In Grandma's Words: Part Three

Her Childhood Home

Beech Flats in the 1800s courtesy Joyce Tice's Canton Website

Her Earliest Memory of Home:

I was two years old when we moved from N.C. to Penn. and I remember going up the attic stair steps to where mom and Lola were putting some things up there. Mom yelled at me. Guess that's why I remember. I had fallen in the fireplace and burn't my leg & head in N.C.

Her Childhood Bedroom:

I shared it with four other sisters and sometimes little brothers. We had only 4 bedrooms with all those kids. I don't know how many were married by then.

Her Favorite Hiding Place:

We had a big attic. I cleaned out a part of that and fixed an old table and chair. I took some plants up there. I enjoyed it up there.

The Yard I Played In:

The yard I played in never had any grass growing because there were so many kids playing there. All the neighborhood kids were there nearly every day. Some would even walk clear over from Grover to play ball with my brothers and we girls played too. Lots of fun. Then we all grew up. Mom had lots of flowers later. We had two big pine trees in front and lots of maple ones on each side of the house. We had two pear trees and some purple plums out back.

In Grandma's Words: Part Two

Grandma's Family

About Her Mother

Full name: Zora Cisco Moretz

Her birth date and place of birth: She was born May 9th, 1894 at Boone, North Carolina

Her mother's best story about growing up: Mom didn't have too many happy stories to tell when she grew up. She'd tell about going fishing. She loved that, walking to church and school. In the winter they would get the cows get up and they would get their feet warm that way. They had to pick leaves and dig roots to sell for their school clothes. That's how she paid for our home in PA.

About Her Father

Full name: Millard Isaac Castle

His birth date and place of birth: Feb. 3rd 1888 - Boone, North Carolina

One of her most precious memories of her father: Dad would always take us swimming after we got the garden cleaned, haying done before dark. Sometimes he would come home with a long stick of bananas or bring great big watermelon you could buy for 25 or 50 cents.

About Her Siblings

Her brother's and sister's names: Edith, James, Lola, Ben, Claude, Ruby, Arnold, Mabell, Shirley, Eva, Violet, Lela (me), Edna, Alfred, Millard Jr., and William Franklin

The things they used to do together: We used to play ball, swim, sing. When we were older we went square dancing up to the lake.

The things we do together now: We get together for dinner or just visit. Reunions.

How often I see my family: I see Frankie nearly every day. Some once a week. Some not for months or maybe once or twice a year.

"Therefore comfort each other and edify one another,

just as you are also doing."

1 Thessalonians 5:11

Note: For some glimpses into life in Watauga County, North Carolina, visit "A Look Back at Watauga" from the Watauga Democrat.

In Grandma's Words: Part One

This is my Grandma Smith. 

Words escape me in writing about her. As I said in her eulogy, how do you put unconditional love into words? She was my kindred spirit and one of my very best friends, and I miss her terribly.

So you can imagine the emotional impact when my mom handed me a book at a family picnic. It was a guided journal that I had given to my grandmother for Christmas one year. I had no idea if she had ever filled any of it out, so to find out that she had filled out several pages and to be given those pages...

Priceless.

And because her unconditional love for me was the same unconditional love she showed to everyone in her family, I want to share her journal entries. They are sweet and personal and offer glimpses of her childhood, her love for Grandpa, and her simple love of life.

The prompts are provided, as well as her responses in italics.

Grandma's full maiden name was Lela Virginia Castle.

She was given this name because she had a cousin named Lela and mom and dad liked it. Her name was Moretz and she still lives in North Carolina. She called me in Sept. 2001.

Her birth date and place of birth: I was born Nov. 16th 1929 in Boone, North Carolina; that is in Watauga County. I was born on a Saturday. We moved to Beech Flats near Canton April 30th, 1931. I was coming 2 years old. I joined 11 other brothers and sisters.

What was happening in the world when she was born: I really don't remember much that went on, but I looked some things up. Herbert Hoover was our president.