The Storm

By: Margena Myrick

Copyright 2010 by

Margena Myrick

Layout by: Anegram Publishing

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THE STORM

“Rain is pouring down outside that door like

it was mad at the world. I’m suffering. My little

legs are all anxious and restless. I can’t play with

my wagon. I can’t climb the tree in the front yard.

I can’t run over to the store for candy; I’m just stuck

in the house watching the storm beat down

everything that’s out there in its path. Daddy’s cat

is creeping around like a thief in the night,” I cried

to Mama while I was sitting on the bed watching

her.

She was hemming a dress and I was

listening to her tell me all about how one day I’m

gonna have to do this for myself.

“Mott, it’s good to know how to do for

yourself, that way you won’t have to beg or pay

people to do what you can do. Try to get your own

things you need; house, money and car,” she

explained.

“Mama may have, Daddy may have, but

blessed is the child that has her own,” she went on

to say. My Grandma could go on and on for a while

when I was spending time with her. She was a

natural. Just off the top of her head she would come

out with comments I had never heard anybody say.

“Mama where in the world did you learn all

the stuff you tell me?” I curiously asked.

“Baby, learn to listen when people talk.

You’ll be surprised at what you can learn. But you

also need to learn how to take the meat and spit out

the bone just as well. Folks will lie even when the

truth will do.”

“It’s raining cats and dogs out,” Daddy said

as he worked his way through the back door. He

always made sure nothing would blow away during

bad weather. Some stuff he would tie down or lay

down. That way stuff don’t end up in the

neighbors’ yard or in the field across the road.

Things like Mama’s wash pans, my wagon or

anything else I may have pulled out from

somewhere. He said an old man named Mr.

Bellamy, told him a long time ago, “If it thunders

before seven, it’s gonna rain before eleven.” He

was right.

Uncle Robert was spending time at Aunt

Rose’s house with our cousins Earnest and

Preacher. I bet they were doing something with a

car even in this bad weather. Earnest and Preacher

thought they were some kind of hot rod kings.

They loved cars. They didn’t even have one,

neither did Uncle Robert. I guess they were trying

to plant a seed as Daddy always said. Hoping one

day they’ll get a job and buy a car. Daddy always

told Uncle Robert if he don’t work he may be

tempted to steal something. Stealing was

something my Granddaddy wasn’t gonna tolerate.

He’d probably beat Uncle Robert down to the

ground.

Tee Jo was with her friend Mary. They was

probably doing cart wheels and splits in the rain.

They loved to be shaking it. I guess that’s why they

wanted to be Pep Squad Girls.

Anyway, I was glad both of them was gone.

This way I could have my Grandma and my

Grandpa all to myself and nobody was here to

worry us. Or, so I thought.

In a loud voice we heard someone yelling. I

ran to the front porch and there was Mrs. Mary

yelling at a

pretty young

girl.

“Get your

butt out that

rain gal!

Come here,

come on

inside!”

Mrs. Mary

kept yelling at her, but she acted like she was crazy

in the head. She was staggering like she had had a

couple of drinks, or a little taste as what Mama

called it. Mrs. Mary kept trying to get her in the

house. She was swaying in the mud. I looked over

at Mr. Bo’s Store but he wasn’t open. So it may not

be, since Mr. Bo not open, that she’s has had a little

taste. I ran to the backroom where Mama and

Daddy was. They never stopped what they was

doing. They probably thought Mrs. Mary was

yelling at Rose or Walt.

“Mama and Daddy come here quick, you got

to see this. There’s a young lady out there in the

storm. I think she done had one taste too many.

Somebody may need to help her. Maybe she needs

to sleep it off.”

Lightning was streaking across the dark sky.

Thunder was rumbling all around us. The wind was

blowing fiercely in the trees. She was just out there

swaying in the mud. It was like she didn’t see or

feel a thing.

“Oh My God, that’s not drunk that’s

something else bothering that child. I done seen

that before,” Mama said with a look of concern on

her face. Daddy didn’t say a word; he just had a

blank stare on his face as he watched. Mrs. Mary

was still beckoning for her to come inside. The rain

was pouring down on her. From time to time she

would stop and look over at Mrs. Mary, but she still

stayed there in the middle of the road, soaking wet,

being beat down by the weather. She didn’t even

care.

Daddy suddenly turned and went to the back

of the house, while Mama and me stood on the

porch watching the young girl in the rain. Daddy

came back with a parasol and his rain jacket. Off

the porch he went, into the bad weather to get her.

She didn’t resist him at all. She was like the

walking dead.

