AUNT
BILLIE
BY
CECELIA GREENE WOFFORD "Corky"
"Rose
Bud" Photo by Barb Burdett S
I remember going to Aunt Billie's for a Burdett family function.
Aunt Billie cooked a young goat she had raised. A lot of the aunts
were making uck sounds including Mom. The meat was really good,
but then I was always ready to try something new when it came
to food. One time I was at a neighbor's, and she gave me pigs
tails and rice. Mama wanted to know what I had been doing at Mrs.
Moye's house. When I told her I thought she was going to have
a heart attack. I never did tell her I ate chicken feet and rice
at Mrs. Shaw's.
I have a memory of going upstairs to Norman's room (Billie's older
son) with Mama and Aunt Billie.
Aunt Billie showed us Norman's violin that he was taking lessons
on. Aunt Billie played the accordion for us while we were there.
She didn't play a lot because she kept getting her breasts squeezed
in the bellows. I mentioned it when we got home, and Mama said
Aunt Billie always hated her big breasts. I told her I thought
Aunt Billie was pretty, and her big breasts looked nice.
I am wondering if this is where the picture of Grandma Burdett
and most of the aunts and Uncle Bud was taken? I seem to remember
someone saying they needed to take a picture because they would
never get that many of Grandma's children together again.
A
Memory of Aunt Billie at Darby
There was a time on a dark, black night she had gone with a car
load of kids somewhere on Highway 41 and 52.....On the way back
the car ran out of gas.......There we were on the side of a dark,
deserted road, there were no houses on that stretch of road......We
got out and she began talking to us about who would stay with
the car and who would walk to the store, which was probably five
miles........None of us would stay without her, and none would
go without her..........so we all walked to the store, which was
probably closed, as they folded up the sidewalks and closed the
shutters when it got dark.....I don't remember the outcome, I
just remember how dark, scary and long the walk was......Some
of the boys may remember as some of them were with us, and it
seems Norman was too.....Jim may have been on that trip...REATHA
JOHNS ALBURY
Pete
Franks
(Pete
Franks' daughter, Judy, whose parents divorced when she was three
years old, wrote this tribute to him. At first she lived with
her mother, Billie, at Darby, Florida. Then she went back to live
with her father, Pete, when she was seven years old in Tampa,
Florida.)
The first recollection I have of my father was a huge box that
he sent to me in Darby. It was stuffed with clothes, toys and
packages of flower seeds. I was three or four years old. Mother
and I were in Darby, Florida. Daddy was in Tampa, but he never
forgot me.
My father was strong and dependable. He never talked much. He
just put on his gun every day, and he went to work (as a police
detective).
I never wanted for anything. Daddy gave me piano lessons, hired
an elderly housekeeper to help with me, and my life went on back
in Tampa.
My father was both father and mother for five years. He took me
to restaurants. He watched as I rode the little train in Sulfur
Springs. He signed my report cards. He met with my teachers. Daddy
attended my piano recitals. He tried to tie my sashes. He took
me to the doctor. He worried because I was too skinny. He was
always calm when I was upset. He never yelled at me. He smiled
broadly when people said, "Pete, she looks just like you."
Daddy hovered over me at the beach (afraid that I would drown).
He took me to the pistol range, to police parties. We drove to
Birmingham to visit my Italian grandparents.
I talk about my father every day of my life. No one measures up
to him. He looms large in my memories. He was quietly dynamic.
When he spoke people listened…I often ask myself, "What
would Daddy do if he were in my situation?"
I really miss him. He died at age seventy-nine from a second heart
attack. He was strong and confident until three days before his
death. He worked on Friday and had his attack on Saturday.
I thought this would be a happy little piece of writing, but as
I remembered Daddy stinging tears surged…I realize I cannot
convey all that he meant to me in this Father's Day tribute…I
hope he was as proud of me as I was of him.
…….Judy
STREET SMARTS
Aunt Billie, our mom Alta's youngest sister,
had the loveliest little daughter while married to our Uncle Pete
Franks. Judy, now grown into a lovely lady, is considered by many
of us to be the family jewel. Judy's father, now deceased, had
been a vice squad police captain, a court bailiff, and in the
latter years of his life, an advocate for the elderly with the
court system.
Uncle Pete with his many years of experience could walk a person
through the court system easily. An inexperienced person would
not even know where to begin with the courts and legal problems.
While working with the group known as The
Spring, Uncle Pete became aware of an elderly lady who was being
physically abused and fleeced by a less-than-honorable family
in Tampa.
Uncle Pete knew, from long years of experience, that even very
bad people can be persuaded to do very good things if asked in
the right manner. This elderly retired vice squad captain, this
ex-court bailiff, this advocate for the elderly, enlisted the
aid of two gentlemen of imposing stature and appearance. These
three gentlemen presented themselves on the doorsteps of this
family of lesser lights and explained that it would be in their
best interest if they never laid a hand on this elderly lady ever
again. It was further explained to these good folk that it would
probably be better for them if they never, ever, touched a penny
of this elderly lady's funds ever again either.
I don't think it was Uncle Pete's imposing
stature-he was short-that moved these people so effectively. Could
it have been the cold eyes of Uncle Pete's friends, perhaps their
imposing stature, perhaps the bulge under their jackets? We may
never know. Anyhow, these folk hurriedly packed their bags and
left town without even saying "goodbye". And after that
little elderly Sicilian gentleman had offered such good advice.
Some people are just thoughtless.
The above story was told by a minister at
Uncle Pete's funeral service. Uncle Pete, being the ever-protective
father, kept the seamier side of his job away from our cousin
Judy. I must, due to lack of detailed knowledge, leave the details
of Judy's father and her early childhood to Judy herself. But
this one story, by itself, indicates to me the kind of uncle we
had: his courage, his failure at retirement, his concern for the
elderly. Forgive me for this Uncle Pete: and perhaps a bit of
deep-down gentleness that he was loathe to show to the type of
people he had to deal with on a daily basis.
BY Bill Johns, Alta's Youngest Son
