BRENDA'S MUSINGS OF THE PAST
Brenda WILLIS Roads/Barnes
Brenda was born Nov. 14, 1943, and grew up in Southern IL. She is the dau. of Joseph Nathan "Ted" WILLIS and Lena Jones, and the grand daughter of Fred and Laura WILLIS. The following is a collection of stories written either while she was still in school, or in later musings. Enjoy!
WHAT MEMORIAL DAY MEANS TO ME
By Brenda Willis
"Well, Memorial days a commin". I would hear my Grandma say. "I'm a hopen the Iris and 'Piniees' will be bloomin". don' t look so good today" The Iris almost always bloomed, the Piniees opened wide, Tulips were budding and all was well in Grandma' s world.
The family cut for hours to fill bushel baskets. The family gathered round to listen as Grandpa laid the route, all were there, that was the rule. We trudged old cemeteries, cut weeds and thorns from graves. We would be gone til dark, and even the smallest child knew you were there to Remember and listen and not to play.
Tears and flowers were left at each and every place. Grandma and Grandpa told many tales of all their yesterdays. Some graves had no markers then backs were put to trees, Uncles stepped forth the required number of paces, Ten to East, four to North, you heard Grandpa call.
At noon we would spread blanks and eat lunch, scratch mosquito bites and hope the itch on your arm wasn' t poison ivy! By days end we knew so many names and could almost see their faces. Grandma Willis was always exhausted but happy as we threw the last empty basket in someone\' s truck and headed home.
REMEMBERING GRANDMA WILLIS
BAREFOOT SHE MOVES THROUGHOUT HEAVEN
HER APRON FLOWS SOFTLY IN THE AIR
A THIN STRAND OF HIS PUREST GOLD
HOLDS BACK HER SILVERY WHITE HAIR
IT SEEMS SO LONG SINCE YOU LEFT US
AND YET, WE HAVE NEVER TRUELY BEEN APART
FOR YOUR LOVE, IT ALWAYS STAYS WITH US
IT IS KEPT SAFE DOWN DEEP IN OUR HEART
(Written for a contest right after Grandma Willis died. Won $50.00 for it! Of course, you have to know.. Grandma was mostly barefooted, wore an apron and always had a string tied to keep her hair out of her eyes. Brenda Barnes)
ONLY IN THE WILLIS CLAN!
Grandma Willis, you loved her or you didn't. Was your choice, didn't matter a "hill of beans" to her!
She had ten boys most of them were married at least two times. If she liked a daughter-in-law, she liked her even after a divorce. At reunions and family gatherings, this made for some pretty strange combinations. Some "present" wives came because they wanted to know what was going on. Other "present" wives would not come because the other 'she' was invited. Grandpa Willis was generally disagreeable with everyone so, it made little difference to him.
My father, Ted Willis, remarried to a woman we loved and called "Aunt Martha" because all the other kids called her that. Once, they picked up my mother, Lena and us four kids to take us to Grandma's house. Dad was drinking, as per usual. A policeman stopped us, as it seemed he was taking his half of the road out of the middle!
The policeman stuck his head in the window and asked, "just who are all of these people?" I can remember like it was yesterday, Dad cleared his throat and pointed to Aunt Martha this is my wife, (and then to Mother) my ex-wife and them are my kids. The policeman scratched his head, patted Dad on the arm and said, brother, just try and be more careful, with a carload like that, I would need a drink too!
Cooking with Four Generations of our family
Turkey and Ham
Corn On the Cob
White and Sweet Potatoes
Rolls-Butter-Jelly
Cherry and Peach Pie
1st Generation Laura Willis
It was the evening before the day her sister and brother-in-law were due to come for dinner "Fred, did one of the men shoot a wild Turkey today?" Yes? Good, is it in the smokehouse?" Out she went to the place where she heated water for washday. She filled the big kettle with water from the well. When the water boiled, she dunked the turkey up and down and pulled feathers out. She them cleaned the remaining "innards" from the turkey and took it to the house.
Enough wood had been put in the stove and the over was ready. She would cook the turkey slowly through the night. "Fred, would you bring in the Ham now?" He brought the Ham to the back porch where he took a big knife and sliced off the "fuzz" (mold) that had grown on it while hanging in the smokehouse. Grandma Willis finished cleaning the ham and put it in the oven with the Turkey. "One of you boys go to the root cellar and get me some taters and some sweet taters, NOW!" When they returned, she peeled both kinds of potatoes and put them in water on the back porch to be ready for the morning.
"One of you go out to the corn field and see if the corn is ready to eat yet. Don't you go bringin me any fit only for the cows to eat. Shuck it out by the shed, don't bring that mess in here."
