Oh what a Story to Tell 3-18-09

Sometimes things happen to you in life that makes you remember what a small world we live in.
Sunday night Larry, Peggy, Jim and I went to the Appreciation Dinner for the Volunteers. While we were in line to go into the building for the dinner there was a gentleman standing at the door directing us where to go. I looked at his name tag and saw that his name was Ivey and he was from Brinson,Georgia. Now you have to realize Brinson is a small area outside of Bainbridge where I grew up that most people would not know where it is. I said to the man, Brinson, Georgia? I grew up near Bainbridge. He ask me what my madien name was and when I told him he asked me who my Daddy was. I told him and he answers I knew him. He then tells me he wishes we could talk longer but the line has to keep moving. Later that night I tell Larry I need to find out who this Mr. Ivey is and that I will check with the information office to see if we can find him. I thought he was one of us here at the FMCA.

What I did not know was he was hired by the Georgia Fairgrounds to work here during the Convention. We lives in Warner Robins and so when he went home that night he
called his sister in Kentucky, tells her the story then he calls a lady in Brinson that he knows and he figures she knew my family and she remembers that I married Larry Halstead. Mr. Ivey calls the FMCA and tells them he met someone on Sunday night that he had not heard anything about for at least 60 some years and they gave him my phone number and he called me and wanted to come over on Tuesday and visit with us. His grandparents lived less than a half of mile from us and I knew all his aunts and uncles. Larry enjoyed hearing us talk about all the people we both knew and the family stories of how one of his uncles killed a brother in law and then a sister killed the brother. I remember hearing this story when I was a "little girl".He had to tell me the story of my birth, (that I have heard all my life) of his Uncle Prentice coming home and telling his Grandmother that Miss Louise had a baby girl and named her Remember Louise. Most of you know my name is Memorie Lea so Prentice was a bit confused. We talked about my Mother and brother whom he knew well and a lot of people in the area that we both knew and by the time he left I was emotionally drained but enjoyed it very much.
We are having a good time at the convention now that the rain has stopped. It is going to be interesting on Friday when all these motorcoaches start trying to get out of here through the mud. Hopefully it will not rain again before we leave. Today we visited a lot of the vendor booths and Larry bought filters for the engine and generator. We looked at some of the new coaches on display and our Discovery is looking better and better to us when we see the pricetags on the new ones.
More later.