The Life of Me: An AutobiographyJohnson, Clarence Edgar
History
The Life of Me: An Autobiography
Johnson, Clarence Edgar
Fisher County (Tex.) -- Biography; Fisher County (Tex.) -- History; Johnson family; Johnson, Clarence Edgar, 1906-1994
Anyhow, he could do light odd jobs about the farm. There were
always outside chores to be done. We kids were glad to have him
help us do them. And he kept us kids company at times when there
was no work to be done.
But Grandpa was much more of a stranger to us than Grandma
Johnson was. She lived only a half-mile away; we grew up with
her. But I guess we hadn't seen Grandpa Gaddie more than once or
twice before he came to live with us.
Grandpa was never much of a bother in any way. He was never
bedfast and never had to be waited on. It didn't take much to
feed him. We raised almost everything we ate and he brought
plenty of clothing with him when he came. The entire family
didn't require much money, and we had plenty of other things in
life.
Grandpa was agreeable and compatible. He was never grouchy. He
had a room and a bed of his own in our home and he soon became
just one of the family and was accepted by all of us.
Then one morning Grandpa didn't come to breakfast. A knock on
his door brought no answer. Had he slipped out and gone for a
walk? No one had noticed him out anywhere. This was unusual for
Grandpa. He was usually there on time for meals so the rest of
us wouldn't have to wait for him. In our home no one ever
started helping his plate at meal time until all were seated and
the blessing was asked.
Papa knocked on Grandpa's door again, then he called to him, but
there was still no answer. As Mama and Papa opened the door to
his room, there he was, still in bed, still asleep--but he was
not breathing. It seemed that Grandpa just went to sleep and
didn't wake up.
Papa went to Hamlin that morning in a wagon and brought back a
casket. The women dressed Grandpa in his best suit. Some men
went to the graveyard and dug a grave. Others went to tell the
preacher, and found him plowing in his field. He stopped plowing
and went home to clean up and eat dinner.
Grandpa was placed in his casket and loaded into a wagon. Then
about three o'clock we drove him to the Neinda graveyard where
the preacher and other friends were gathered. And there, that
afternoon, we laid him away in his final resting place.
It's amazing sometimes, how a very little thing can stick in the
memory of a little boy, and that's the way it was this time, just
a simple little statement made by an older brother one morning--a
couple of mornings after we had buried Grandpa. Four of us boys
slept in the west room of our home, the room usually referred to
as "the boys room." We boys were getting out of bed and getting
dressed when Frank said, "Well, Grandpa's in heaven by now."
That was all he said. That was enough. After that, an air of
reverence filled the room. And as we finished dressing, we left
the room one by one, in complete silence. Frank had no way of
knowing how much I honored and respected him for that little
statement and the thought that went with it. I was too young and
timid to know how to tell him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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