<TITLE>19. Par 70-74</TITLE>L-70  I said, "Charlie, look," I said, "I can't make her a living the way you do." I said, "I--I--I'm only making twenty cents an hour." I said, "I--I can't make her... But Charlie, I love her with all my heart, and I'll work as hard as I can to make her a living."
He put his hand on my shoulder, a fine man, said, "Billy, I'd rather you have her than anybody I know of." He said, "You'll be good to her. And after all, happiness don't consist of how much the world's good you own." That's right, friend.
And I said, "Charlie, we'll be happy."
And he said, "Well, I hope that you are, Billy." And he said, "Be good to her."
I said, "I will."
He said, "I'm glad to know that you're going to get married."

L-71  When we were married, we were happy. And oh, my, we didn't have nothing. I remember when we went to housekeeping, we rented two rooms, and I went out and bought an old second hand cooking stove, and I paid a dollar and seventy-five cents for it and paid a dollar for the grates to go in it. Somewhere I went to Sears and Roebucks and got one of them tables, breakfast sets that's not painted. And I remember I painted a big shamrock on it, 'cause I was Irish. I painted a big shamrock on it; she just laughed about it.
We had an old folding bed. Anybody know what a folding bed is? Somebody give it to us and we had two linoleum rugs, and an old folding bed. We went to housekeeping, but brother, it was home. We had each other and that's all we cared for.

L-72  I become a minister and was preaching the Gospel then, and I had a little church and was preaching the Gospel. I didn't make very much. And after awhile God blessed us in our home, and my little Billy Paul, which is setting back there in the audience, come on the scene. I asked God to give me a little boy, and when he was born in the hospital, I first heard him scream in the room, delivery room; I said, "Lord, it's a boy, and I now give him to you. His name shall be called Billy Paul." And the doctor come out in a few minutes, said, "You have a fine boy in there. You like to see him?"
I said, "Yes, his name is Billy Paul." And so he come out and here he is with me today."

L-73  Went on and we struggled and worked and tried to make a living and go on the best we could. I'll hurry right through now as quick as possible to this tear strained part.
And then, why we're doing fine. We saved our money. I was still paying for my old Ford. And I--I remember, we got a time where we was--I could go up to Dowagiac, Michigan. Old Brother Ryan, he's somewhere in here today. I believe you'll see him along here. He's coming in. He's an old man. I used to thought he belonged to the House of David, 'cause he had a long beard and hair. I went to see him at Michigan to fish a little while. We'd saved our money, and she wanted to stay home 'cause they had a--a working group in the church, and she couldn't leave to go with me. And I could drive. It was about two hundred or better miles up there. I went up and spent two or three days fishing.

L-74  And on my road back, I passed through Mishawaka, Indiana. And there was a people out there, and the worst church manners I ever seen in my life: they were screaming and...?... Well, I never seen anything act like that. So I thought, "I believe I'll see." And it was a Pentecostal group of people. The minister was named Raugh, where they was holding... Might somebody might know Reverend Mr. Raugh from Mishawaka, Indiana.
And they had a Pentecostal group. Well, I went and stopped and went to the door and police was directing the traffic on the outside. They was all up and down through there, and those people were clapping their hands, and screaming, and running up and down the aisles and shouting. I thought, "My, my, what a group." Why have you heard that little song, "Something got a hold of me"? It beginning to work on me a little bit, you know. Well, I thought, "Well..."


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