“Go back in the house Mary we got her,”

Daddy yelled then signaled for Mrs. Mary to get

back in the house. Rose and Walt were standing on

the porch too. They went back inside as Daddy

worked his way back to the house.

“Come on in here child,” Mama said as she

grabbed her hands helping her up the stairs of the

front porch. I’m not sure that was just rain running

down her face. I think a lot of what was on her face

were tears. Her eyes were blood red, she was

shaking, her clothes were torn, and her face had the

look of total heartbreak. The weather wasn’t letting

up at all. It was pouring outside.

“Mott, run and get some towels,” Mama said

as Daddy went in the back to take off his wet

clothes. The towels were folded neatly on the old

trunk where me and Mama had left them the day

before. Just as Mama got her in the house good,

before we could get her dried off, she fell on the

floor of the living room.

“Henry come here quickly, she done fell!”

Mama yelled out to Daddy. “Come see if we can

get her in one of the other rooms.” Just as they was

about to get her off the floor, someone was at the

door.

“Coming in, “is all I heard when the door

opened. It was Mrs. Mary and Rose. I couldn’t

believe they were out in this bad weather. They

were just in time to help us get the young lady to the

bedroom.

Daddy grabbed her by the shoulders and

Mama and Mrs. Mary grabbed her by the legs. Me

and Rose was trying to keep her dress down for her.

Mott, you and Rose move back, we got her,”

Mrs. Mary instructed us. We trailed them into one

of the bedrooms and watched them get her onto the

bed. Daddy then turned and walked out the room.

He left it for the ladies to handle. Mama and Mrs.

Mary started to dry her off as she laid there in the

bed, still as if she was dead. All her clothes where

soaking wet.

“Mott, go in there in Jo’s room and bring me

one of her gowns.” I took off running cause I knew

where all Tee Jo stuff was. I sometimes looked

around a little bit in her room when she wasn’t

home. I knew she kept her gowns in the second

drawer on the right hand side. She told me I wrote

with my right hand, that how I remembered it. She

kept all her socks under that drawer. So I got some

socks for the girl since I was already there. I could

have brought her some of Tee Jo’s panties, too. I

knew they was on the left side in the second drawer.

But Mama didn’t ask for those.

“Always have on clean panties. You never

know when you gonna be in an accident,” Mama

told us that all the time. Tee Jo kept a lot of pretty

panties. She was sure to have on some pretty

panties if she got in an accident.

I rushed back to the room where they were.

She looked like a sleeping angel. While Mama and

Mrs. Mary cleaned her up, Rose and me jus’ stood

there and looked. She didn’t smell like she had had

a little taste. I knew what it smelt like cause my

Uncle B-boy would get him a taste from time to

time. He would go to sleep and I could smell it on

him when I tried to go in his pockets and get me

some quarters for the juke box at Mr. Bo’s Store.

After she was cleaned up, they tucked her in

the bed and quietly closed the door to the bedroom.

Mrs. Mary and Mama sat in the kitchen and talked

for a while about the situation. They didn’t know

whose child this was. All they knew was this is

somebody’s child and she needed help. They

stepped in to do what they could for her. Her wet

clothes were thrown across a chair in the room. The

dress she was wearing was pretty and so were those

shoes, muddy and all. As for now, she acted like she

didn’t know she was even in the world.

“Mott will you and Rose come out of there

and let her rest. We’ll find out more about her

when she wakes up. Let her sleep, girls.” That was

Mama’s voice making sure we didn’t disturb her

rest.

“Maggie it looks like a bad storm is

coming,” Mrs. Mary commented as she walked to

the front door and looked out.

“Looks like a bad storm is already here from

the look of things,” Daddy said as he walked out.

He had changed his clothes from the wet ones he

had on earlier.

“That girl in that room has got a storm going

on in her life,” Mama said as she worked her way to

the refrigerator to take something out to cook.

“Mama, me and Rose want to know how

you have a storm in your life.”

“Yep, Mama how do you have a storm in

your life?” Rose curiously asked her Mama.

“Girls, it hasn’t been any storms in y’all life

yet, just wait awhile, it’s coming,” Mrs. Mary stated

as she stood at the door looking out at the rain

pouring down, the wind sweeping through the trees.

The thunder continued to hit, the lightning was

lighting up the sky. Even though it was early, it

was dark outside. A strange young lady was resting

in our house that we knew nothing about. This was

starting off to be a different kind of day. There was

a storm on the outside of the house and one on the

inside. The one on the outside I knew how to take

shelter from, but what do I do when there is a storm

on the inside. I’m sure Mama was gonna tell me

when it all blows over.

