Monthly Archives: May 2022

            1979 was my first year of high school.  As with most teenagers, I look at high school with fond memories but also with anxiety.  Making the cheerleading squad, club initiations and friends were great, but I also remembered not quite fitting in and feeling like I was outside the box.  I have such fond memories of my cheer mates from Vance to my senior year at Tennessee High.  Laura, Renee, Kelly, Karen K, Karen H, Sonja, Kristi, Kim, Linda, Pam, Melanie, Sharon and Megan.  If I didn’t have them, I think I would have fallen through the cracks.  I’ll never forget driving home from school one day and hitting a dog right next to King College (now it’s King University).  Laura L was right behind me.  She stopped her car and got out when she saw I was upset, consoling me and telling me it wasn’t my fault.  Her kind words helped me more than she’ll ever know.  They were all like that; kind and exemplary and I looked up to every one of them.

            Usually, you have that special friend that you love like no other.  Mine was Donna W.  We would coordinate our wardrobe and exchange outfits because we were both small.  We loved our painters’ overalls that weren’t white but in pastel colors.  We were such a preppy group with our cabled sweaters, oxford shirts, dock siders/top siders and add-a-bead necklaces.  Gloria Vanderbilt and Calvin Klein jeans, Polo sweaters and Izod shirts were in style too.  My aunt Sue gave me my first string of pearls in high school, and I fell in love with them.  Pearls are my favorite and I still wear them all the time.

            Before I got my license, daddy taught me how to drive a straight shift in Tara Hills.  Back then, all the roads had been paved but I don’t remember many houses.  We were sitting on one of the small inclines and I was trying to go forward but easing the clutch and the gas at the same time takes practice and I wasn’t so good yet.  I kept stalling and the car would die.  I told daddy “I can’t do it!” crying and carrying on like it was the end of the world.  He was so calm and never once got excited.  He said lots of calming words, telling me I could do it and eventually, I did.  Maybe he did, but I don’t remember my daddy ever yelling at me.  Mama would yell and fuss sometimes, but we would cry and then get over it.  I wish I could say I never yelled at my kids, but I’d be lying if I did.

            Mama and daddy bought me a car for my 16th birthday.  It was a baby blue Gremlin.  It looked like a piece of junk and if I remember correctly, they paid $700 for it but I can tell you, I was glad to have it.  The front fender was a mess, and all bent up.  It would stall right in the middle of the road for no reason!  But it was all mine, an automatic, and I loved it. 

            When I got my driver’s license my mama was scared that I would wreck so it took a lot of pleading on my part to drive by myself that first time.  I begged and begged to just drive from Stonegate to the little market across from Holston View.  I remember her finally relenting but telling me, “Don’t go over 25 mph!”  Of course, I was aggravated but I minded her.  When My boys got their driver’s license, I didn’t want to let them go either and finally understood how my own mother felt.  One of the hardest things you can ever do as a parent is to let go. 

            Back then if you had a driver’s license (or had a friend with a driver’s license) you could leave campus for lunch, but you had to drive like a maniac to be able to get back in time for your next class.  We had McDonalds, Wendy’s, Burger King fast food restaurants to choose from on Volunteer Parkway and there was also a food truck that sold burritos that we went to a lot.  When I was old enough, I got my first job at McDonalds (making $3.35 an hour) but mama would also give me $10 for gas and food and somehow and some way I made it through the week.  I was in popular demand in my neighborhood for babysitting, earning $1.00 per hour.  I just heard that the going rate for babysitting now is $18.50 per hour.  What?!!

            When I was 16 or 17, daddy had a new car.  He loved Toyota’s and Nissans (which he called Nice un’s).  Being a mechanic, he knew what cars were the best for the money.  I asked to take it out one day and he said I could.  It was parked in the front yard for some reason, and my brother’s car was parked on the driveway.  We lived on a steep hill.  As I was backing out, I hit my brother’s car, wrecking two cars at once.  Daddy didn’t even fuss at me, which I would have deserved if he had.

            My brother had a Nissan 310 GX.  We ended up trading cars my senior year of high school because he lost his job and couldn’t make the payments.  Other than it being a straight, I loved that car too.  On my brother’s 21st birthday, he took the old Gremlin out to the lake to meet his friends.  It backfired and burnt to the ground, along with all his birthday money.

