Mama & Papa McNair in Real Life

 The following notes may or may not have been added so I will post them here. These memories are sidenotes from my mother. As I add information about Frank and Ella's adult children, there will be more memories and recollections of this family. It seems as if they were always there for Mimi and Pappy (Ava & J.C. Jones).

Mama and Papa

Papa never did bless Ava’s marriage to Joe Carroll.  Ava was acquainted with an ambitious upcoming young man who Papa knew she would marry.  When she fell in love with Carroll, Papa was adamantly against it.  Papa knew the night that they were going to ask him if they could get married, and he went on to bed before they got home.  They went in to his bedside anyway to ask for his permission.  He said she could if she wanted to, but that he would not bless the marriage.  Papa was a minister and did not even attend the marriage.

When Jo was born, Ella saved her life.  Others, including the doctor, didn’t expect Jo to live to the morning.  Ella worked through the night clearing Jo’s passageways of mucus, etc. and literally breathed life back into Jo.  Jo lived to be 63 years old.  When Carolita was born, Ella and Charles took Jo in order to help Ava, who had 3 infants in diapers.  They taught her to walk, and potty trained her, and when life returned to normal for Ava and Joe, Jo returned home.

Aunt Jo greets them on Sunday morning. There must have been a tremendous bond between the two. 

Papa and Mama didn’t enjoy being around all the kids.  They thought they had no table manners and Mama would tell Ava that if she didn’t know what would become of the kids if she didn’t get a handle on them.

When Ava and Carroll’s house burned down, they traveled that night to the McNair’s in Electra.  The next morning Papa cleaned the children up and combed their hair and took them to get shoes and socks.

They raised EVERYTHING they ate, except for flour, sugar, coffee, corn meal, etc.  They were excellent gardeners and canned most of their food to store for the winter.

            

I love these pictures of Mama McNair. She and Papa lived life earnestly, honestly and with the highest integrity. I'm proud to be their great-granddaughter.

Papa is in God's Hands