This book is dedicated to my grandchildren Gerred and Germare Walker and Jayden Yarborough. I want you to have something from me about my life to read and to have for your children. I have shared so many memories of my life and the wonderful experience of being a grandmother in this book. I hope that as you read the book you can say that you recall that memory or picture. One fact that I want you to always remember is that I love each of you and I am so proud to be your GMC.
FA M I LY T I E S Family Ties are precious things woven through the years, of laughter, love and tears. Family ties are cherished things forged in childhood days, by love of parents deep and true, by tradition, by family ways. Family ties are treasured things and far though we may roam, The tender bonds with those we love still pull our hearts toward home. ~Unknown
Table of Contents My Childhood............................................................ 5 Education.................................................................. 11 Me & Jerry.................................................................17 Crissy’s Life...............................................................23 Jason’s Life ................................................................27 The Walker Boys........................................................31 Jayden’s Debut...........................................................37 Church & Family........................................................43 Lost of Daddy, Mama & Sandra.................................47 Special Shout Outs.....................................................51
CHAPTER 1
My Childhood Let’s start at the beginning. I started writing this book back in 2011. I was born March 25, 1951, Easter Sunday in a small community called Pleasant Grove. My parents are Herman and Arthenia Liggins Burnette. I was born into a large family of 5 boys and 2 sisters. Their names are: Butch, Sandra, Skip, Cooky, Pete, Sam and Jerry. Living on a farm came with some big advantages. On our farm we had chickens, pigs, cows and horses. We planted our own gardens which consist of fresh vegetables grown, white potatoes, peanuts, corn, and sweet potatoes. We planted different kinds of beans: butter beans, green peas, October beans, speckle butter beans, string beans, purple hull beans, onions and beets and had a salad patch. We canned some of the vegetables and fruits, and some we put in the freezer. We had our own eggs from the chickens, milk from the cows and meats from the pig and cows. I might have missed a few more things, but back when I was little girl we had a plenty of everything. Now let me stop for a moment so that you can process or imagine how big that garden was to feed all of us in the family. Okay…Let’s continue. I want to tell you how my father and mother made a living to support all of their children. We raised tobacco. After we got up to some size and age we were introduced to the green leaves called TOBACCO. This process was done like this: We picked small tobacco plants and placed them in a crate. Tobacco plants were picked in the morning when the dew was on the ground. We had maybe 10 crates of tobacco plants and off we would go to the fields to put each plant in the ground to grow. I really wish you guys (Gerred, Germare and Jayden) could have seen the huge fields with the longest tobacco rows that all of you could have walked or ran thru the rows with the sprinklers given off the water.
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Some of Daddy’s tobacco plants grew so big and tall, they stood over my head. So that tells you that I was a small kid working on the farm, maybe 8 years old. It was an all day chore for us. We did not stop till late in the evening. The process of raising tobacco and getting it to the market goes like this: Plant the tobacco plants early in the spring and in the morning. As the tobacco starts to grow we were responsible for keeping the weeds out and around the tobacco plants which is called hoeing the tobacco rows then suckering the tobacco plant (which means taking off these little green plants between the stalk and tobacco leaves that would stop the plant from growing and developing into a bigger plant). We used a tobacco planter to put the tobacco in the grounds. When I first got introduced to tobacco, I think, if my memory serves me correct, all of my siblings worked in tobacco. You know tobacco took up a lot of months on the calendar. We had to pull 2 or 3 leaves off of the stalk each week (when the tobacco was ripe). First let me say the tobacco leaves are green, but you could not pull green leaves. You had to wait on the sun to make the leaves brighter or yellow before pulling them off of the stalk. So you see it took several months to harvest up the crop to be finished. We worked in tobacco during the summer months.