            Tennessee High was a great school, and we had a lot of great teachers.  There was a smoking section for students in the back of the school if you needed a cigarette.  Ha-ha!  I wasn’t always the best student.  Today I would probably be diagnosed as having ADD or maybe even ADHD.  I had such a hard time paying attention, my mind wondering about anything but what the teacher was saying.  To this day, I take notes in Church and Sunday School so I will make myself pay attention

            One of the hardest classes I ever took was 9th grade Biology with Mr. Barker.  That was the first class I ever had that I had to study by my own notes.  I took Health Occupations when I was a senior.  I learned quickly that nursing wasn’t for me.  I was a bit queasy about things but not as bad as my brother.  He would gag and throw up if he smelled dog poop.  The only thing I did well in that class was make a hospital bed, right, Gwen? Gwen and I could fold those corners like nobody’s business. 

            Of course, I loved art class and Mrs. Grogg was great.  She was also our cheerleading sponsor.  I’m no great artist but I can draw a little.  I love to paint and do crafts.  Granny Cox found her love of painting late in life.  She started taking art classes in her 70’s and kept on painting until her fingers got too arthritic.  Grandaddy Cox use to build her easels and make frames for her paintings.  Daddy’s youngest brother, Jerry also loves to build things.  He makes the most beautiful boxes (which I call treasure boxes) with unique pieces of rare wood.  A lot of my cousins on my dad’s side of the family are artistic.  My cousin Patrick, who I still call “little Pat” because that’s what Granny called him, is an awesome photographer and my cousin Becky is an artist.  My cousin Patty was a dentist, but she also liked to paint.  My cousin Keith also learned of his love of art later in life.

           Grandma and Grandpa moved to Bristol when I was in the 7th grade.  Grandpa had retired but he had black lung by that time and every other kind of lung disease.  He had also been a smoker and had rolled his own cigarettes which didn’t have any filters.  Grandma never smoked but she said she would often roll and light his cigarettes for him.

            Grandma and Grandpa both loved Bristol, one as much as the other.  Grandma didn’t have to clean coal dust so much which was a real plus. Mama was tickled to death and helped them a lot with moving and getting adjusted to Bristol.  It was fun having them close by and eventually all moms’ sisters and brother moved to the area as well. 

            Grandma and Grandpa lived in a little house on Cannon Avenue and they were so proud to have it.  They had a big maple tree in their little front yard.  Grandpa couldn’t do much because he was on oxygen all the time, but Grandma liked to have a neat yard.  Grandpa would sit in his rocker next to the front window.  If he saw a leaf fall from the tree, he would say, “Lessie, another leaf fell.  You better run out there and get it.”  They didn’t have cold dust anymore but I guess since she was in the habit of hosing things off, she decided to hose off her driveway instead, whether it needed it or not.

            I met my good friend, Kim V. at Vance.  I was standing in line in the cafeteria when Mrs. Ford, my English teacher walked up with this cute, tall girl.  Mrs. Ford said, “Karen, here’s Kim.  She’s new here” and then walked off.  Well, I looked up at Kim and she looked down at me and we just hit it off.  I found out she lived right down the street from me.  We’ve been great friends ever since and I just love her mama, Nancy. 

            Mrs. Ford was one of my favorite teachers, as well as my art teacher, Mrs. Blanton.  I got in trouble in her class one time.  Some boys, I can’t remember who, thought it would be a great idea to put me in a locker and shut the door.  They weren’t really being mean, just acting up but Ms. Blanton was so mad when she opened the locker to let me out. 

            There was a science teacher at Vance that I’ll never forget, and not for any good reasons.  I won’t mention her name but to this day I get upset just thinking about it.  My Social Studies teacher asked me to take a note to her.  She wasn’t in her room and the kids were sitting quietly.  I saw a door that was some type of office/storage space located between rooms.  I looked in and saw her sitting at a desk smoking a cigarette.  When she saw me, she jumped up and began hollering, grabbed my arm and literally dragged me to the office, screaming at me the whole way.  I just about died.  I was crying because she scared me half to death and I didn’t know what I had done wrong.  She wasn’t my teacher so if they had a rule of not going in her office/storage room, I didn’t know anything about it.  I think the office staff was pretty shocked and didn’t say anything to me.  I eventually went back to my class and my teacher didn’t say much but I could tell he was angry, not at me but at her.

            Every summer we would go somewhere on vacation.  Lots of times we went to Virginia Beach, where we could visit Navy friends.  Mama and daddy had a brown Datsun with a hatchback.  Mama put the seats down and placed a foam mattress in the back.  The first couple of hours weren’t so bad but after a while my brother and I got tired of lying there and wanted to sit up.  I was so hot and miserable by the time that we got to the hotel that I couldn’t wait to get out of the car but mama wouldn’t let us.  We had to hide so they wouldn’t have to pay extra for kids. 