It looked like a break in the weather; the rain

was starting to slow up for a minute.

“Come on Rose, let’s try to make our way

back to the house, while we got a chance. Tie them

shoestrings, so you don’t fall and break your neck,”

Mrs. Mary told Rose as she gathered herself to take

off running to the house. The rain was trying to

slow up. They opened the screen door and off they

went, making there way back to the house.

I stood at the front door and watched as

Rose and her Mama made it to the house out of the

rain.

Mama and Daddy sat at the kitchen table

talking about how bad the storm was and how long

they believed it would last.

“That’s the one thing about a storm, you can

only hope it blows over fast, it’s hard to tell how

long it’s gonna last when it hits,” I heard Daddy

telling Mama.

“We just have to buckle down and pray that

it don’t tear this place apart,” Mama said as she

started to shell the peas that one of the neighbors

had gave her just the day before. It was a whole

hamper sitting in the kitchen floor. She would often

shell’em and put them up in the freezer. She called

it canning. I never understood why Mama called it

canning when everything was in plastic bags, not

cans.

“Here Mott, get a pan and help me and

Henry shell these peas,” I decided to stop peeping in

the bedroom. I knew that’s why Mama told me to

get a pan and start shelling peas. That was to keep

me busy, hoping I wouldn’t wake that girl up. I had

already made up my mind that I was gonna find out

who she was, where she came from, and why was

she walking in the rain in a storm like she was crazy

in the head. If Mama and Daddy hadn’t been in that

kitchen, I think I would have known by now.

I reached under the kitchen cabinet and

found a small pan to put some peas in. I was

hoping Mama wasn’t gonna say anything about the

size of the pan. No sooner than I thought it, she

came out with it.

“Mott, couldn’t you have found a smaller

pan? Now try again. Either you find a pan or I

will.”

Mama was being sarcastic about the pan.

She would have liked for me to pull out a much

larger one.

That sounded like when she would send me

to get a switch, when I was gonna get a whoopin’.

She would say, “Go get me a switch right now and

don’t come back with no small one, because you

don’t want me to get it.”

Mama made decisions hard for me

sometimes. I found a decent size pan and attempted

to shell peas.

“Lord, a hamper is a whole bunch of peas.

Mama gonna have us shelling peas all day through

the storm. As soon as the sun come out, we gonna

have to go in Daddy’s garden to pick some okra to

go with these peas!” I could probably shell better if

I knew who that girl was in the bedroom. Mama

and Daddy didn’t seem to be worried too much

about it. I didn’t think it would ever stop raining.

Daddy had said earlier that he thought this rain was

gonna go on all day. I went to the window several

times to get a look at how hard it was pouring

down.

“Get away from that window, you’re gonna

get hit by lightning standing there, you know better.

You want to get struck like Henry’s old horse,

Red?”

This rain need to stop. I can’t go outside. I

can’t stand to the window. I can’t move around. I

don’t understand why I have to sit still when it’s

lightning and thundering. I can’t wake that girl up

in the other room. All I can do today is shell this

hamper of white acre and purple hull peas. I wish

Rose had stayed over. We would have known what

was going on by now. Mama and Mrs. Mary would

be shelling these peas and talking about everything

under the sun. That girl in the other room would be

telling us why she was walking in the rain like she

done lost her mind.

I got my pan of peas and sat on the floor and

started to shell them. It wasn’t hard work, I just had

to settle down and get started. It was when we were

working around the house together that we all got a

chance to fill in on what the others had been doing,

or thinking about doing. I think if Uncle Robert and

my Tee Jo was here, it wouldn’t look like there was

so many peas in that hamper. They would have a

pan too.

Boom!! Just then the thunder hit hard. I hit

the floor, Daddy’s cat ran in the other room and

Mama decided we may need to put them peas down

and get in a corner and be quiet.

“Thank God for the thunder and lightning,”

I said it before I knew it.

‘Daddy this storm is going on a long time,” I

said as he was pouring all the shelled peas in one

pan. I think he was happy to be putting them up.

He was working pretty fast.

“Babe, this is just one of many types of

storms that gonna come up in yo life. You just keep

living. You hear me?” He stopped and looked

down in my face as he said it.

I looked in his face a little puzzled. How

many different kinds of storms can come up other

than all that water pouring from the sky?

“Daddy you getting old, so I guess you done

seen a lot of different kinds of storms, huh?”

“The only way not to get old, you have to

die young. You keep getting up every morning

seeing the sunrise and you too gonna see a many

different storms.”