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School back then did not open up after Labor Day in September. I think Daddy would let us go to school on the first day to find out who our teacher would be and then we would work in tobacco until the whole process was done. My mother also help in tobacco and worked a 2nd shift job in a textile mill. I am going to stop for today and give my mind a rest. You know it is hard sometimes to recall one’s past, even though I loved my childhood, being at home with my boys and sisters and having Daddy and Mama there with us was just perfect. Holler!! Did I tell you that I learned how to drive a tractor when I was 8 years old? All my brothers and sisters were taught how to drive the tractor. This trait came in handing when we were pulling tobacco. Some of us pull tobacco and one person drove the tractor with the slide behind it through the fields to put the tobacco on. When the slide got full that person took it to the barn for others to tie up. My father and brothers build most of the slides for tobacco. Guess who the person was that mostly drove the tractor? “Uncle Sam”
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Let me tell you about my chores that I had to do each day. I was responsible for washing dishes, sweeping the floors, making up the beds and dusting the furniture, sweeping the yard, ironing and hanging out the wash (clothes) on the clothesline to dry. We did not have a name brand washer or dryer. Clothes were hung out on the clothesline to dry by the sun and air. Aunt Cooky and I always did the dishes and most of the chores together. We raised tobacco and lived on a farm in this big old house. We did not have many rooms, just a kitchen, living room, one bedroom down stairs and 2 bedrooms up stairs. We had no indoor plumbing, bathroom, or running water. Washing your face and hands was done on the back porch and taking a bath was done in the kitchen in big tub. Water was brought in by way of a big bucket and heated on the wood stove in pans. The wood stove was the way we heated the house. Now don’t laugh Gerred, Germare and Jayden this was the way some people lived back in the day. And if you look through your history books or watch TV, you might see a well in the back yard that water was pulled up in a big bucket to use in the house. We had an outhouse toilet with two seats. At night we brought in the pee pot for any evening business. I am sure some outhouses still exist in some states way back in the woods. Cooky and I shared a bed and had an imaginary line going down the middle of the bed so we would stay on our sides. Sam and Jerry shared a bed, and Peter slept with Papa on some occasions. Papa was my mother’s father. He would come and stay with us from time to time. Skip slept up stairs in one of those beds too. Our TV showed only 2 channels and the color was black and white. We all grew up watching Bonanza, Big Valley and The Ed Sullivan Show just to name some shows. We had only one TV and one radio in the house. We played outside a lot when not doing chores or working in the fields. We had 8
one car and truck for transportation. There was only one driver in the house and that was Daddy (my father) who had a driver’s license. We would visited Aunt Ola and Uncle Harvey Burnette and their children. Aunt Othelia and Uncle Lossie Dixon and their children and my Grandmother. Aunt Ola was my mother’s sister and Aunt Othelia was my father’s sister. We also had cousins on both sides of the family that would come down in the summer to visit. Did I tell you that Cooky and my grandmother kept a secret for many years? Cooky finally told us what the secret was, which I can’t recall now. It’s funny how your mind will hold memories and other things just pass on by, I have so many memories of growing up and I hope that I can write them all in this book. “Now don’t laugh Gerred, Germare & Janyden...this was the way some people lived back in the day.”
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CHAPTER 2
Education Let me talk for a moment on our education for all the siblings and my church: Butch went to A&T University in Greensboro, Sandra went to Bennett College in Greensboro, Skip went to Technical Institute of Alamance in Burlington, Cooky and “GMC” went to Technical Institute of Alamance in Burlington which is now called Alamance Community College. Pete, Sam and Jerry all went to A&T University in Greensboro. I wanted you to know that we all furthered our education when we finished high school. My mother received her degree in March of 1988 from Technical College of Alamance as a Nursing Assistant working with older people. My father worked at Burlington textile mill and was a farmer. We all joined Martin’s Chapel Baptist Church at an early age and accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior. We all went to Sunday school and church 2nd and 4th Sunday with our parents. Those were the only times that our church was open back then. I joined the church at an early age with Cookie, Peter, Sam and Jerry. I remember one time at church I got down on the floor and crawled under the pews with no permission from my mother. Well all I can say is that my mother took me to the car, spanked my legs and made me stay in the car until the service was over. I was a young child but I didn’t make that mistake again. Rev. Andrew Chavis was our Pastor back in the 1950’s, and services would last maybe 2 hours sometimes. We had special occasion at our church which was eating days on Mother’s Day and 2nd Sunday in October. All the ladies would cook a complete meal which was served outside under this long shelter which was behind the church. Doing the summer different churches would have Association type of fellowship with other churches. This was called The Big Meeting under the arbor or big tent sitting out in a field. They had different types of vendors, picture taking, snowballs, buying a bird on a stick. These were the names we would call these small 11
business. They had church services which were held on a Friday and Saturday nights. Lots of people came from all over for this event. I need to chat a bit about Christmas at the Burnette’s house. We always had a real pine tree for our Christmas tree. Mama had the ornaments and ice icicles to place on the tree. Santa always left our gifts in shoe boxes that we placed under the tree. I received a baby doll, some clothes, apples and oranges with hard candies. I don’t think we kept the Christmas tree up very long. You had to pour water in the pot so the tree would not dry out. My mother loved to sew. Mama made us all quilts to go on our beds when the winter season was around. I forgot to tell you that she made most of my clothes. Dresses, shirts and sometimes pants were one of her favorite items to sew for us. I also received hand me downs clothes from Cooky. Mom also like doing crossword puzzles from the newspaper and making home made soup and snow cream from the second snow we would have. I attended Pleasant Grove Union School for my elementary and middle school years. My first grade teacher was Mrs. Lanier. She was a sweet lady. Everyone new each other, things were so different back then. We had homework to do each night. We only had one gym and cafeteria. Meals were served in the cafeteria and they never served breakfast. You were supposed to eat at home before coming to school.