            Traveling was usually pretty fun.  My brother and I would sometimes act up, fighting and teasing each other.  One time at a hotel, my dad was already asleep but mom got aggravated at us so she made my brother get in the bed with my dad and mama was with me.  Eventually, we heard my brother giggling because daddy had turned over and put his arm around him thinking it was mama.  Daddy was not amused.

            Daddy had two things he loved to drink; black coffee and beer.  He worked hard and I guess he looked forward to his cold Pabst Blue Ribbon beer when he got home.  He got a tattoo when he was in the Navy.  It was supposed to be a kitten on his forearm but it had faded so much it wasn’t real obvious, especially as he got older.  He told me he had a few too many beers when he got it and it hurt real bad so he didn’t go back to let them finish it.

            During the summer before my fifth grade year, we moved again.  Mom and dad bought a house in Stonegate.  Part of the neighborhood was in Virginia and part of it was in Tennessee.  We were on the Tennessee side so we had to change schools once again.  This time we went to Holston View Elementary, home of the Mounties, and back then I didn’t have a clue what a Mountie was.  I think they’ve changed their mascot since then. 

            Holston View was different than any school I had been to.  They had pods.  Each pod had two grades in it and the classes were separated by partitions.  I don’t know how we got anything done with all that open space and noise.  We had carpet too.  We would all sit on the floor sometimes while the teacher tried to teach us.  For some reason each class had a mixture of 5th and 6th graders.  My 5th grade teacher was Ms. Shaw and my 6th grade teacher was Ms. Shankel who later became Mrs. Arnold. My boys also went to Holston View and Ms. Arnold was their teacher too.

            Once again I was the new kid.  One kid told me I was in the wrong Pod; that I should go with the other Kindergarteners.  Most kids don’t want to stand out; they just want to be like everyone else and I was no exception.  I’m sure I said unkind things too and never thought anything of it.  Children are overly honest and unfortunately not very tactful.  Thankfully most of us grow up. 

            One of my first friends in the fifth grade was Jackie W.  She was from up north (New York, maybe?) and she had a pretty pronounced accent.  She wore glasses, which probably made her self-conscious too.  I had my first boyfriend in the fifth grade.  His name was Greg A.  I don’t remember ever actually talking to him.  He asked me to be his girlfriend via Jackie.  At first I said no and then changed my mind because I did want to be his girlfriend.  Poor Jackie had to go back and forth until we made up our minds.  We would play on the playground on this huge climbing apparatus that would be labeled too dangerous today.  Greg and I would chase each other around outside but that was about it.

            Spike T was a little sweet on me and sent me flowers on my birthday that year.  Mama was very impressed.  He was a mess and he always called me Foxy Coxy, even through high school.  I would act like I was embarrassed but secretly I liked it.  I had a couple of other boyfriends, Steve and Blake but I don’t remember any other boyfriends until I was 16.

One of my favorite things to do was go to Skate Fun.  Sometimes when I hear a 70’s song it brings me back to skating, especially Jungle Love which I thought was Chug-A-Lug.  I was an adult (and not a young adult) before I finally realized that I had been singing it wrong for years.  Chug-a-lug, it’s driving me mad; it’s making me crazy, crazy!  Hahahaha!  It’s funny how you can sing a song for years and not even pay attention to what the lyrics were.  Later, you think, what?

            In the sixth grade, it was surprising but I was voted Miss Mountie.  As you can see by the pictures below I had pretty big teeth and it took a while for me to ‘grow’ into them.  I didn’t have any special talents.  I wasn’t the most athletic, most studious or most anything.  I had a part in one of the school plays (Bicentennial Skit) and my only line was “The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming!” I was riding backwards on the back of a ‘horse’ which was actually two people underneath a costume. I remember everyone laughing.  They only picked me for the part because I was the smallest and wouldn’t break anyone’s back.

            My special friends were Debbie D, Lisa T, Karla H, Teresa A, Angela B and Beth P.  Karla had this huge Barbie Dream house which I thought was the coolest ever.  We thought we were too big to play with Barbies but we did anyway.  At home I would make my own house.  The beds would be a book with a wash cloth for the bedspread and another rolled up for the pillows.  So, you can imagine how excited I was when I went to Karla’s house.  

            My English teacher, Ms. Peters, gave Beth and me detention once.  We deserved it because we had been talking and wouldn’t shut up; even after she told us a few times to be quiet.  She finally got fed up and yelled, “Beth, Karen, and DH!”  Well, I just about died of fright and cried my eyes out.  Bless her heart, Ms. Peters felt so bad that she told me I didn’t have to stay after for detention hall, which I really did deserve.   