Just then Mama stopped sweeping the floor

and looked at me with them expressive eyes.

“Mott, a many of storms is going to come

blowing in. Some bringing heartaches and

disappointment. Some gonna come in bringing

loss, and that don’t mean dead with a spot down

there in the cemetery. Some come in with illnesses,

some with confusion and many gonna roll in under

the name of family. Families and friends can kick

up one hell of a storm.”

“Mama, I may as well get ready, cause some

storm is coming in my life,” I said as I eagerly put

the pans and peas away.

The next thing I knew to do was to check on

our guest in the other room. She was sleeping

through all that bad weather. Mama often said she

could get some good sleep in this kind of weather. I

was wondering why she had us shelling peas when

she could be getting some good sleep too.

That girl lay in the same position. She never

did move from the time they put her in bed.

“Mama you may need to check on her, I

think that storm in her life is about to make her

sleep it away.”

“She fine, just let her rest. We’ll find out

later who her people is.”

Streaks of lightning zigzagged across the

sky. It lit up the community. The whole field

across the road was like someone turned a light on

over it. Miss Lady wasn’t sitting on the porch this

day. Where ever Daddy’s cat was, he was not

coming out. I hadn’t seen him for a while.

Just then the power went out. I knew when

it went out, cause the refrigerator stopped making

that humming noise. Everything was dark. Daddy

worked his way to the hall closet and pulled out

some candles. We all made our way to the

backroom. We was feeling around in the dark, only

to get in the backroom and Daddy didn’t have the

matches.

“Con-find-did!” When he said that, I just

knew he didn’t have the matches.

“Daddy, you ain’t got no matches, do you?

I’ll get’em for you.” Off to the closet I went, feeling

my way through the dark. They were in the bottom

of the closet in a box where Mama kept her clothes

pins. I remember putting them there when I was

looking for Daddy’s shoe polish. I carefully made

my way back through the dark.

“Here Daddy, I found them for you.”

“That’s my big girl,” he excitedly said as he

was feeling for the matches in my hand.

“Let there be light,” he said jokingly.

Just as he said it, a streak of lightning went

across the sky, followed by booms and rumbling.

“Daddy I don’t think you should say that

again.”

Candles were lit over the room and he put

one in the

hallway so the girl could see if she woke up.

“Knock!! Knock!! It was someone at the

door.

“Daddy, what fool is out in this weather? I

think every drunken straggler in the community is

coming to our house tonight,” I said in frustration.

“Where in the world did that language come

from?” Mama asked in surprise.

“Mott, you need to remember, good manners

and being polite will open doors for you that money

and education won’t.” She worked her way to the

front walking behind Daddy. I was behind her.

There was a shadow on the porch. To our surprise

it was Miss Carrie.

“What in the world is going on? God done

sent Miss Carrie to our house,” I said as I looked

from behind Mama.

“Carrie, get yourself in here. What you

doing out in this weather?” Mama asked sounding

concerned.

“Maggie, my ride couldn’t get down this

road because it was too muddy. I know they’ll

never get down my road because it’s much worse.

So they brought me as far as they could. I trusted

in the Lord to bring me thus far.”

“Let me get you something to dry off with.

Come on back here in the back.” Daddy was

leading the way by candle light.

“If y’all lights out I know ours is too.” She

said as we all slowly walked to the backroom. Now

here we all are sitting around the heater and it ain’t

even winter time. Mama gave Miss Carrie a towel

to dry off with and placed a blanket in her lap.

Daddy wasn’t saying too much. Then we heard

some coughing. I knew than that the young girl had

finally woke up. With a candle in my hand I

walked down to the bedroom. She was sitting on

the side of the bed. She wasn’t looking around. It

was like the strange place didn’t bother her. Neither

did me watching her by candlelight.

I slowly walked in the room first. I’m sure

Mama was coming behind me. I needed to act fast.

“Hey, I’m Mott. Who you is?”

“Hey Mott,” she said in a sad but friendly

way.

“I thought you was gonna sleep your life

away.”

“I feel like I should have,” she said as she

looked down to examine the clothes she was

wearing.

“What’s yo’ name and where you from?”

“I’m Lizzie Ann and I’m from Mississippi.”

“Lizzie Ann, do you feel better, since you

had a nap?”

“No, not yet, but I will as soon as I can get

back home to my folks, then it’s gonna be alright.”

“Here, put Tee Jo’s housecoat on and come

on in the backroom where my Grandma and

Granddaddy is. I held her hand as we made our

way to the backroom. Not Mama, Miss Carrie, nor

my Granddaddy had gotten out of their seats to see

what was going on. I guess they knew I would find

out. She slowly entered the room with me holding

her hand.

