To be a Driggers

Driggers

Question what’s a Driggers? Do you know? What defines a Driggers? Some would say, maybe it’s the white hair? Or do you know the twins? Is it a tractor? Is it the country? Maybe it’s even a peanut? Or, what about the cotton? Does anyone know? Can anyone tell little ole me?

Some might even say it could be because of a little ole Lamb. Maybe it’s the reunions, or maybe the fish cookouts? What about the trips up to the cemetery? What about the trips through downtown New Brockton? Maybe it was the tractor tire? Do you remember that? What about the flowers that are planted inside?

What about the old swing down by the road near the ole pecan tree? What about the barn? Do you remember what was kept inside? The only thing that sticks out the most is my bubble lawn mower.

Do you remember running through the fields from Granddaddy’s to Uncle Joe’s? Do you remember the kitchen inside Granddaddy’s house? Do you remember having to stand on a stool to wash dishes? What about the chair Granddaddy sat in? Do you remember the overalls? Or the Dickey suits that he wore? What about his glasses? Do you remember as a child, how long it took to get down to Driggerville, and then how fast you got back home?

Do you remember going over to see Uncle Ellis and Aunt Eloise? Do you remember the ole dog that would always bark, and then want to knock you down when you walked up the long stairs on the large hill? You know the older you get, the more you start to realize the hill wasn’t that bad. Do you remember getting to see Taylor and Becca over there also? Getting to go into the back and watch T.V. in the den? Do you remember how Mr. Jimmy and Mrs. Debbie (Pirkle) would always swing by to see family also? Mrs. Debbie always treated me like one of her kids.

Do you remember the day Granny Juddie came into Granddaddy’s life? Do you remember the trips after they got married? I don’t think we ever ate much at Granddaddy’s once they got married; we always ate at Captain D’s. Do you remember her when her grandkids came? It was like the Driggers’ grandkids didn’t even exist in her eyes!

Do you remember the days Granddaddy got sick? Mom found a little bell so when I was down, I became Granddaddy’s nurse. In all reality I probably didn’t actually do anything but he would always smile the biggest smile I had ever seen every time he rang that bell. Do you know I still have it? When things got extremely bad and they put him in the hospital because he was dying, I felt so terrible, I was five years shy of the age limit to go back to see him. I watched everybody go in and out, and I wasn’t allowed to even say anything to him or to anybody.

The week granddaddy died, Mom grabbed me up and went to the nurses’ station and pleaded for them to allow me to go back so that I could at least say goodbye to my grandfather. Turns out one of the nurses had a heart, I was finally granted permission to say my final goodbyes to the only grandfather that I knew here on this Earth.

The day of his funeral I didn’t cry one bit, until I walked outside and there stood my mom’s mom, Granny Boozer. She had on her long tan coat, she opened it and I just shoved my head in and cried my eyes out. She made it a lot easier. You see my Granny Boozer (mom’s mom) was really close to Granddaddy Elee & Granny Esther, my late grandfather, Harvey Boozer and her, loved to go to New Brockton and see them, and spend time with them. I love to sit on the couch and listen to the stories that Granny Boozer tells about Granny Esther and Granddaddy Elee to this day.

By the way, I was also in my first wedding ever around this time or a little bit ahead of it. I was the flower girl in Renee and Nick’s wedding, can you believe it, I was a flower girl? Yeah though I almost got my butt tore up on several occasions during the rehearsal before the wedding by my mother, because let’s just say, I found everything that Connie and Cathy were doing very interesting. (If you didn’t know Connie and Cathy are Aunt Sissy’s girls, well I guess you could say grown women now.) But every time they sat down, I plopped my behind down not far from where they were. Okay, now can you imagine my mom sitting out in the church, giving me the evil eye (which meant get your butt up now, and act right). Well needless to say, I never did, because Connie and Cathy never did. Guess you could say they always had my attention growing up as a child, and I admit not much has changed from that day to the present!!! Yep, those are what I always told mom were the cool cousins (don’t get offended if you are another cousin besides them reading this. They were always years and years and years ahead of me in age, I found them interesting), it’s nothing against the rest of you all.

Mom has always told me the story of how I spent my first few months after my birth; can you remember back that far? Mom told it every time we went down to Driggerville when I was a baby, you could always find me with Renee, and the older I got, the more you could find me on her hip. Well at least until I could walk probably. I have this picture in my keepsake box, that has me as a baby and I am being held by Renee, mom always said It was like I was Renee’s sidekick.

My cousin Renee and her family moved into Granddaddy’s house, after Granny Juddie moved to Florida, or as some would say off the face of the Earth. Several years went by, and then came along my second cousin, Yousaf, which is Renee and Nick’s first son. Let me tell you a little bit about Yousaf. As a child, I always found him interesting. Renee and Nick always had him in everything creative. To me it was really cool. I must say, I remember the violin, or at least I think it was a violin, (remind me if it wasn’t Renee), Yousaf was just a unique and brilliant kid.