            It was our house in Stonegate that we finally got cable.  Every day I would come home from school and see the cable truck (because everyone was getting cable) and wonder if we were next.  Mom had vowed she would never pay for television but she finally relented.  Daddy loved his television and music so we always had a good television set and stereo.  My brother and I also got Atari and we played Pong all the time.  We would move those paddles up and down the television screen, bouncing the little white ball, back and forth, back and forth.  It sounds pretty boring but we thought it was the greatest thing ever.    

Eventually, it was time to say goodbye to Harmon and move into our new house in Lowery Hills.  After retiring from the Navy, daddy got a job as a diesel Mechanic at Campbell Motors on Lee Highway which was where the Falls (exit 5) are now.  He let his hair grow out and he looked like Sonny Bono. 

 My brother and I went to High Point Elementary, our third school in one year.  I must have had the meanest third grade teacher alive.  She made me cry almost every day.  Moving around so much had put me a little behind in school and this teacher was mad, I guess, because she had to spend so much time to help me catch up.  She even threatened to hold me back a grade.  I don’t know what changed her mind but she let me move on, probably because she got tired of me crying or maybe she retired.  She was pretty old (or it seemed to me she was).  By the time I went to fourth grade, everything was fine.  I went from having the meanest teacher to having the nicest teacher, Miss Sorah.

I was a little shy back then, mostly because I had moved around so much and also because I was so small.  I don’t remember ever not being the shortest person in my class.  Other kids would give me a hard time about it.  “Why are you so short?”  Sometimes it would bother me and sometimes it wouldn’t but I was always self-conscious.  One day in the fourth grade we were taking turns spelling words out loud.  Wouldn’t you know that when it was my turn, my word was shrimp.  Of course, everyone laughed, even my sweet teacher.  I brushed it off and spelled the word correctly, but I’ll never forget how embarrassed I was.

My brother and I absolutely loved living in Lowry Hills because there were kids everywhere. Recently, my mom and I drove around the old neighborhood. Our house was in the very back next to a vacant, wooded lot that is still there today.  We were always building forts in those woods.  We had hammers and nails and old rugs we had confiscated from our parent’s garages.  I would sweep the paths with an old broom and swing on the huge vines.  I don’t know how we didn’t get hurt or end up covered in poison ivy rashes, but we didn’t.  The worst thing that happened to me was when my brother and I were playing King of the Mountain.  He pushed me and I broke my wrist when I fell backwards. 

Brother came home once smelling of cigarette smoke.  Mom lit into him and he finally admitted that he and his friend picked up some cigarette butts on the road and smoked them.  First of all, gross!  Second, he should have known that mom had a nose like a hound and would find out.  She was relentless too.  She would not let up until you confessed everything and then some just so she would leave you alone.  My father gave my brother a pocketknife one time and didn’t tell mom.  When she found it she had Kenny all tore up and had him convinced that he stole it! 

The house across the street from us had this old Basset Hound and she was the sweetest.  Every day we would visit her and play with her.  I loved her unlike the Irish Setter that lived down the street that was mean.  I was on my way to visit my best friend Mary when it caught site of me and chased me around the cars in the driveway while I screamed bloody murder. 

 Mary and her brothers lived a couple of doors down from us.  All the kids on our street met at their house to catch the bus for school.  We would play games like Red Rover or Dodgeball on the driveway next door because it didn’t have any cars on it.  We would be all sweaty by the time the bus came to pick us up and cart us off to school.  Unlike kids today, we were always outside.  We didn’t have cable or video games so outside was the most fun. 

 Our mothers would pack our lunches so that Mary and I could go exploring during the summers.  I still can smell my white lunchbox with Woodstock on it.  You know that smell.  They all had it.  One time, we ran across some teenage boys in the woods that were up to no good.  I thought they were nice because they were being extra nice to us.  I didn’t have sense enough to tell my parents but Mary did, thank goodness. 

One of my best memories is swimming at the Springlake Swim and Tennis Club.  Boy, did we have fun there.  Our moms would drop us off and Mary and I would hang out all day long.  If we were lucky our moms gave us money for the snack bar which had the best cheeseburgers that you ever put in your mouth.  KC and The Sunshine Band was real popular which was pretty cool since those were my initials.  We would put quarters in the jukebox and play Shake Your Bootie and would laugh and laugh.  We didn’t know anything about the sun being harmful and sunscreen certainly wasn’t a thing back then.  I don’t remember ever having a sunburn but I do remember being very dark by the end of the summer and my hair would be almost blonde. 

In 1975 Jaws was released in the theaters.  My mother took my brother and I to the old Cameo Theater in downtown Bristol.  I was so scared as was my brother.  We both ended up in her lap before the movie was over.  That was one of the first movies I ever went to that I can remember.