Family Ties

I love my cousin Ola Mae. I just discovered her recently. Well, within the past couple of years. My father already knew her. We both agree she's as sweet as she can be, as we say in the South. She's my great-grandfather's niece, the daughter of his youngest brother, Sam. My father has met her. I haven't yet, but I enjoy visiting her by phone. I love to hear about the old times, and it's especially helpful to me where my book is concerned. Of course, Cousin Carrie doesn't remember my great-grandfather at all. He died in 1912 years before she was born (Cousin Ola Mae would appreciate my saying that). But she remembers visiting his house growing up. It was called the "home house" by the family long after he died leaving behind a wife and a young son. Cousin Ola Mae has told me of her childhood growing up in a house on land bought by my great-grandfather for his younger brother, Sam. She speaks of those times with such fondness, and she desperately loved her father. Uncle Sam didn't die until he reached the ripe old age of 100, just a few months shy of his 101st birthday. I knew him too. He was such a kind man, prided himself on keeping his limbs loose by regularly walking to town and back. My great-grandfather would have been proud of Sam too. If only he'd lived to see his younger brother grow up.