Everyone has that one eccentric family member that is full of all kinds of tales. In my family it was Gladys. However, with Gladys you just weren’t sure how much of her story was true. Although eccentric, she was also hilarious, engaging, delightful to be around, and FULL of fam info and I was a sponge taking it ALL in.
My Papa was born in 1899 in an area of Florida that isn’t a tourist spot, but where my family settled in the mid 1800’s after they migrated from South Carolina. They lived on or close to the Sewanee River as they were farmers. Papa was the baby of his family – lucky # 12. His father, William Morgan, was born in 1849.
Way back in the late 1980’s (sounds and sometimes feels like 100 years ago) Papa had a heart-attack while visiting with Gladys. I flew down to see Papa and stayed with Gladys. Papa and Gladys were born around the same time and Gladys admired and loved Papa and Grandma. Their life became our main topic of conversation when I came back to her house from visiting Papa in the hospital. Like 2 teenagers, we sat in her BIG / OLD/ BEAUTIFUL brass bed as we ate, giggled, and talked – the TV was on with low volume in the corner of the room. Gladys told me about her husbands – yes, many husbands – and how at least 2 of them died mysteriously by suicide😳. Then at some point she shushed me and pointed to the TV…. Dr. Ruth Westheimer was on and evidently Gladys NEVER missed an episode.
Gladys told me a story about her and her father that left me bug-eyed. She told me how he beat all of them, including her mother, and would go off with women and leave them with no money. Consequently, her parents divorced when she was young – NOT a common thing in the early 1900’s, but thankfully her mother was able to get away, which was a miracle. After some time, her mother met a brother of my papa, my great-uncle, and they got married. Soon after they married, “Tom”, Gladys’ dad sent a letter to her mother demanding she come back to him and he wanted take Gladys with him. The instructions were that he would meet them on the west bank of the Sewanee River at a particular ferry point on the next Saturday morning – EARLY. Saturday comes and goes and Gladys hears nothing from her dad. Days pass – still… nothing. Weeks pass and less of a thought …until “Tom” is just a fleeting thought now and again… mostly associated with abandonment and anger.
A couple of days after the early Saturday meet a man’s body was found in a boat floating south on the Sewanee River.
Fast forward 20++ years after that fateful Saturday morning on the Sewanee River… Gladys now lives in Tampa and is making BIG bank. She goes to a dealership to buy a car. She walks up to a salesman and taps his shoulder. He turns around and… it’s “Tom”. Both realize the implications and just stand there for a few more seconds – then Gladys turns around and walks out. No. Car.
( He. Sent. A. Decoy.)
Freedom Matters 