<TITLE>23. Par 87-89</TITLE>L-87  Next thing we had to tell our parents then. And I went and told my mama here. Of course mama, it's all right with her. I'm thankful for a good mother and said, "Sure, honey, God bless you."
Then we had to go. And this time her father and mother had separated, so I had to go to her mother. And when I went to her mother, she said, "William..."
Oh, my. I knew what was up. She said, "You cannot take my daughter."
I said, "Look, a... Look, them's the nicest bunch of people."
She said, "I've heard of that bunch of people; they're holy rollers." Then she said, "You're not pulling my girl out across this world. Today she's got something to eat and tomorrow she's starving amongst that bunch of trash." And brother, I come to find out this, and I say it from my heart. "What she called trash is the cream of the crop." That's exactly right. I say that with reverence. That's true. Now.

L-88  She said... And I said, "Well, she's my wife and she wants you..."
She said, "Well, mama, I want..." Well, there it was.
And I said... She started... She said, "Well, if she goes, her mother will go to the grave broken hearted." And the wife started crying.
Well now, I couldn't stand that, so I told her; I said, "Well, we'll wait and go later." Now, there's where I made my mistake." Now, if I would have went on, this gift would have been in operation way before that, 'cause I'd come amongst people who would recognize it. You see? But I said, "Well, we won't go."
And brother, sister, from right then my trouble started. The first thing, you know, my church begin to drop off. My brother was killed, having his neck broke in the street. He was riding in a car like this with his arm out; his neck was broke; his blood poured out on my other brother's body. And I run to meet him, but it was too far, died before I could get to him. My sister-in-law died a few days after that. My father died in my arms. Everything begin to go wrong.
Then the '37 Flood came on. You heard about it, many of you on your radios and things. The Ohio River, spread out through the country.

L-89  My wife taken pneumonia. Little old Dr. Adair, I shall never forget him. He come. We're buddies. We'd fish together, and hunt together, and everything: one of the best doctors, medical doctors there is in the country. And he... We went to school together. He come up there and looked at her, said, "Billy," said, "that girl's got pneumonia." I'd just taken him his Christmas present. He--he never...
God had give us a little girl between that time, little Sharon Rose. I couldn't call her the Rose of Sharon, but I could call her Sharon Rose. And I called her Sharon Rose. And God gave her to us and she was a sweet little lump, and we just loved her so much. And she'd just got to a place to where, the mother would set her in her little, the "four corners," you know, out in the yard, and I'd come up, and I'd blow the horn on the car like that. She'd recognize and lift her little arms and go, "Goo, goo, goo, goo." My, how I loved that little lump of human flesh. I'd hold her in my bosom and kiss her and love her. My little boy...
I just love little children, and God had give them to me. And I'd put them both on my back and piggyback and ride around, you know, just as happy as we could be, nothing...?... but just... She had just the two children in a little over two years. And then...


<A HREF="P24">Next Page</A>