Part 8: I was borned a coal miner’s granddaughter but my daddy joined the Navy

           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.