Nancy Meat

We had a Pig named Nancy. She was raised from a piglet to a hog at "The Morgan Farm". When it came time to harvest Nancy, Papa and Dad (Robert S. Stroud Sr.) did it all in the backyard of the farm.

When they finished with all of the processing of the meat we cooked some bacon.

Everyone is sitting at the kitchen table slowing eating the food and having a hard time eating the meat. Nancy had been a pet to some and they were having a problem with eating the meat. But, we had one person in the family that was gorging on the food. That would be Aaron. Aaron was eating and eating the meat with no pausing. When he finished his plate of food he wanted more. He said, "Please pass the Nancy meat." This ended it for everyone. All the forks went down and no one wanted anything else to eat except for Aaron who was downing his next helping of "Nancy meat".

Fire ants

We lived on McNeese Drive and were outside talking with friends. Robby who was about two years old adventured outside in his diaper only. All of a sudden he started screaming.

Mom, Erin Elliott and I saw Fire ants crawling all over his body. He had walked into a bed of Fire ants and they were mad! We stripped the diaper off of him right there in the front yard and knocked all of the ants off.

He was covered in ant bites and had scares for many years. All these little white looking mini rectangle marks on his legs and arms. I think the scares have now vanished after at least twenty years.

Pillowcase pillow and sleeping

When you are a kid you love sleeping with other people. I loved sleeping with all of my grandparents.

My grandpa's made it extra special for me. PopPop would take an empty pillowcase and fold it for my pillow. Folding a pillowcase gives no support but when PopPop folded it, I could tell. If it got unfolded he would have to fold it back up for me and lay it on his bed next to his pillow. Now, I think it was because he did not have an extra pillow for me to use so he came up with this great idea and this little girl ate it all up. It was our special thing when I would come to his house. Maybe it is because of this that I don't have to have a pillow to sleep.

One time I woke up and he was not next to me. He had already gotten up but something had changed. My pillow was missing and so was his. What had happened? Don't remember what they told me at that time but I was less than eight years old. I had peed on him that night. He had changed the sheets and he slept somewhere else. He did not want anyone to tell me because he just knew that I would be so embarrassed.

As I got older it was not appropriate for me to sleep with them so MomMom and PopPop got me a cot to sleep on next to their bed in their bedroom. PopPop would still fold my pillowcase for me.

Mom Mom's cookies

We loved MomMom's (Carmella "Ella" P. Stroud) Cooking. One of the great memories I have at MomMom's house was going into where PopPop's office was and getting into the freezer. We only went with MomMom and when it was her idea (otherwise we would get into trouble). It is here that she would have prepared cookies prior to us coming and had frozen them for us. We could pick one or two. The cookie that I remember the best is the Peanut Butter cookies with the Hershey Kisses in the middle.

Ice Cream Man is coming

The Ice Cream man would come down Mc Neese Drive in Columbus, GA every Saturday. You could hear the green truck about three minutes before he was at our house. Those days, we were playing outside all the time from dawn to dusk with no shoes on.

For some reason, I always had money. If I did have money that meant that everyone could get an ice cream. So, everyone would run out to stop the green ice cream truck. Sometimes, I was getting the money and Aaron, David or Robby would run and stop him. Then there were those times that he would make it into Kopay Court and be going down McNeese again when we would finally catch up with him.

So, these dirty kids with no shoes on would run down the road waving money chasing the ice cream man for a fudge sickle, ice cream sandwich, Rocket, Bubble Gum Cone or Chocolate Eclair.

Many dollars went to that Ice Cream man and his green truck which later was traded for a white truck but the same song and same man with gray hair bent in the truck getting frozen treats out of his freezers.

Beehive and Old Tree

It was a nice and hot summer day many summers ago. Carmella was young (approx. 5 yrs old) and Aaron (approx. 3 yrs old) was twenty-one months younger. We would get into trouble if we could but mostly it was all done to have fun. So we had this piece of fence that was big enough for both of us to walk in like we were hamsters in a hamster wheel. We were walking all around in that child hamster wheel this day. We adventured down to where an old Oak tree was and where Uncle Benie's (Papa's brother) had put his honey bee boxes while he had gone out of town for a bit.

Now, I bet Papa and Tudy had told us both to stay away from those Honey Bees but it was that warning that made us adventure down to the tree to see them. We wheeled up to those boxes and lifted one of those lids off of a box. I, Carmella, remember seeing inside and all the honey with the bees covering it. But, the lid had not been lifted for very long when the bees started to bit us both. We started running back. We started in our child hamster wheel but could not go fast enough. The bees were stinging us. So we headed to the house and left the wheel there. I was pulling Aaron's three year old arm behind me and running as fast as I could. He was slow! I would drop his arm and yell for him to run faster and I would run ahead. Then, I would turn around and see he was behind me and go grab his hand and drag him behind me a few more steps and leaps.

We finally made it back to the house. I remember seeing Tudy as we ran back. She had been hanging the laundry out to dry on the line in the back of the house. She met us at the gate asking what was going on and seeing that some of the bees were still stinging us and seeing all of the stings we had on us. She went and got the gasoline but before that scolded us for going down to where we were told not to go and for taking the lid off. Later we learned it took a few days for the bees to calm down and Tudy went down to the Oak tree and put the lid back on. That child hamster wheel stayed down there for months.

Papa & Eye Drops

Papa (Lovick Pierce Shippey, Jr.) had an eye infections and needed Tudy (Mary Elizabeth Middleton) to put drops in his eyes. However, Papa was being difficult and stubborn like he could be.

He wanted the eye drops in but would not open his eyes. So, what did Tudy? He was laying down eyes shut tightly but mouth wide open. She dropped the drops in his mouth and RAN!

Running away in Shellman

We were moving into a beautiful historical house in Shellman, GA. I, Carmella, was around four years old and did not want to move to this little town. So, I got on my BIG WHEEL (three wheeled plastic tricycle) and headed back to Ocala, FL. I was not going to stay in GA.

I went down the street, took a left and went five blocks when I was stopped by a nice gentlemen in a gray pickup truck. He asked where I was going and where were my parents. Don't remember what I said but he somehow figured that I belonged to the new family moving into town and called mom on the phone.

He asked mom, "Do you have a little girl and was she missing?" It is at that time my mom noticed that I was gone. The man said he would bring me back home. He took my Big Wheel, put it into the bed of his truck and drove the five blocks down the street, took a right and met my mom and dad in the front of the house. I was not happy to be back at home! They were glad to have me back!

Storybook of memories

This blog has been created for the family members of Robert Stanley Stroud and Annette Shippey Stroud to share memories. It is to be our familly storybook of memories.

Rules: Post often and tell your stories.... Please label your post with whom the story is about.
Ex: "Honey Bees and Tree Story" would be labeled: Carmella, Aaron, Tudy