When they returned, she sent them back to "silk" it and get it all clean. She then put it in a pan and filled the pan with water from the bucket. This she also put on the back porch. She went out to the well to draw more water, supper dishes were yet to do and the buckets from the milkin would need to be washed.
A trip to the pantry to get flour and lard for bread making was the next thing she had to do. She always liked to bake in the cool of the day.
Late last night after the milkin was done, she had one of the boys bring some cream in, and she had sat in the darkness of the kitchen and churned four pats of butter. The Jelly she had made last week, the fruit all seemed to come ready at once. The daughter-in-laws would be there to help "do it up" over the weekend.
She set the dough to raise for the bread and then made pie crust for six pies, three peach and three cherry. The boys hated picking the fruit and getting it ready to can. They had had good luck this year. That meant lots of Jam and fruit for the winter. She rummaged it the pantry and found two jars of jelly from last year. She put butter and Jam in the icebox, yes, there was still a bit of ice left and it would stay cool until needed. The rest of the butter would go in an oilcloth bag, tied on a rope and put down the well to stay cool.
Before she went to bed the bread and pies would be baked. The meat would be slowly cooking in the oven; she would have to get up once in the night to add more wood to the stove. Everything else would be waiting on the screened in porch to finishing in the morning.
2nd Generation Lena Jones Willis (Ted' s wife)
It was five in the morning. "Did you buy ham and a turkey while you were out? Good, is it in the kitchen?" He had come home full of beer, as usual and she was afraid he had forgotten. Mom and Dad Willis were coming for dinner today.
She checked the Kerosene tank at the end of the Cook Stove to see if it was full. She rinsed the turkey and the ham, put each in a big blue enamel roaster in the oven. She sent one of the boys out to the edge of a neighbor's cornfield to pick some corn. She hoped no one was looking out the window of the owner's house! She helped clean it out by the burning barrel, took it in and put it in water to keep until later.
From the shed out back she got some sweet potatoes and regular potatoes. She prepared them to be cooked, went to the sink and pumped water over them to keep fresh until later. She had traded eggs for Bread and Butter at the neighbors. She went to the basement and brought up some peach and cherry jelly she had made from fruit gotten from the trees by Grandpa Jones' house. There were two pies, peach and cherry, also made from that same fruit.
3rd Generation Brenda Willis Roads Barnes
It was five thirty in the morning. On the counter were a turkey from Piggly Wiggly and a ham from the Roads "butchering". They had just picked the meat up at the butchers yesterday and dropped off some on their way home.
The propane tanks had been filled with gas two days ago so there was no worry there. The turkey was wrapped in foil, placed in a pan and put in a 325 degree over. The ham needed less time to cook so would be added later.
Brenda went to the garden out back and picked some Sweet Corn, cleaned it by the trashcan and brought it in the house. It was wrapped in Saran Wrap and put in the crisper in the refrigerator.
Potatoes, both regular and sweet were gotten from burlap bags in the basement and prepared. She ran water over them from the faucet and put them in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
She had baked two loaves of bread last night. She was trying the newfangled way, it came frozen and all you did was let it rise as it thawed. She sat a pound of butter out to get soft for the meal.
There were two kinds of Jam, peach and cherry, she had made last year because it really was better than "store bought". The pies, also peach and cherry sat cooling on racks by the window. She had used a pie filling mix and hoped Mom Roads wouldn't be offended. Dad Roads was sure to grumble.
4th Generation Stacie Roads Sommer
It was six in the morning. "Skip did you buy turkey and ham? Good." She put the Turkey, it was already cleaned and basted, put into a "browning bag and then into the Electric Roaster Oven. The ham, fully cooked would be popped into the Microwave to be heated just before her company arrived.
She opened a big can of Sweet Potatoes and set a box of instant potatoes on the counter. In the freezer, she found enough sweet corn for the meal. That could be wrapped in wax paper, put in the Microwave for a couple of minutes and it would be done.
Thank goodness there were two tins of Pillsbury Dinner rolls. She put them on a cookie sheet and put them in the toaster oven. The soft margarine and two kinds of Jelly, peach and cherry she had bought at the Quick Stop last night.
She put the Mrs. Smith frozen pies, peach and cherry, in to the oven to bake.
FYI
It is now the year 2000 and all my children are grown and seldom get home for holidays. We now "GO OUT TO EAT!" There is my husband, Robert Barnes and my brother Jerry Willis and myself. We can eat out on far less money than we can buy all the fixens" for a meal.
(Brenda lives in Galesburg, IL with her husband, Bob, and brother, Jerry)