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Written by David Lee Ray on Jan. 21, 1999:
One of my early memories is of the times our family would go to see "Pappy and Mammy" Ray. I remember in particular a time we went in the winter, and we didn't have a car. It was about 35 miles from Mayfield, Ky. to where they lived, outside Cottage Grove, Tenn. We made it O.K. hitch-hiking until we had to turn off the Paris Road toward Cottage Grove. It seems like we finally got a ride to Cottage Grove, but by then it was dark. There was snow on the ground, and we had to walk the remaining 3 miles or so of gravel road. It was my parents, myself, and my brother Wesley who was very young and had to be carried a lot of the way. I think he was about 2 and I was about 6. I remember it was bitter cold. In those days very few people out in the country had telephones. I suppose Mom had written and told them we were coming, but I'm not sure of that. At any rate, no one came to pick us up, no cars passed, and we walked the entire way from Cottage Grove. (Note to the reader, please do not think me crude in reporting the following, it is a very vivid memory to me.) I remember as we all walked along my Daddy needed to relieve himself, and he did so, while walking along!
When we finally arrived we went to my Aunt Lottie and Uncle Bulon Bell's house across the road from my grandparents. I don't remember now if my grandparents had gone to bed before we arrived, so don't know why we went to Aunt Lottie's instead of their house. I remember they had a big fireplace in the "front" room, which served as a living and bedroom. There was a large fire in the fireplace, and with no insulation in the house and the cold weather outside the fire wasn't able to keep even that one room good and warm. We would stand in front of the fire and warm our front side, then turn around and warm our backside!
I seem to remember the bedroom we slept in that night was upstairs, and very cold. I think we all four got in one bed, under a lot of homemade quilts and a feather bed, and kept each other warm.
Another time we visited Mammy and Pappy I remember I had expected to have milk on the table at "dinner", which we call lunch now. We were poor and seldom had milk at home, but my aunt and uncle had cows, and they had always had milk before. I don't remember how old I was, but do remember when they told me there was no milk I cried, loud and long. It seems that somehow they found me some milk!
One more thing that stands out in my memory was the time one of Daddy's co-workers who had a car, and who happened to be black, carried us to see my grandparents. At dinner time he sat down at the same table with us to eat. This was in the 1940s, before there was any movement toward integration, and the word "nigger" was very commonly used. I remember when the black man came to the table Pappy Ray welcomed him, saying something like " you can eat at my table any time you bring Alvis and them to see us, I've ate with niggers before". The man sat and ate, and seemed to be honored rather than offended!
Copyright 1999 David L. Ray

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