Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    From Whence We Came
    From Whence We Came
    From Whence We Came
    Ebook83 pages1 hour

    From Whence We Came

    By Lynetra T. Griffin

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Although she is a child, Lottie Parsons has already grown to understand hardship. As one of the youngest members of a poor African American family working a farm owned by a wealthy landowner in Willow Creek, Georgia, Lottie picks beans under the hot sun, shells peas on the front porch, and carefully observes her mother as she approaches every hardship with pride, prayer, and a focus on family values.

    Although Lotties family usually has more monthly bills than income, they still manage to enjoy wonderful meals prepared by her mother, who makes tasty pots of ham hocks, green beans, and red potatoeswith pound cake for dessert. As Lottie goes about her days on the farm, she aspires to become a doctor and gathers strength to pursue her dreams from the role models around her, including her mother, her aunt Ella, and her grandmother, Nana Rose. But it is not long before Lottie soon realizes that nothing lasts forevereven in Willow Creek.

    From Whence We Came shares the compassionate, historical tale of a southern African American family as they attempt to overcome challenges and adjust as life takes them in a new direction.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArchway Publishing
    Release dateDec 4, 2013
    ISBN9781480803886
    From Whence We Came
    Author

    Lynetra T. Griffin

    Lynetra T. Griffin is an elementary school teacher with fifteen years of experience. She and her siblings grew up in a small rural agricultural community in southwestern Georgia, and she still lives in Georgia today.

    Related to From Whence We Came

    Related ebooks

    Historical Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Retirement Advice For The Self-employed Landowner

      Mar 2, 2020

      As a country person ages, there is a temptation to imagine the approach of a quiet and graceful retirement: long, dreamy summer afternoons napping in the porch swing while grandchildren romp in the yard. That might be a happy possibility for the hedg

      3 min read

    • Article

      Grandpa’s Tractor

      Apr 10, 2020

      Grandpa’s Tractor
      6 min read

    • Article

      BITS & PIECES

      Feb 1, 2022

      I was 5 years old in 1937 and “ helping” my dad cut fodder in the field for our hogs and cattle. It was a warm day in August. Dad was cutting the cornstalks with a corn knife by hand, and then throwing them onto the hayrack. The hayrack was pulled by

      4 min read

    • Article

      Three Poems

      Jul 1, 2022

      one morning on her way the wife felt somethingnipping at her ankle. She bent to the dirt paththrough the dry grass between her husband’shouse and the city where she once lived. Andthere it was, a little fault, all alone and nippy.Whose fault are you,

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Hard Yards

      Jun 22, 2022

      The Hard Yards
      7 min read

    • Article

      Dirt Is Our Friend

      Jun 14, 2019

      Dirt Is Our Friend
      5 min read

    • Article

      A Portal to Happiness

      Aug 3, 2021

      A Portal to Happiness
      3 min read

    • Article

      Mail Call

      Feb 22, 2019

      Mail Call
      5 min read

    • Article

      Modern Trade Routes

      Nov 6, 2020

      Modern Trade Routes
      4 min read

    • Article

      A Time To Sow

      Jun 22, 2023

      A Time To Sow
      6 min read

    • Article

      Every Story Starts With A Seed

      Dec 12, 2023

      Every Story Starts With A Seed
      4 min read

    • Article

      My Gardening World Pam Ayres

      Oct 20, 2022

      My Gardening World Pam Ayres
      1 min read

    • Article

      Dear MOTHER

      Nov 18, 2022

      EDITORS’ PICK I loved reading “Mossin’ Annie” (October/November 2022). After spending most of my life in Phoenix, Arizona — where we were always amused by newcomers’ fascination with cacti — I found myself being the one to entertain the locals when I

      6 min read

    • Article

      It Does Make Sense

      Jun 21, 2021

      It Does Make Sense
      3 min read

    • Article

      Herding Goats At Squashville Farm

      Mar 1, 2021

      Herding Goats At Squashville Farm
      6 min read

    • Article

      Earth Mail

      May 31, 2018

      We rescued a large rusty water tank from a neighbour in town and turned it into our outdoor barbecue gazebo. Still working on it with a few more things to add, but we love it. The red gum benches were cut on the property by my husband’s dad 30 years

      3 min read

    • Article

      “I’m Always Interested In Your Articles, Because They’re Packed With Helpful And Interesting Information.”

      May 8, 2020

      EDITORS’ PICK I was a 20-year-old college sophomore in 1971, when I suddenly became acutely mentally ill. More specifically, I entered the nightmarish world of full-blown schizophrenia. I was wracked with hallucinatory pain and anguish and unable to

      9 min read

    • Article

      Wary Welcomes

      Apr 4, 2023

      Wary Welcomes
      3 min read

    • Article

      Magical MEMORIES

      Jun 26, 2020

      Magical MEMORIES
      6 min read

    • Article

      Waiting For Rain

      Mar 2, 2020

      Waiting For Rain
      14 min read

    • Article

      Dig For Victory

      Oct 9, 2019

      In World War II citizens were urged to “Dig for Victory”. Today, as Greenland melts and smoke from Russian fires turns the snow black in Canada and the northern USA, we face an enemy that could be more dangerous than any in World War II: ourselves. W

