highly in their small community as well. In many homes it was an honor to have them visit.

Mary for example, she was one of the very best seamstress' making all the clothes (her sewing machine buzzing)! The family was always dressed in style. One heck of a home decorator, beautiful knick-knacks always displayed with her home belonging to the "Better Homes and Gardens" magazine. (I recall John; Wayne and I were tiptoed as if we were in a china shop in the living room)!;) I’d spend a few weeks of the summer vacation there, with the boys and I playing in the yard until sundown. We’d become bored and decide to be mischievous and slip in the garden that daddy Ralph manicured and was so proud of. (The apples had not been enough for our crave)! It was as if daddy Ralph had eyes in his house because the moment we’d managed to grab a tomato, it was a guarantee that he’d see us and yell! Ok so we’d promise we’d stay away from the garden and play cops and robbers! John always had to be the cop, making Wayne and I the bad guys handcuffing us leaving, pretending to step in the house for water. (He seemed to take too long in returning)!

(Tell me children are not already molded in what they want to be as children). Oh but we really had fun in those days. Ok, so we became disgusted at John for the cop & robbers tactics, deciding to play instead with the cars & trunks under the house where it was cool as an air-conditioned area. Again, John wanted to be a "cop" and arrest Wayne and me with our cars for speeding! LOL The fights began under the porch with Wayne and I rejecting that we’d been speeding. Wayne and I began to plot ways of fixing OLE John!

Looking back at the sweet memories, John was wanting to be law abiding (the good guy) and Wayne and I wanted to be liberal, expressing with the small toy vehicles what we’d like to do!

Ralph, he was a businessman in every sense of the word, in management most of his life. His early years he'd worked in the coalmines. Both he and Mary played musical instruments, he’d played the guitar well and she played the banjo I hear! I’d never heard her play myself. I recall Ralph playing the guitar and singing the song old shep (provoking Wayne to cry). Lol Sensitivity appears to run in the family tree! Lol In his lifetime I’m sure Ralph felt he’d lived two lives in one. He’d fought a war and came home to raise a small family. He and Mary raised two fine sons, with them in turn raising their small families well. Ralph & Mary will always be remembered for their strength and loyalty toward others in stress and need. Mary could always comfort me with her sweet words.

How well I recall the tranquility as Mary and Ralph sit on the porch swing closely bonded talking with us, making us feel a part of the adult world we desperately wanted to be a part of. John, Wayne and I actually were asking serious questions, accepting the answers that their parents gave in wisdom.