Well, Christmas has come and gone. I hope we all have a happy New Year.
Most of all, stay well and keep the good Lord in our lives. My family came on Sunday after Christmas, Ralph and June of Murfreesboro, my grandson, Randy and Natasha and Ellie Vaughn, Drake and Amanda Vaughn of Alexandria. We had a good fellowship eating and exchanging gifts.
Rebecca Ervin had her children and family for breakfast and supper Christmas day. Everyone had a wonderful time together.
Mabel Pack’s daughter Valerie and Johnnie Mears and their children and family visited on Christmas day.
Sue Arnold and her family, the Lawson’s, gathered in the fellowship hall at New Home Baptist Church on Saturday afternoon for a good dinner and fellowship.
Sympathy to Helen Raymond and her family in the loss of her husband B.L. Raymond.
Congratulations to Bessie Jones. Her name was drawn on WJLE birthday club on Monday for roses from DeKalb Florist. I hope she has many more.
Ryder Mac Stanfield celebrated his fifth birthday on Dec. 30 with his family.
Visitors of Ruth Sutton were Joyce Hattaway, Marlyn Phillips, Jean Patton, Morene Gilley. Damie and Kyle Sutton, Thelma Evans, Michelle and Ali Patton, Sue McCoy, Billy Sutton, Linda Sutton.
Lee Autry Malone had 32 present on Christmas eve for supper and exchanging of gifts.
Tuesday visitors of Sue Crook were Mary Jane and Billy Hooper and Johnnie ruth Hunt. They all met at the home of Johnnie Ruth Hunt on Christmas day for dinner and exchanged gifts.
Effie Lee Ellis had several guests on Christmas day, and enjoyed all getting together.
Billie Simpson had 14 family members on Christmas eve for dinner. Billie Simpson and Anita and Chloe Braswell visited E.L. and Brenda Anderson. They also visited Corinna Melton and her guest Stanton, Mary and Jonathan Melton.
Linda Ferrell attended their family get-together Saturday night at the home of her sister, Lisa and Roy Merriman. There were 16 people present.
I truly appreciate and thank the Lord for the time I have each week to talk with friends on the telephone and reminisce about the years gone by.
Werdna Moss calls me regularly, and we talk about my young years in DeKalb County and how much I admired her daddy, Alton Tramel.
Mr. Tramel was one of my favorite school teachers.  I am sure that my readers also have fond memories of their school teachers.
For some reason, this week I was thinking about when we lived in the little house on our farm before building the one that I have now. We had a smokehouse where our chickens roosted.
Ralph had a cage in there also where he kept his pet rabbits.
And the other part of the smokehouse was used for storage. Obviously the time I was thinking about was not in the winter because the smokehouse was not heated.  But in the summertime, Ralph would take a bath in the smokehouse.  We all bathed by using a wash pan, a cloth and soap. 
Unbeknownst to his daddy and me, he created a shower.  We didn’t find out until the wood floor was almost ruined.  Ralph tied a sprinkler bucket to a rafter after filling it with warm water; had a chain tied to the spout.  He would soap up and then pull the chain for the water to rinse him.
Since neither his daddy nor I went into the smokehouse that often, we did not realize that the floor was getting soaked.  And of course Ralph took the bucket down after his shower and hid it away.  I once noticed the wet spot and wondered if the roof was leaking.
After getting a little more suspicious, I finally figured out what was going on and ended the shower days in the smokehouse.