Grandparents Part 1

Reb asked me to share some storys of my life growing up. so, let's start by talking about my grandparents. My mom's mom died when mom was 11. Her name was Mary Agalene Nicholos(birthday Sept 7). She married Albert Sidney Austin(birthday July 27). Grandmother Austin died at age 49 of cancer. They had 9 children(3 still living). She was a very godly woman, and before she died she prayed with each one of her children. Then she asked one of the children to go to the well and get her a cool drink of water. Grand pa Austin died when I was about eight years old. All I remember about him was that he was a very short man. Every morning he would walk over a dirt road and pasture to our house to drink coffee with mom. I have no other memorys of him. If you know anything about Laurel, the street is 13th ave. The old trees are still there on 13th ave right near a church where he lived in a little house that my Uncle Andrew built for him. Grandpa was a farmer then when he moved to Laurel he became a brick mason. He mainly built steps and chimneys. I knew my dad's parent very well. We lived with them for short periods of time until dad started his radio business in Laurel and paid $150 for a two room house on 14th Ave. Later we moved up the street to a 3 room house and dad built two more rooms after David and Jim was born. My room was a space near one of the bedrooms and our one bathroom....about the size of my walk in closet that I have now. Don't feel sorry for me, because I loved living on 14th Ave. I had one window that I would sit and look up in the sky and think about the Lord and how to live for Him. We had wonderful friends and neighbors and best of all I was just down the road from my church. I would run to church and sit on the top step waiting for someone to open the door. Someone teasing me said "we need to give you a key to open the door." For years I looked for my key, but no one gave it to me. As a parent and teacher, I have always had that in the back of my mind. In dealing with children "always try to keep your word." One wonderful thing that has happened two years ago. My cousin Dan doing research on the Austin family found decendants of Grandpa Austin. It is the decendants of his brother, Purcell Austin.We knew of him as Uncle Boose. We found out they were having a reunion in Jackson,Ms. and they invited our family to come be with them. WOW!!! WOW!!! What a blessing to meet these folks. Thank you for inviting us. We are looking forward to the next "get together." Tomorrow I will talk about my dad's parents....have a blessed day!!!