      4 min read

    • Article

      Sweet Memories

      Jun 24, 2022

      Sweet Memories
      5 min read

    • Article

      Cooking through COVID

      Jul 13, 2020

      Cooking through COVID
      6 min read

    • Article

      Eye Of The Storm

      May 29, 2017

      WORDS HOPE MALAU I DREAM OF A HOME, A LITTLE SWEET SPOT WITH A LAWN, HERBS AND COLOURFUL FLOWERS. I WORK TOWARDS IT LIKE A SHIP BEING TOSSED BY RAGING BY RAGING SEAS; I ’M DETERMINED TO REALISE THIS DREAM. I have lived in the Mother City, Cape Town,

      2 min read

    • Article

      Turkey On Patrol

      Apr 22, 2022

      Turkey On Patrol
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Leopard Catcher

      Sep 4, 2020

      The Leopard Catcher
      8 min read

    • Article

      When Times Are Tough…

      Mar 8, 2021

      Our family was never one of so-called ‘financial substance’. My great grandparents and grandparents lived within sight of huge mine dumps in the Witwatersrand area and had to deal with the aftermath of bloody wars, the Spanish Flu, a terrible drought

      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for From Whence We Came

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      From Whence We Came - Lynetra T. Griffin

      Copyright © 2013 Lynetra Thomas-Griffin.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      Archway Publishing books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

      Archway Publishing

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.archwaypublishing.com

      1-(888)-242-5904

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      ISBN: 978-1-4808-0387-9 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4808-0388-6 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2013919985

      Archway Publishing rev. date: 12/2/2013

      Contents

      Introduction

      Chapter 1   Mr. Abe’s Farm

      Chapter 2   Payday on the Farm

      Chapter 3   Country Fixings from Butler’s Meat Store

      Chapter 4   A Way of Life in South Willow Creek

      Chapter 5   Tobacco Season

      Chapter 6   Chores on the Farm

      Chapter 7   Frolicking in the Summertime

      Chapter 8   Sunday Service and Dinner

      Chapter 9   The Beginning of Autumn in Willow Creek

      Chapter 10   Harvesting Pecans

      Chapter 11   Celebrating Thanksgiving

      Chapter 12   Christmas Comes to Willow Creek

      Chapter 13   The True Spirit of Christmas

      Chapter 14   Change Comes to Willow Creek

      Dedication

      This book is dedicated to my mother—

      Mary Ann Thomas Williams.

      ~Proverbs 31~

      Introduction

      A cloud of dust forms behind the tractors as the farmers prepare the fields for a new planting season. Mr. Abe’s farmhands drive the big John Deere tractors up and down the field as they harrow hundreds of acres of dry, dusty land.

      From dawn to dusk, those tractors went back and forth until every last row of earth had been turned over for Mr. Abe’s approval. Later that week, planting would begin as seeds were sown into the ground. Large green planters were hitched behind the John Deere tractors, releasing seeds as they went up and down the neatly cultivated rows.

      Soon another year’s crop of corn, cotton, green beans, tomatoes, red potatoes, and soybeans would burst forth from underneath the soil.

      One day I overheard Mr. Abe say that he planted six hundred acres of cotton and eight hundred acres of corn. He stopped planting peanuts, because he said he made more money off of his other crops.

      I knew Mr. Abe was wealthy just by looking at those big, green tractors that he owned and all of the land that belonged to him. In just about any part of the county you traveled, you would see acreage that was owned by Mr. Abe. Some of his fields were planted with crops; others were fenced-off pastures of lush, green grass for his cattle to graze. Although I didn’t know how many head of cattle and hogs he had, I knew he sure had hundreds of them.

      Mr. Abe seemed to be nervous about something, because every time you saw him, he took off his cap and scratched his head. He scratched his head until he rubbed all of his hair out in that spot. He must’ve worried about how much money he would make off his crops each planting season.

      His wife, though, seemed nice enough. You only saw her on Friday, when she helped him pass out the checks. She never came to the fields. I guess she had matters to tend to in the house or in town somewhere with the couple’s only daughter, Margaret. Her nickname was Maggie. Maggie was always involved in plays, ballet, and piano recitals.

      Their two sons, Ashton and Hansell, were often out in the fields, driving one of his big, fancy trucks. They were awfully nice and talked to all of the field hands. They sure didn’t act uppity at all, although they attended private schools and were well-off financially.

      Chapter 1

      Mr. Abe’s Farm

      The end of May would mean one thing. Picking beans would soon begin on Mr. Abe Johnson’s farm for the summer. Mr. Johnson sold corn, green beans, red potatoes, tomatoes, soybeans, cotton, and pecans from his farm.

      Acres of beans were planted in one field. As the ground burst open, you could see the vines of the green beans. As the vines continued to grow, field hands would string them to the wire using white string. The end product would be vines plum full of beans ready to be plucked to sell at the market.

      Station wagons, vans, and truckloads of workers arrived at the fields. Field workers went from field to field, picking vegetables. School children of all ages worked in the field during the summer or whenever they were needed to help earn money to make ends meet for their families.

      Numbers assigned to identify who picked the beans were once again scrawled on the sides of hampers using old bean leaves. Hampers made out of light beige wood were filled from the top to the bottom with green pole beans. After the hamper was filled, you put the lid on it using metal hooks. Then the hampers of beans were lugged out to the ends of the rows for the carriers to load them onto the wagon or big trucks.

      The more hampers you picked, the bigger the check you received come Friday evening. You listened for Mr. Abe or Mrs. Johnson to call your number to go forward to receive your check. He had so many workers in the field that he assigned numbers. It was an easier system for him to keep up with, I guess. Every time you picked a hamper, it was your responsibility to keep up with it, too. We all broke a bean as soon as a hamper was

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1