(This is the continuation of last week’s story titled “From Dust Thou Art”.)

It was after Bella had put the little Mosley aunts to bed and had turned in herself before Mother Maggie returned. She talked quietly to Pa Fain, so quietly that Bella tiptoed out of her bed and hid behind the living room door to hear what was being said. Bella was so curious to know what had happened to Della that she felt she could not sleep if she didn’t know. Sneaking like this was dangerous, for if Pa Fain had caught her, his belt strap would have given her backside a reminder not to snoop that would have lasted for at least a week.

(This is the continuation of the story I began two weeks ago titled “A Child Shall Lead”.)

“What do you mean somethin’s wrong with Dellie?” crossly questioned Granny Evie Tatum.

“She started hurtin’ early this mornin’. She left Evelyn to look after the other kids while I tried to lead her here. But she got to hurtin’ so bad that she made me leave her propped up against a stump while I run here to get you and Uncle Iv.”

Last week I wrote Part One of a story I hope you found to be enjoyable. I promised to write the second part this week, but other inspiration in light of COVID-19 has come to my mind.
When I was a young boy, my father was friends with Earn Hendrix, a blind gentleman who lived with his elderly mother on Dotson Creek, very close to my Great-Aunt Minnie and Uncle Jim Yadon. Aunt Minnie was sister to my grandfather Charlie Sampson.

Oh, Lord, please help me get there before it’s too late. This and many similar thoughts swam through the nearly delirious Della Maude’s mind as she struggled through the thick brown bed of fallen leaves. She stumbled many times and would have fallen had it not been for the support and steadying hand of her husband’s niece, Bella.

The date is Monday, March 16, 2020. As I write this article, the county, state, nation and world is in a state of unrest due to Coronavirus. Today the U. S. Stock Market took its sharpest dive since 1987, when Ronald Reagan was president. Amazing to me, especially as it was just a few days ago that it showed a dramatic one day increase! This is just evidence of how fast things change in an uncertain and fearful world.

I still have the first dictionary I ever owned. Ms. Wanza Sharp gave it to me in fourth grade. It was missing both front and back covers, and the first and last few pages were missing. I still have it safely tucked away in my home library archives. The dictionary is precious because it was one of the first books I ever owned, and Ms. Wanza, one of my all-time heroes both in and out of the classroom, gave it to me. Also, I spent many a day playing school with that wonderful volume.

Have you ever felt like just getting away from it all? Perhaps in moments of trouble or frustration you, like I, have thought how wonderful it would be just to keep driving in the direction you were going, turning away from all the job struggles, family worries, quarrelsome friends, and debt.

I found inspiration for this week’s article in a conversation with my most capable administrative assistant. We were discussing what we had done over the weekend, and she said that she had participated in a Rainbow vacuum cleaner sales demonstration.

What is it that makes one wise? Most remember the old saying that has pretty much become a cliché:

Early to bed, and early to rise
Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise

Ah, the summer of 1983! Alas, I remember it well. It was the last summer before I became an undergraduate at Lincoln Memorial University. Oh, how I looked forward to being surrounded for four years in an environment completely saturated with Lincoln lore and memorabilia. In the entire time I lived on the Harrogate campus, I never tired of seeing Lincoln everywhere I turned. I was in heaven on earth!