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We did not have lots of money to buy our lunches each week so Mama made us bologna, banana or luncheon meat for our sandwiches. No cookies or juice. It was a simple meal for that time in school. We were taught not to talk back to our teachers and always say” yes ma’m and no sir”. Schools did not have air conditioners; we had to pull up the windows in the classrooms for a breeze of air. None of my brothers or sisters ever repeated a grade. We have smart genes. ☺ I lived in time where there was segregation for schools. Segregate schools were based on the color of your skin, where you lived out in the county. I went from 1st grade up to 11th grade at an all black school, and finish up my senior year (12th grade) at a white school which took place in 1969. My elementary school was Pleasant Grove Union School. I went to Central High School from 1966-1968, and then graduated from Eastern Alamance High School in 1969. My senior picture was in black and white photo. Your Grandpa also went to Eastern. He played all the sports at Eastern and was very good in each of them. I don’t want to really say a lot about my senior year, because there were lots of changes and getting use to being around white students and white teachers. I guess you could say that the class of 1969 made the best of the situation. Some of my friends in school were Cynthia Jeffries, Sue Jones, Edna Daye, Gwyn Burnette,and JoAnn Hayes to name a few. My best friend growing up in school was Cynthia. We were in classes together, spend weekends together and my dance partner when we swing dance. We shared lots of secrets and laughed all the time. I can’t forget my cousin Reva who was always there for me. My sister Sandra taught me and Cooky how to dance. Sometimes I would dance with door knob or the broom. I really enjoyed the dances that our school had after the basketball games on Friday night. Daddy would take us and pick us up after the dances. I did not play any sports in school, but cheered our classmates onto victory. My sister Sandra sent me this beautiful yellow chiffon dress from Connecticut for my prom at school one year.
“We were taught not to talk back to our teachers and always say” yes ma’m and no sir” . 13
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CHAPTER 3
Me & Jerry I married Grandpa on September 27, 1975. We lived with my parents for one year before we had our house build. Born and raised on a farm was the only thing I knew growing up. Getting married and raising a family was a learning experience. Grandpa love playing albums (music). Some of his favorite albums were The O’Jays, Isaiah Hayes, The Whispers, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations and many more. He was the pitcher for the baseball team in Saxapahaw. I loved watching him play sports. Both of us worked many jobs starting out in our marriage. We had to work extra hard in husband and wife duties, trying to understand each other and the different roles it took to build and keep a marriage together. I already knew how to keep a house clean and wash clothes. I don’t think I was a good cook like my mother, but I did okay in the kitchen. My husband worked hard for our family. He is still a professional truck driver going long distance thru out many states. I went with him on some of his trips. Jerry was raised on a farm too. He worked many long hours in the tobacco fields and worked a 2nd shift job. He served in the Army for 3 years before coming back to Mebane. I don’t want to talk so much about our marriage because we are still working on it. SMILE ☺ He taught me how to play Bid Wiz. The whole Yarborough family knew how to play and that was one of the things we did when the weekend came around. You know I forgot to talk about me taking up the sport of Half Marathons Races. I started training back in 2002. Your cousin Portia got me started with this type of competitions. I did 13.1 miles of fast walking and jogging. I received a metal for every race I did. I went to Virginia Beach twice, Outer Banks in North Carolina twice, Kiawah Island in South Carolina, Wilmington Delaware, Charlottesville Virginia, San Antonio Texas twice. I did the Leg for Life and Crop Walk in Burlington. I really enjoyed seeing those different places and visiting with some of my family. I did all of my races under 4 hours, which to me was really good. My body stayed sore for a few days. I have 2 shadow boxes of my metals that I carry them in. I can say that I enjoyed that chapter in my life. I think I will start back up on the marathons when I retire from my job. 17
MY JOBS I want to tell you about my jobs. I worked on the farm till I finished high school. I even helped my uncle Alonzo Parker in tobacco for 2 days. I wanted to see if I could still do that work. I was a sales clerk at Sellars Department Store for awhile and worked 3rd shift at Burlington Industries Finishing plant. I was a substitute teacher for Alamance-Burlington School System, Assistant Manager for The Children’s Outlet, Sims and NCWISE Data Manger for Alamance-Burlington School Systems and Durham Public Schools and a part time job at Hanes Brands at Tanger Outlets in Mebane. This was thru out 40 years of my life. I guess you could say “G” worked many years and walked away with lots of great memories and many new friends. I am not going to say a lot about my present job. I had 2 years of back to back stress, and lots of drama at Lowe’s Grove Middle School. Working for the State of North Carolina for the last 22 years has been a good learning experience, introducing me to computers. I worked for 2 school systems which are The AlamanceBurlington School System and Durham Public Schools. I also worked for the Transportation Department of Alamance-Burlington School System. I have seen a lot of friends come and go and the different politics come into play for the school system.
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My job titles were SIMS, NCWISE and now Power School data manager, which were all programs on the computer. I enjoyed the first two but the tech programmers are still trying to get all the bugs worked out of Power School. My busy times were doing the summer getting the students schedules ready for the first day of school all the way up to October. I had two principals at Woodlawn Middle School and four principals at Lowe’s Grove Middle School. My title was Data Manager. I had different reports to run for the principal, and for the State. Running student’s schedules, report cards and class list for teachers were some of my regular duties. Some of my friends while working at Lowe’s Grove were Sheila Matlock, Gerri Petti, Sheon Little, Kim Taylor, Latekka Lewis, Tyra Cohen, Cynthia Fuller, Nancy Foreman and Amy Conklin just to name a few. We did have some fun times at The Grove. I had some history at Lowe’s Grove Middle School: I was at school when we had the 911 disaster in 2001. I voted for our first black president, Barak Obama in 2008.
