I think I’ll call my memoir: Sponge rollers, Vap-O-Rub and Revivals: A Girl Grows Up in the South. It’s catchy and so true.

My parents were convinced that “Vicks” Vap-O-Rub cured everything from colds to bad perms. Sponge rollers were a staple in our house and revivals, well, that speaks for itself.

The South I grew up in was made up of holiday sleepovers with my cousins, church gatherings, perms, Smoky Mountain vacations, bicycle riding till dark, running around barefoot all summer, eating sour grass and fresh green beans from the garden. Everybody was welcome at our revivals and at the Sunday dinner table.

Everybody pitched in to help family and our neighbors (who were like family) when needed. You could always find a group of guys standing around somebody’s car that needed “fixin”.

Seems like my mother always had something in the oven or on the stove. We never went hungry, that’s for sure. Vacations were no exception — we packed up the food and took it with us. Restaurants weren’t as plentiful in the 60’s and 70’s and my mom wasn’t too much on eating anywhere she deemed questionable. She compared them all to her own kitchen. If they had let her inspect the restaurants, I’m sure we would have eaten out more often.

On the way home from one vacation trip I got a little carsick sitting in the backseat between my cousins. Not to worry! My dad stopped beside the road, mom and my aunt whipped out the leftovers and made me a green bean sandwich. Apparently it did the trick — that and letting me ride up front with my dad and my uncle. Fresh air and that light bread concoction had me feeling better fast.

That is my Appalachian South. We all got along for the most part and any disagreements were usually settled quickly —  then we put it aside and went on. That was before social media (thank goodness I got to experience life without it!). I’m all about sharing stories and photos, and social media helps me keep up with family that I don’t get to see in person very often. But dang– it makes it impossible to get away from all the drama going on in the rest of the world! (sorry for using such strong cowboy language)

So that’s my view from my Southern window. Stay tuned for my autobiography (one day in the not too distant future). It might just be something  worth reading.