a real lady

Esther Ophelia Davidson

This is my mother at sixteen years old.  I believe this photo was taken while visiting her namesake Aunt Esther (Covington) during her trip to Biloxi, MS.  Mother never mentioned other trips of her youth other than the Biloxi adventure.  It's apparent she turned a lot of heads of our servicemen during that trip.  She was a real looker.

Back in 1988, I was shooting a video for Gadsden Museum of Arts that featured the late Leo Reynolds.  Leo was a well known artist in the Etowah County area.  During our taping, he asked me if I was one of Esther Finlayson's children.  He put down his brush, sighed and leaned back in his chair.  He started talking about his youth around the Davidson children, sharing sweet memories of his childhood.  He expressed his adoration for my Esther, what a wonderful person she was.  Of course I agreed.

"She's a real lady".  Leo said that two or three times during that visit.  Of course I agreed.

Rutha at Twenty

Rutha Wait Finlayson
Lander College, 1925

" Rutha possesses a laughing sunny disposition and rare musical talents.  She has the art of so adapting herself that she is in harmony with her surroundings."
-Lander College Annual

Miss Rutha Wait Finlayson was soon to become Mrs. Ernest Dyal, soon to become widowed by twenty-two.  I remember her voice and her laughter, her deep love for music.  Her sunny disposition though was wounded when the bullet passed through her husband's head and he fell lifeless into her lap. She never married again.

I knew Rutha, but not the adaptable woman who was described "in harmony with her surroundings".  She went on afterward, taught voice and piano like her mother.  She lived on, kept her faith and laughed ~ but there was always an anxiousness about her.

I try not to remember her merely for that tragedy, but that sad shadow was always about her. Whenever our Columbia kin came for a visit, we were told to put away all our toy guns. We all did our part to keep that shadow to the back of her. 

One day we'll meet Rutha anew.  We'll see her without the shadow, long since adapted to the harmony that is experienced in Heaven's light.  We shall soon see her smile like we've never saw it here.


"Oh, there is something in that voice that reaches the innermost recesses of my spirit!"

Miss. Jennie Wait Foster, Pianoforte

My paternal grandmother, before she met my grandfather, was pictured among the faculty of Columbia College in the their first yearbook (The Columbian) ever published for the college in 1904. At that time, Columbia College had just moved to it's new location in North Columbia.  The college changed it's name from Columbia Female College in 1905, which was the same year she married my grandfather. 

The college was founded in 1854 and officially opened in 1859 and is among the oldest women's colleges in the United States. The college closed in 1865, when Sherman's troops marched through Columbia.  Professor of  Music W.H. Orchard saved the college from being burned to the ground by standing in the doorway of the college where he could be seen by the Union troops. The college reopened in 1873.

Miss Foster left her position and married a dry goods merchant, Mr. Burruss Finlayson, and made her home in Cheraw, South Carolina. She resumed teaching piano and voice from the Finlayson residence as she raised seven children.  All of those Finlayson children loved to sing just like their mother.

About thirty years ago, after playing a concert in Macon, Georgia, Dizzy Gillespie and Patillo Ainsworth Finlayson (Uncle Pat) met and had a moment to chat.  Both Pat and Dizzy had been friends as youth before the war ~ having worked as ushers at  Lyric Theatre.   Dizzy asked about all Pat's siblings, and expressed his high regard and praise for Cheraw's voice and piano teacher ~ Mrs. Burruss Finlayson. 

JENNIE WAIT FOSTER

no one here

i come here
no one there
just familiar names
of two i loved and love
it is just a mile marker
of souls who passed through here
now somewhere else
no longer slumbering
amid the quiet
rather elsewhere celebrating together
dwelling where we had all rather be

Home

with you

Some stories must be told

Gina has been asking me to write my stories, but I don't think she's ever read my blog.  I've written many life stories here at Long Journey Home and at the Boomerville, USA blog.  There are certain stories that just can't be written, but must be told for the best effect...like that time I accidentally let Dad roll down hill in his wheelchair or that Halloween that I passed a creepy dummy off as my grandfather while on a date.  Some stories just have to be told.

seek what is true

Are you practicing confirmation bias? Are you genuinely seeking to confirm evidence rather than the evidence that will dis-confirm your point of view? Are you willing to go there?