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I retired from Durham Public Schools April 30, 2014 with 23 years of services and the tender age of 63. I know these events are out of order, but I wanted these things together before talking about my children. I still keep in touch with some of my friends after retiring. I have started back in training for my marathon races and watching The Young and the Restless which comes on at 12:30 each day. Funny me…I tickle my own self. I tickle my own self. You eear me? I have lots of time on my hands now. I have started back working in my flower beds, trying to add a few more flowers. I love when spring time comes to see the beautiful flowers. Did I tell you about my first cell phone? It was a big cell phone which I still have, but I would carry it around in a plastic bag in my pocketbook. I never keep it on unless I was going to make a phone call. I don’t quiet understand why I did that but it happen. Some of my travels in my life took me to so many states and places. I just want to mention these: New York, Washington DC, Texas, New Orleans, West Virginia, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kiawah Island South Carolina, Ohio, New Jersey and Massachusetts. I also visited Mexico with some of my siblings. I also saw a small piece of Canada when I rode with Jerry on his truck. I was so blessed to have given myself a 60th birthday celebration party at The Cutting Board in the year of 2011. Seeing all of us smiling, laughing, dancing and just having fun was such a sweet memory to my heart. I felt like a queen that night and my Prince Charming (Jerry) standing beside me made it complete. My swing dance partner and best friend Cynthia did not make it to my party. She sprang her ankle and had to stay off her foot. I really missed her at my party.
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We had some great food with lots of dessert. I had a beautiful cake with the candles 60 on it. I kept the candles My children gave me many gifts and a memory book with a card remark signed from my guests and pictures of them. That was a special day for me.
“Lord, I want to live my life the way You want me to every day. Help me not to be stuck in my past, or so geared toward the future that I miss the richness of the present.” Amen
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CHAPTER 4
Crissy’s Life Now let’s talk about your parents!
Chrishaun Donice Yarborough | Born February 10, 1971: Nickname: Crissy What a beautiful baby girl. My mother was with me when Crissy was born in Mebane, NC. I feel sure she had a wonderful childhood. She was truly loved by her grandparents and spoil by her aunts, uncles and me. We all loved spending time out at Pleasant Grove. She loved playing with her brother, cousins, dolls, reading books and playing games. She received many gifts at Christmas, bike, red wagon, coloring books, books, dolls, games and clothes. She did very well in elementary, middle and high school. From a parent’s eye watching you leave the nest so young brought tears and joy to my heart. She graduated from A&T State University in Greensboro. Her sports activities included being a cheerleader, and played on a softball team in Mebane. When looking back over her school years and attending A&T, I can honestly say that your father and I are very proud of you. She took on a different role when her brother Jason was born. She looked after her brother while growing up. They took a picture together when she was in the first grade. Crissy, I love you and I am so thankful to have you as my daughter. You are a special gift from God that I will always treasure. Being my first child was a learning experience for me and I hope you can say that I did a great job. I remember you and Gerald calling me at school to tell me you were having twins. I could hear it in your voice how excited you both were and feeling so proud of the blessing you received. I look back over the years of your life and how proud I am of you with your family. You kept on improving in cooking, and taking care of your family. You have one of my traits, sorting clothes to wash. Only thing is that you have more loads than me. (SMILE ☺). You are a beautiful mother with so much to be proud of. 23
I loved you from the first time my eyes saw your face. Watching you grow from child to adult has brought nothing but love, joy and happiness in my life. I am a proud and grateful mother that you are my daughter. I have enjoyed our talks over the phone and the times when we are out together. We spent some funny times together. You would laugh so hard tears would be coming down your face. Do you remember our trip to Niagara Falls in 1997? What adventure we had there with Joyce and Portia. Thank you for taking good care of me when I come to Charlotte and our trips together. I enjoyed my trip to Disney World with your family. I pray that God will continue to shower you and your family with his blessings! I want to say something personal to Crissy and Jason: When I think about my children, I have to thank my Heavenly father for blessing me with such precious gifts in my life. I want to thank you for all of cards which include my birthday, Mother’s Day, Thinking of You, Get Well, Anniversary, and Christmas cards.
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I keep all of my cards and have received beautiful balloons, clothes, jewelry, flowers and other things over the years. I have lots of picture books of you and Jason and beautiful memories to last me a life time of joy. I always try to give you both a personal Christmas card from me.
