Down Home Folks

In 1999, my brother, sister, and I gave our parents a 50th anniversary party. As I write these words, I realize that that was 11 years ago! I think that makes me old enough to be my own father, but I digress. Dad and Mom were married in the office of Akron Baptist Temple by one of the associate ministers – who, by the way, was able to attend the anniversary bash. In those days, one would be married in a church office only if there was a shotgun pointed at the groom’s back. For my parents, that was not the case. They married in July on 1949 and I was born in December of 1950 (note to friends: significant birthday coming up; gifts are expected). They were married in such a modest ceremony for 2 reasons: first, Dad was on leave from the Navy; second, they were just down home people who couldn’t afford fancy weddings and such events would be equivalent to “putting on airs.”

Since it was a simple ceremony, there was no photographer hired. Instead, grandma snapped the only extant wedding photo of my parents. For the 50th celebration, we had it enlarged and put on display along with photos of various events in their lives. But, we were in for quite a surprise. When the photo was enlarged, for the first time we were able to see clearly the picture hanging on the wall in my grandparent’s house. We knew it was there, but it was so small we were unable to recognize the face. We assumed it was a relative.

Now, I don’t know if Dad and Mom were placed in front of that particular wall on purpose or for convenience. Did grandma intentionally place that wall picture in photo as a subliminal statement? Was it there to serve as a continual reminder of our roots?

If you look closely, you may be able to recognize the picture. In the upper left, hanging on the wall almost looking out at the handsome newlyweds is a picture of Minnie Pearl. I realize that some of you reading this who are under 50 and in possession of most of your teeth may have never heard of Minnie Pearl. She was a standup comic, a down home version of Kathy Griffin or Paula Poundstone. I can hear Jeff Foxworthy now, "If you have a picture of Minne Pearl hanging in your living room..."

That is our pedigree. As a cherished member of the family, Minnie Pearl, the “Queen of the Grand Ole Opry” occupied a prominent place in my grandparent’s home. That explains a lot.