When I was a child, one of my favorite trips was a train ride on the CIty of New Orleans to Brookhaven, MS, where my aunt, Ernestine Garrett Godbold, lived, along with her husband, Willard, and daughter, Mary Katherine. My mom and I would get up before daylight and my dad would drive us to Union Passenger Terminal in New Orleans, while he passed on last-minute instructions on how to travel safely and she passed on last-minute reminders to feed the dog, lock the doors and eat the chicken casserole she'd left for him.
It always felt like an excellent adventure, boarding the train before dawn and rolling through the countryside toward Brookhaven and Aunt Ernestine. I recall arriving at the old depot there one December morning to find Aunt Ernestine waiting, as usual, on the platform, but - amazingly - with snow cascading down all around her. From the train, I could see the town's rooftops, white with fallen snow. I must've been about 4 or 5, and it was the first time I'd ever seen snow. To my childhood mind, it was a welcoming gift from Aunt Ernestine herself. It's a happy memory, along with many others of Brookhaven, that I've kept all these years - the kind a friend of mine calls "heart memories" - memories that stir the senses and make the heart glad.
It's to the memory of Aunt Ernestine and Uncle Willard that I dedicate this page. Nancy |