Psalm 136: 1 O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: and his mercy endureth for ever… Amen Psalm 116: 1 love the Lord because he hears my prayers and answers them. Amen
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CHAPTER 5
Jason’s Life Jason Yarborough | Born April 9, 1976 We were still living with my parents when Jason was born in Chapel Hill North Carolina. Jerry was working with the Mebane Telephone Company. You were a small baby coming into this world feeling our hearts with so much joy and pride. I feel very strongly that Jason childhood too was a happy one. He lived in PG for awhile enjoying playing outside with his cousins. Jason loved trucks and basketball growing up. He played basketball, baseball in recreation league. He played basketball and football all thru high school and even ran track one year. He was also a good student from elementary, middle and high school. He always wanted to be a truck driver like his father. I enjoyed going to your football and basketball games. I am sure you could hear us shouting for you and the team at each game. We were never ejected from any of your games. (Smile) I can say that Jason almost went into military service. I recall his senior year he looked into military service and left going to Raleigh to enlist. I am sorry that you did not get a chance to see that chapter unfold in your life, but I wanted you to discuss that with your father before making that your choice. It was hard to see you move out on your own, trying to become the man that you saw in your father. We travel many roads together, but I knew that day would come for you to also leave and start your own chapters in your life. Jason, never hold your head down when thinking about your job choices or education. I remember what you said to Monti about not going to college. You had lots of choices in what you wanted to do. You chose trucking just like your father. You admired your father so much and you wanted to be like your Dad. You turned out GREAT! Trucking back in the 90’s was plenty trips with lots of money. Things in today’s life are totally 27
different and you have kept your family together and provided for them each day. I am so proud of you and I know that your dad feels the same. I enjoyed giving you that lunch box for Christmas a few years back. I do remember you having a lunch box in school, but I can’t recall what was on the front. You are a great example of a loving husband and a wonderful dad. I love you so much and I am thankful that God blessed me with such a wonderful son. You too are a precious gift from God. I also want to thank you for my Birthday cards, Christmas cards, flowers, jewelry and other things that you have done and giving to me over the years. I never want this to go unsaid; there are no words to express how much you mean to me. Because the day you were born I just knew God sent me a wonderful blessing. For this I thank Him everyday. Your laughter and smiles warms my heart. Thank you for our phone calls and conversations. You are a good listener. Thank you for taking care of me when I got sick over the Christmas holidays. No words could ever describe my love that I have for you and Crissy.
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Life is a walk. Each day we take steps. Our tomorrow is determined by the steps we take today. He wants us to reach up and take His hand, but He doesn’t want us to ever let go. His desire is that we become more and more dependent upon Him for every step. That’s because He wants to take us to places we’ve never been and heights we can’t even imagine.
Psalm 121: 1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. Amen.
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CHAPTER 6
The Walker Boys I need to let all of you know how GMC name came about. When I was first told that I was going to be a grand mother, I wanted a special name for myself that would set me apart from the other traditional names. The grandchildren called my mother “Granny”. My father’s step mother who I knew was called grandmamma, and Cooky was called “Nana”. I decided on GMC, which is Grandmother Connie. They started out calling me GMC but shorten it to “G”, which brings me so much joy and pride. I think GMC will be past on down to my daughter. Now I want to go back and let you know how the Walker Boys came into this world. She married Gerald on July 15, 1995. Your mother was a beautiful bride and her gown was made for a princess. They had a fairy-tale wedding. It was a beautiful wedding with all of both families there and cousins and friends. I don’t think Crissy took interest in cooking until she married your father. She has improved over the years.
THE WALKER BOYS (Gerred Cole & Germare Elliott) came into the world on MARCH 26, 2002 What a surprise that was for all of us; you boys showing up a day after my birthday. I had to load up my 1991 Honda Accord car and get to Charlotte before you were born. I was weaving thru traffic; I guess you could say I was speeding down the road. I made it to Charlotte and went straight to the hospital. You see your mother was a planner. She had already written out the directions to the hospital for me to get there and your Dad was in Virginia trucking. So the big moment had finally come and you boys came into this world butt naked and making all kinds of fuss. ☺ ☺
Psalm 107:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth. 31
Lots of folks came that night, Aunt Sandra, and Sherrie came down. Your other grandparents were their too. Your Dad got to the hospital after midnight. We all slept in the waiting room. Oh, I forgot to tell you that after you two were born while I was with your mother in the delivery room, I got a little sick…okay I had to ride back to the waiting room in a wheel chair! I stayed at the hospital with your mother and you guys, while your Dad and your other grandparents worked on your bed room. I stayed with your Mother 2 weeks before going back to Mebane. Now I can talk about some of our trips and funny things that you did growing up. Your mother had a strict feeding schedule for me to follow when ever I had the chance to keep you in Mebane. You know sometimes when you were asleep I could not tell who was who. Aunt Cooky would come over sometimes and help me get you both to sleep. I would have to push my bed to the wall and put pillows around the wall so you two would not roll out of bed or hurt yourself.
