| So, as the Train of Life keeps chugging along, another written page of my Childhood Memories of.... Rockingham Remembered. |
| I Remember Sundays.... |
| Here are a few of my favorite memories during my childhood years of a typical Sunday .... the day of rest at the end of the week..... "Dad - do we have to go to church today?" was the question. "What if we just go to Sunday School and skip preaching?" Mom and Dad would hear this plea about every Sunday from us four boys. But they were always adamant about us going to church. And I am grateful to them for that. In fact, we would be in church anytime there was a service there. Young boys are just too interesting in playing outside to want to be shut up in church during this time. But, Mom and Dad knew best. It was the best place to be on Sundays. We attended the Pentecostal Holiness Church in Pee Dee - with other members of the Bailey family. I remember my grandpa Bailey one Sunday standing up and giving his testimony. I believe he was in his 70s and he gave a hell and brimstone testimony that seemed to shake the building. But we were used to those kinds of testimony and they were a part of worshiping during those times. I am sure if there were any lost souls in that congregation that this testimony turned them in the right direction. A lot of times, we would have revivals. And, most of the revivals would last a week - not 2 or 3 days like they do now. There were many evangelists that would preach at these revivals but one lady that I remember was Sister Putnam. She was a good sized lady and before going into the ministry, she was a professional wrestler. She would sweat profusely every time she preached. I am sure that some of the people that attended church during those times remember her well. After church service on Sundays ended - usually around 1230pm - everyone would go home and enjoy their Sunday dinner. Going out to eat was practically unheard of then. Mom would cook our dinners - and usually the food would come from our garden and the main course would come from the freezer locker plant where we had our meat products stored and frozen. I don't think we were ever short on food because we grew our own most of the time. After dinner, we would usually go visit relatives. We never went to movies on a Sunday - that was forbidden for us. Sometimes we would go to grandpa Baileys house and fish. He had a nice lake on Glenwood Dr but it has now been filled in. But that was some great times. Later on we would get back home and there was always a ball game in the neighborhood - basketball court between my house and the Comers or baseball or football down at the Hewitts house. Never a dull moment for young boys in our neighborhood. But we would always have to end the games short - because we would never do our homework until Sunday night! Can you believe that? Sunday Afternoons when I was a kid - that was truly the good ole days.... |
|
|