An open minded individual doesn't reject information that endangers one's position. The open minded individual seeks what is true ~ rather than ignore/downplay evidence that threatens to undermine his or her ideology.

Seek what is true, even if it's uncomfortable. Pride can keep us ignorant. Pride keeps us from truly learning. Pride keeps us apart.

Wherever we are ~ let's start with an humble heart and go from there.
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.
~Proverbs 11:2

Wicked Witch of The West Wing

During a speech this week, Hillary made an analogy relating her opposition on the right as characters from The Wizard of Oz. She scoffed, "lots of sound and fury, even a fog machine. But when you pulled back the curtain it was just Donald Trump with nothing to offer to the American people".

If you recall, The Great & Powerful Wizard wasn't all he said he was, but did come through in the end. In his own way, The Wizard couldn't offer a magic answer, but was able to give the main characters what they needed. Did he not have a way to get Dorothy back to Kansas? The Wizard was a good guy in this story.

Once upon a time John McCain referred to the Tea Party as "Tea Party Hobbits". To John, this was supposed to be a clever disparaging insult at his opposition. Yet it was the Hobbits in Tolkien's epic tale who were the heroes that saved Middle-earth. So if the Tea Party are Hobbits, what does that make John McCain, a tool of Mordor?

Hillary should've thought her analogy through thoroughly before opening her mouth. If Trump is The Wizard, then whose character in this story is she?

two thumbs up and five gold stars

I purchased my Bose Soundlink a year ago.  This is a great little Bluetooth speaker that puts out a lot of sound, not just a lot, but a full sound.  I usually use it with my iphone 6, but have used it as my laptop speaker.  My wife enjoys watching Netflix shows on her Kindle Fire, my daughter has enjoyed listening to music on her iPad.  The Bose Color Soundlink can connect up to eight devices.  If you're a massage therapist, this little speaker won't take up space in your work area, and it's ideal when you have to take your show on the road.  The Soundlink comes in various colors.  I chose red so I lessen the chance of leaving behind.  I take this little speaker almost everywhere I go.  I usually purchase black, but I knew I'd be more apt to lose it if I went that route.

Bose is just as renown for sound quality as they are packing a lot of sound into a small package.  The average retail is $130.00.  I bought my Bose at Best Buy and it was worth every penny.  The speaker comes with a heavy duty wall charger/USB cable.  I recommend you pick up an 1/8th inch speaker cable just in case you have need run it to a Bluetoothless computer.  The rechargeable lithium-ion battery lasts up to eight hours. That's a lot of listening pleasure!

I'm not a tech savvy guy, so being easy to operate is also a big plus. This unit is very user friendly.

two incredible souls

I got a job in Huntsville April of last year.  My home is an hour and a half away from that job.  I had been spending a little over three hours drive time to and from that job month after month until Rick and Beckie graciously invited me into their home.  They were insistent about me treating their home as my home and not act as a guest.  They really meant it. They made me feel like family, and I still feel like they are indeed family.

I had to quit my job at Virginia College due to my health.  I haven't been back up there since I fell ill. My clothes are still hanging in Rick and Beckie's closet.  I've got to get back up there and pick up the gear I left behind. They said that it's not in their way, that there's no hurry.  I know that even when my stuff is gone, a part of me will remain. My mind regularly wanders northward of here, what's happening at school, what's happening at my other home.

I'll miss that big marble table, heated by the space heater, that we all seemed to draw toward at the end of every day.  It seems the heart of their home.  Every night Captain Kangaroo' (their long-legged cat) would be drawn to Beckie's lap.  Rick would often light up his pipe and we'd drift into deep conversations for hours on end.  I will miss those talks about music, life and God.