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I have lots of pictures of when you were babies and growing up. I have pictures of you two out in Pleasant Grove. You were sweet little boys growing up. I would drive to Charlotte at least twice a month to see you and your parents. Your mother got lots of exercise in taking you boys for doctor appointments, shopping with 2 big seats. You really like riding and looking out the windows and listening to Baby Einstein music. You were spoiled when you came to my house and out to Granny’s in PG. My father and mother enjoyed seeing what you could do and say. You received so many toys for Christmas and your birthday parties. You were always dress nice from head to toe. I have a picture of you both in a train outfit. I can not forget to mention that your Dad was a very proud father watching over you both. I have some precious memories of us going to the Zoo twice, the mountains and all the way down to the beach. We went to see the Light House in North Carolina and the beach. Some of your birthdays parties were at
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your home, McDonald’s in Mebane, Nana and Papa home, ZBowl bowling area in Mebane and the City Park, and a few places in Charlotte. Do you remember us going to see the Harlem Globetrotters? We had seats next to the floor. I can’t forget our weekend trip to New York City. We had a fun time. Your mother drove you down to Mebane dress in your Halloween costume so that I could take pictures for myself. Do you remember when you came down to my house and went in to your mother’s bedroom and saw this small box on the dresser? Crissy and Grandpa laugh so hard at you both jumping around scared when a little voice came from the box saying “Excuse me, excuse me can you let me out of here”? I want to recall as much about you growing up before I go back into writing about my life. I have always enjoyed watching you play sports. I came to Charlotte to watch a Tee ball game one weekend, karate classes and your basketballs games on Saturday. You both enjoyed picking up rocks in the driveway and throwing them. I truly believe that basketball is your favorite sport and you are so talented in that sport and I enjoyed watching you play with your team mates cheering you on to victory. You guys have really grown up these past 12 years to become such handsome young men. It’s hard not to brag on my grandsons. ☺ I am so proud of you both and my love keeps on growing. Your mother and father trusted me when I kept you both over the weekend and my one week of summer plans with you. Time is just going by so fast!! I recall when you both were 7th graders how tall you grew that year and now you are taller than me. I also recall coming to Mint Hill Middle 34
for your National Junior Honor Society program in 2014. That was a special event for all of us. I also have to make a comment about the great news of you both making the basketball team at your school for 2014-2015 school year. That was so a joyful day hearing that news. Our favorite phrase “You eear me!” I really believe we could have made some money in marketing that phrase.
Here is some history for you: I asked you on July 6, 2014: What college you wanted to attend and what profession you would like to choose? Gerred : UNC Chapel Hill, or UNC Charlotte and become a NBA basketball player or professional chef or poet. Germare: UNC Chapel Hill or Duke and become NBA basketball player, professional chef or a physical trainer.
Philippians: 4-13 I can do everything through Christ, which strengthen me
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CHAPTER 7
Jayden’s Debut JAYDEN KALISE YARBOROUGH made her debut on JUNE 17, 2006 I can still see Jason face when we walked around to this room and saw him holding and feeding you for the first time. His facial expression was filled with so much love and pride for you. Your Mom came through this beautiful event with so much pride and love too. I have a picture of Grandpa holding his tiny grand daughter. What a beautiful blessings you are to all of us. I was very excited when I had a chance to keep you over night. Your mother left your schedule to follow by which I tried to do each time. When you were small you would start to laugh and get so tickle you would get all of us laughing with you. I loved watching you sleep. You stayed small and short little legs for a few years, and then WOW you started to grow. One of your favorite things was that you would hide from me when I came to visit you at your home. You would always hide behind that chair. You have so many books in your room and I do enjoy you reading them to me. You are a good story teller with your soft voice. Your parents gave you some cool places each year for your birthday parties. Let me see if I can names some of them: City Park in Burlington, Country Club Lanes in Burlington, Putt Putt Fun Center in Burlington, Champion Martial Arts Academy in Mebane, Roll about Skating Ring in Burlington, your home and at the movie theatre. You are doing so well in school and your learning ability is way ahead of your age. I have enjoyed all of our special times together and looking forward to making new adventure memories. I can recall my sleep over with you and sharing the bed with Ms. Snake. I have lots of pictures of you and will show some of them through out this book. I hope you don’t forget my favorite saying:
“I love you so much I could bite your nose off.” ☺ 37
You enjoyed playing outside throwing rocks and looking for different things in the yard and watching your movies on the tablet. Your mother always had you dressed from top to bottom in such beautiful clothes. We always have so much fun when we would travel to Charlotte for a weekend. I won’t forget that your limit was 2 nights. You missed your Mom and Dad. I made it to my first field day at your school May 15, 2014. I could not believe how fast those little feet could run. You ran those girls and boys down when racing. I do believe that you could become a track star. I enjoyed you in Studio 1 Productions this summer 2014. What a wonderful actress and narrator. I enjoyed your part as one of the penguins. You are so talented and you are just getting started with all the gifts that you are blessed with. You are already a star with us. You have one of the prettiest smiles that I have ever seen, but I guess that just “G” bragging on her grand daughter. I do remember when you spent the night with me and Grandpa, it would start out happy and before you would go to sleep you would have a crying spell for your Mom and Dad. It took awhile, but you finally fell asleep. I am sure you had sweet dreams. Did you know that you have a lovely singing voice? I enjoyed watching you in church with the Christmas program.