Several years went by and Granddaddy’s house burned to the ground, only thing that was left was the poured foundation. That was really hard to see, and extremely hard to watch dad, Uncle Donnie, Uncle Joe, and Aunt Sissy see that. Though I must say, I got to see about a dozen of my cousins but it wasn’t under good circumstances. Isn’t that usually how things happen, the people you would love to see on a regular basis, you end up only seeing them during awful circumstances? Life went on not always for the best, but I learned a lot.

Do you remember after not seeing Cathy or Connie in several years, and at a reunion at Uncle Joe’s, Cathy hugged me when she came in and found the first bra on her little cousin, so she made her move, and made sure to pop it as loud as she could. This really totally embarrassed me, but as you could say I lived through it.

What about the trips to Moultrie, Georgia to see Aunt Sissy and Uncle Johnny. I give it to Connie and Cathy, as soon as we got there Cathy would swing by, pick me up and spend a majority of the day with me (outside of all the grownups) and then Connie would take me back to the Southwell house for the night. I give it to my lovely cousins, I never had to spend much time with the grownups of the family.

Well guess you could say it has taken more than two pages to describe what a Driggers is. Going to school in Prattville wasn’t always that easy. See, I had Alice there a few years ahead of me, though she is family and I love her dearly, but do you know what it’s like to be a freshman and all the teachers when they called your name, looked at you with pure horror? Then came the question, “Do you know an Alice? Are you related to her?” So see growing up a Driggers isn’t so BAD at all.

Do you remember who the first person was that you danced with? Was it at school? Well my first experience will forever be in my brain, because it was inside Uncle Donnie’s and Aunt Carol’s house, in Alice’s bedroom with Curt Wood. Yeah can you say embarrassment? So see please believe me when I tell you, having my family in your life, may not always be the easiest thing in the world, but I am thankful that I have them in my life. Yeah I think I blushed for a solid year after Alice asked me if I wanted to learn how to dance with Curt. It’s still a little awkward these days if I see him out in public. Alice on the other hand, thinks nothing of it. So if you ever don’t want to be embarrassed then my advice is take Jennifer with you, but again if you don’t mind being embarrassed or you don’t embarrass easily then hey Alice loves to go to Wal-Mart.

Do you remember the day Jennifer had Bryana? She was so adorable, the littlest thing I had ever seen. I do remember the trip we were all in Moultrie (I don’t know for what), but Aunt Carol & Uncle Donnie brought Bryana (she may have been a few months old), but everyone wanted to hold her. My favorite was thing was dressing her up, and watching her stare at new things that caught her eye. When Jennifer laid her down in the pen for her nap, I remember laying a pillow down and wanting to lay down and watch her. What can I say, I love kids….

Speaking of Moultrie, you all remember Chip don’t you? Chip is Cathy’s son, and I remember as a kid, when we were all together, wherever Chip was, you could bet I wasn’t far behind. There again is another cousin that I found just interesting. If you haven’t had the chance to see him recently, he hasn’t changed at all. Still the same ole Chip!!! Still has the reddish hair.

Do you remember Will? Will was always the sporty cousin still is. We were always proud of him, because even when he was in school, Aunt Sissy would send us cutouts of his newspaper articles so that we could keep track of him. He just got married this year to his high school sweetheart. Will and Megan are adorable together. I am so proud of him. And still have every news article that Aunt Sissy ever mailed to my house about him. He will go far in life.

What about Denver? Denver is Cathy’s daughter. I loved always getting to go and see Denver. She is one of my special cousins who I love dearly. I got to see her recently when we went to Will’s wedding this year. Let me say she has grown up to be an awesome person. Nothing has changed.

Do you also remember spending a lot of time at Uncle Marion and Aunt Mamie Lee’s house? Uncle Marion always had the coolest tricks to show me, though I am sure you all have seen them way before I ever did, right? From the spill proof glass, to the banishing coins, he even had it set up that when the mail was delivered it would ring a buzzer on the living room wall by his chair. Those were some awesome times that I am grateful I had the chance to have. I remember getting the chance a few times in my childhood, sitting at the chair with Aunt Mamie Lee and her letting me comb her hair. She always had the softest hair and it was really long. It fascinated me to see how long it was.

So I guess you could say although I don’t get to see a lot of the Driggers’ clan on a daily basis, I know deep down in my Little Heart, I can call them and no matter where they maybe, they will always have time for their Baby Cousin. So you know no matter what happens in life whether it be good or bad I am SUPER glad that I am a Driggers.