Life is all about change. You never know when change will take place, but we must be willing to roll with each day.  I know a good season is behind me.  The experience was hard but pleasant.  I'll move on with this change, let go of what is now over, but not my love for these two incredible souls.  We will see each other, but not as much as before.  I love you two.  I was blessed to be welcomed into your family.  I am blessed to have had you in my life.

My Chick-fil-A Daze

I never had a Chick-fil-A sandwich before I got the job at Chick-fil-A.  Maybe it's because, in those days, I rarely went to the mall.  I went to the mall one day back in 1984 looking for a job.  I went from one end to the other filling out applications with little luck  I didn't even think of Chick-fil-A.  In fact, I had called it quits and was on my way out of the Gadsden Mall to go home.

Then, I heard someone call my name.  When I looked to my right, I saw this bright eyed girl smiling and waving at me from behind the counter of that chicken joint.  I knew that I had seen her at Christian Brothers Coffeehouse, but couldn't remember her name.  I met countless people through Christian Brothers as a host, people would know my name but unfortunately, I couldn't remember all of their names.  She was one of them.   I replied with a "Hi!" and walked over to her.  The conversation was brief.  She asked me what I was up to.  I told her that I had been looking for a job.  "Would you like to work here",  "Sure, that would be great!", I replied.  She said, "Give me a minute and let me go up and talk to Steve real quick." I still didn't know her name and was feeling sort of embarrassed that I couldn't recall it.  I was relieved when the manager, Steve Plimpton, came down and gave me both her name and the job I needed.  He said something like "Gina tells me you'd like to join our team, and if Gina recommends you, I'll hire you."

Her name is Gina.

I started on a very busy Friday night.  Back in those days, it seemed like every person in Etowah County was at the Gadsden Mall - they probably were.  It was even crowded behind the counter with all the staff in those narrow work spaces.  Associates behind every register with a couple of people on the board filling the orders. The kitchen was just as busy.  It was so busy that first night that I felt very much in the way.  I was given the task of cleaning restrooms, filling the ice chests up front from the ice maker in the kitchen.  I squeezed a ton of lemons and was taught how to make that incredible Chick-fil-A lemonade.  People would put me on task and then leave me to figure things out.

I always looked forward to working with that girl Gina.  She pretty much trained me in the ways of Chick-fil-A.  I saw that she was very friendly and patient person.  She was a hard worker.  She was a very honest person.  Of course I took interest, but didn't say anything.  She was involved in someone else at the time.  Gina eventually got a job at Eckerd Drug, not the one next door, but the one in Alabama City.  I didn't see her as much after she left.

I guess I worked at Chick-fil-A for about a year of my life.  I hustled at that job.  If I didn't have something to do, I'd find something to do.  It was overall a good experience. The fun times were closing up shop, when the mall was empty and a few of the associates would lock ourselves in to break it all down and clean up.  I met Jerry Connell while working for Chick-fil-A.  I especially enjoyed closing with Jerry.  He'd clean the kitchen and I'd clean the front. We enjoyed each others sense of humor and laughed and laughed as we worked. We'd often hit a movie if we finished up on time. We are still dear friends today.

One day that girl Gina dropped by Chick-fil-A.  She asked me how the job was doing and I said "okay".  I could do with a change.  She asked me if I'd be interested in working at Eckerds.  Well, it worked out great the first time she asked me if I wanted a job. Once again, I was learning a new job with that pretty girl teaching me the ropes again.  It took me a while to express my interest in her.  I waited a while after she became un-involved with that guy.  She never seemed in need of a date. 

Well.

Eventually we'd venture out after work as a group of friends to eat or see a movie. Eventually, I asked her to go to a movie by ourselves.  Eventually she became my girl - and eventually my wife.