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I am so proud of you Jayden and all of your accomplishments in school. You have improved so much in your soccer games. I was there to see your first goal. I am sure you heard us all cheering for you. I so enjoy watching you play soccer. Now that I have retired I hope that I will witness more events, pleasure trips and weekends together. Your mother would always have great stories to tell me about your day or week at school. I hope that we can work on these puzzles that I have kept over these years. I hope you will enjoy these pictures throughout my book.
Here is some history for you: I asked you on July 6, 2014: What do you want to be when you grow up, and what college you would like to attend?
Your answer: A&T State University and become a Veterinarian. Psalm 118: 24 This is the day that the Lord has made, and be glad in it.
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CHAPTER 8
Church & Family Let me take a moment and talk about my church: Martin’s Chapel Baptist Church is my home church where all of my siblings and parents started on that road to Victory! I stop going to church for awhile, but finally found my way back to where I needed to be. My Pastor Robert Jarrell Jr. is a good minister and cousin. He opened my eyes about things in the bible and how we should treat each others. I love him as one of my brothers. He always has a smile and kind word for all and makes us feel that we are special in God’s eye. He tells jokes in church and says that God loves for us to laugh. He has very good sermons for which I have tried to use in my life. One of his favorite verses is:
2 Corinthians 1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yes, and in him. Amen Now I want to talk some more about my family: I enjoyed when summertime comes around. We knew that my brother Butch and Jerry would make it home to North Carolina. We would have our annual Burnette family cook out. We would put Crissy in charge of the events. We always had it at Uncle Sam and Aunt Alesia’s home. All the kids enjoyed the pool and just having a fun together. We had lots of great food and Uncle Pete was in charge of the drinks. Crissy and Alesia would set up the menu and date and time, then all of us would select what we wanted to bring. I think Jason and Uncle Pete did the cannon ball jump into the pool several times. We had good food for our cookouts and we all tried to be together for Thanksgiving and our annual luncheon the day after Christmas. I love my brothers and sister and think about each of you every day. I am so blessed that we still can call each other just to say hello. My sweet memories of all of you will last me forever. When I got married and moved to Mebane, we would ride back to PG on Sunday’s for Mama’s Sunday dinner and sit around with each other talking and laughing and watching TV. Just having you all in my life makes me happy. 43
Sweet Memories, that’s all I have in my heart. May the best of all God’s riches for mercy, grace and love fill your hearts to over flowing. And may the blessing of all you give to others return to you again and again.
“I love my brothers and sisters and think about each of you every day.”
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CHAPTER 9
Lost of Daddy, Mama & Sandra Now I want to talk about the lost of my parents and my sister: My father died Sept 7, 2002 in the Alamance Health Care Center in Burlington. When my father took sick, all of my siblings came to Pleasant Grove to be with him and Mama. We all visited Daddy at the Health Care Center every day. I don’t believe the staff knew when we would show up, so they had to take extra care of Daddy not knowing when we would come. My Mother would go everyday and stay till dark before driving back home. She took good care of Daddy at home and at the rest home. My father was 88 years old when he passed away. I drove Mama back to the house that night from the Health Care Center and spent the night with her. I have such beautiful memories of my father. My father enjoyed riding to see all of his children and to catch up on what we were doing. I wrote a letter to my brothers and sisters expressing my feelings of our loss. I still get sad sometimes when thinking of you Daddy. I can smile through my tears to know that I was loved and cared for by my father. He was a special father to all of us. He enjoyed music and one of his favorite songs was by Marvin Gaye, “Ain’t that Peculiar”. One of my memories of Daddy was when he would drive his pick up truck to see his children. He would open up the refrigerator to see what we had and look at my mail on the kitchen table. That was just Daddy’s way with us. When Daddy couldn’t drive anymore Mama drove Daddy around to see us. I remember my first Christmas when Daddy left us. I went to a market grocery in Graham and brought a bag of Chocolate drops which was one of Daddy’s favorite treats for us. I brought the bag and on my way home I ate each one thinking about him.
“When someone we love dies, God hides a smile in every memory and hope in every tear.” 47
My mother died October 31, 2004 at Alamance Regional hospital. Skip was with her that morning when she left us all. She was taking to the hospital but never responded to any treatment. She was 86 years old and her death was so unexpected. We all had a hard time dealing with losing Mama. I wrote a letter to my brothers, sisters and nieces and nephews recalling lots of sweet memories of Mama. I cannot put into words how my mother death affected me. Like my father, I wished that they both could have stayed here longer to see all of the grand children. My mother enjoyed reading and doing puzzles. I miss talking to her each day. I think about you and Daddy every day and hope that you are smiling down from heaven on us. They died within 2 years of each other. I think about them every day. I always think about Mama when I hear that song from The Intruders call “I Always Love My Mama”. Cooky and I both brought a hat that resembles one that Mama would wear in the winter months. Cooky’s hat is green and mine is red. I enjoy wearing my hat which makes me think of my mother. I started a flower bed after Mama passed with some of her peonies, day lilies, and irises. These beautiful flowers blooms around Mother’s Day and carries a sweet smell. I have added on with beautiful flowers and different colors. The peonies only last about two weeks. I think Mama would be very proud of me. Our first Mother’s Day dinner without Mama was spent at my house with all of us there. We had lots of good food but she was so missed. We all cried together.
