Most families have some bones in the closet or have a story they don’t want told, but I have a story to tell about my Grandmother Ida Sanders and my Uncle Isaac Sanders, and a sock full of silver dollars.
It was January 1st, 1938 when my Grandfather Martin and Grandmother Ida Sanders purchased 130 acres near Iuka, Mississippi. The land was located on Mill Creek Road between Mill Creek and Eastport at a place at that time known by the locals as the Big Hill. I’m sure it was a happy time for them to purchase their own farm. I can remember how happy I was when I was able to purchase my first home.
I wasn’t born until November 1944 but I have some special memories of the old homeplace. I can remember the old log home and the big fireplaces at each side of the house. I can also remember the two big white mules my grandfather used to till the ground. I loved the time I spent with my grandparents on the farm. In the morning I would go to the smokehouse with my grandmother and she would open up the old salt box and take a big butcher knife and slice off a slab of bacon, then we would gather the eggs and go back to the kitchen to cook breakfast. She was a gentle, warm, and loving grey-haired lady whom I greatly admired and loved. The old house was cold in the winter but at bedtime my grandfather would throw a couple of big logs on the fire, chunk up the coals then we’d hop into bed and snuggle up in the big feather bed. It was like sleeping on a cloud.
There were seven children, four boys and three girls. By the time I was born, all were married and had a family of their own except the oldest my Uncle Isaac, and the youngest Uncle Clarence and he got married in early 1951. Uncle Isaac didn’t get married until many years later, but that’s another story for another day.
On December 26th, 1951 my grandfather passed away from a stroke and that left Uncle Isaac to take care of his mom. Not long after his death my uncle sold the farm and built a new house -- still on Millcreek Road but closer to town. He had built a service station on Hwy. 72 in Iuka some years earlier and it was a much shorter drive from the new house.
Back in the day, (the early 50s) Avon Tucker had started a peddling business, kind of a general store on wheels, he would travel around through the backcountry to deliver basic goods to people in rural areas. Every morning before Uncle Isaac would leave for work, he would give his mom a silver dollar to buy something she might need from the peddler.
Months passed and one night returning home from work at the service station, my uncle had a look of worry and concern on his face. Mom knew something was wrong; she asked, “What’s wrong son?”
He explained that an unexpected bill he didn’t know about came in and he didn’t have the money to pay it. She asked how much is the bill. It was $150 and back in the early 50s that was quite a bit of money. My grandmother said, “Well, maybe I can help.”
My uncle greatly appreciated her concern but said, “Mom where could you possibly have that much money?” She replied, “Son, remember all those silver dollars you gave me for the peddler? Well, and I have almost every one of them I think that will be enough so you can have them and pay the $150.”
Now many years and decades have passed and all that remains are my memories of a time long ago in the distant past. They both have long since passed away but the memories of the old home place on the big hill, my dear grandmother, my uncle, and the sock full of silver dollars that saved the day -- those memories are forever etched in my heart and mind.