“Dear Lord, thank you for reaching out with your hands to catch us when we fall, to hold us safely in your care, and to keep us from harm. Thank you for reminding us that death is not the end – it is the beginning of new life with you. Amen and Amen”
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Now I want to talk about my sister Sandra. This is so fresh in my mind and still hurts to speak about her death. My sister Sandra passed away January 2, 2012 at the age of 68. She and I had talked that afternoon and said that we would talk again the next day. I got a phone call from Sam telling me that she had passed away. Sandra, Cooky and Sam were my phone calls persons when I drove back to Mebane from my job every day. I miss her so very much. I wrote a letter to my brothers, sister, Sherrie, Velle, Kyle and Alex letting them know how I felt and shared some memories of her. I don’t think I will ever get over not having her in my life. We shared things and talked everyday. She was the best cook in Alamance County. One of my sister favorite dishes was homemade potato salad. All of you are thought about each day with sweet reminder of what you meant to us. I have learned so much from my parents that has helped me through my life. All of you have touched our lives in so many ways with being the best parents a child could ask for and showing unconditional love each day. There were a few lessons that I had to learn the hard way, but with your guidance and patience I made it. Thank you Sister for loving and helping your brothers and sisters in ways only a sibling would understand. My beautiful sister Sandra was always there to help us with our little problems. You would give your opinion, but always listened to what we had to say. Your beautiful smile, quirky remarks and hand motion is missed by all of us. SMILE! I have so many pictures of my life with all of you that I hope you will enjoy. These pictures and my life story represent how good God has been to me throughout my life. Through the happy and sad times in my life, thank you Heavenly Father for taking care of me and my family. “I give you the Honor and Glory. Your Grace and Mercy has kept me here to witness how good you are to us. Thank you for stepping into my life and not giving up on me.”
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CHAPTER 10
Special Shout Outs I want to give some personal shout outs to my beloved husband, son-in-law and my daughter-in-law. To my wonderful husband of 39 years, thank you Jerry for our family. We have been through some rough spots in our years of marriage. Some good and some not so good, but we weathered each storm together. We raised a daughter and son together, each one with a special gift of their own. You surprised me with so many bouquets of flowers for my birthdays, anniversaries, and my 1986 Jetta and 1991 Honda Accord cars. Thank you, Jerry for your love, your commitment to our marriage. I want to thank Gerald for becoming apart of our family. I am so very proud of your family. You and Chrishaun have set good examples in raising Gerred and Germare to follow them through out their lives. I am sure that they will succeed in life in whatever path they travel. I am so glad that Jason chose you Kimberly for his wife. You and Jason are raising Jayden to become such a wonderful young lady. You have one of my habits “ironing” just like me on the weekend. ☺ The foundation of family that you have instilled in Jayden will carry her far in life. Each one of my grandchildren has a unique style of their own. The family values that their parents instilled in them will always follow them in their childhood, teenager’s and adult life. Thanks to my grandchildren for my memories of the church fall festivals, ball games, trips to Charlotte and so many things that we have been a part of over the years. I want to leave my grandchildren with lots of my pictures of you growing up and of me and my family. I hope these will bring you laughter and smiles that will last you a life time of love. God’s generous gifts of love often come wrapped in the form of the precious Family, that we hold so close to our hearts. 51
Don’t forget to pray! God does answer our prayers. He has blessed me with a beautiful family that I will always cherish and be thankful for. I love each of you and my love will always be there for you. “God, I want to thank you for the very special gifts you have given me in my life. You’ve given me the gift of sweet childhood memories. You’ve given me the gift of dreams: the ones you’ve made come true and the ones I achieved myself because of your encouragement. But most of all you’ve always given me the gift of your love, the most precious gift of all.”
Thank you for my family and friends.
My life titles are: daughter, sister, cousin, aunt, niece, mother, wife, mother and grandmother/GMC Connie Maranda Burnette Yarborough
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BE THANKFUL Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire, If you did, what would there be to look forward to? Be thankful when you don’t know something for it gives you the opportunity to learn. Be thankful for the difficult times. During those times you grow. Be thankful for your limitations Because they give you opportunities for improvement. Be thankful for your mistakes They will teach you valuable lessons. Be thankful when you’re tired and weary Because it means you’ve made a difference. It is easy to be thankful for the good things. A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who care also thankful for the setbacks. GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive. Find a way to be thankful for your troubles And they can become your blessings.
—Unknown 53