“Mama, this is Lizzie Ann and she from

Mississippi.”

“I don’t believe I’ve seen this young lady

before, Maggie,” Miss Carrie pleasantly said.

“No, Miss Carrie, you don’t know her. We

fetched her out the storm today. Didn’t we Mama?”

“Come on round Baby. Pull up a seat.”

Mama invited her to find a corner to get in. The

rain was still pouring down. The lightning

continued to flash across the sky. We visited by

candlelight.

“How do you feel?” Daddy asked her.

“I’m fine. I did something my folks told me

not to do, and it landed me in y’all town.”

“Dis a good town, it just that we having a

storm today,” I told her.

“Do your folks know where you are?” my

Grandma asked.

“No Ma’am. That’s part of why I’m feeling

so bad.”

“We need to get up with them,” Daddy

eagerly stated.

“Let me make you a sandwich. I know you

got to be hungry.” Mama worked her way to the

kitchen by candlelight. I was right behind her. I

felt this was a good time to get me a sandwich too.

Then before you know it came another knock at the

door.

“Mama, the fools are really out tonight in

this bad weather.”

“Mott, if you say that again, I’m going out

that door in the storm to the plum tree and get me a

switch and tear your butt up. Do you hear little

girl?”

“Mama, I don’t want me no whoopin’. We

got us some company tonight. I’m not gonna call

people fools, okay Mama. I just don’t want me no

whoopin’, Mama!”

“That’s the best news I heard all day. You

need to stop spending so much time at Willie Mae’s

house. My little angel can’t talk any ole kinda way”

Mama went to answer the door and Mrs.

Mary and Rose was back.

“Come on in y’all so you don’t get soaked.

“Is everything alright over here?” We could

see the candles moving around in the house,” Mrs.

Mary asked as she shook the water off her parasol

and helped Rose into the house first.

“Everything is fine. Come on in. I was

about to make some sandwiches.”

“How’s that young lady doing?”

“She seems to be doing well. We all in the

backroom. Come on in and find a spot.”

All that time, Lizzie Ann was left with Miss

Carrie. That powerful woman of God. I couldn’t

help but wonder what was gonna go on this stormy

night. It was like the Creator himself was setting

the stage for a big showdown. Mrs. Mary went on

in the back where everybody was and found her a

chair. Rose and me was still in the kitchen with

Mama when we heard. Knock!! Knock!!

“Mama!” I yelled with excitement. “Don’t

you say another word!” Mama sternly stated. She

was wiping her hands off to answer the door. I’m

sure she was as puzzled as I was that there was so

much traffic at our house in the middle of this bad

storm. Mama answered the knock at the door and

to our surprise, it was Miss Lady.

“What in the world is she doing out this time

of night,” I said to Rose as we both stood on the

kitchen floor admiring the beauty of the candle lit

room and waiting for Mama to get them sandwiches

ready.

“Come on in Lady. This is a real bad storm

we having tonight.”

“Maggie I saw all them candles moving

around yo’ house and I thought something was

wrong. I said to myself, I need to go check on

Maggie and Henry. I did see that young gal

standing out there in the rain earlier. I saw Henry

go get her. Who she Maggie?”

‘Go on in the back Lady, she’s in the back

sitting with some others,” Mama said.

While Mama was talking to Miss Lady, we

saw car lights trying to come down that muddy

road. Mama, Miss Lady, me and Rose stood there

in the door and watched as the car wobbled,

slipping and sliding across the road. We’ve seen

that many times before when the weather was like

this. There they go, right over in the field. That

ground is too soft over there and sometimes people

get too close to the edge and get stuck. When I saw

it, I knew Mama may as well stand in the door and

wait. Whoever was in that car was not getting out

of that ditch this night. We stood in the door and

watched them spin tires for the longest. They were

getting deeper and deeper into the mud. Mama

finally signaled for them to get out of the car and

come in. When the lightning streaked across the

sky, we could tell there was more than one person

in the car.

“Mott, go tell your Granddaddy to come

here, they may need some help.” I took off running

to the back room where everybody was.

“Daddy get your parasol and come quick.

Some folks stuck in the ditch across the road!”

Daddy got up quick to come see what was going on.

I don’t know what was going on in the backroom,

but when I went for Daddy it felt like church in

there. Miss Carrie was praying for Lizzie Ann.

Everybody back there was agreeing. I looked back

at them when I was leaving, it was as if they didn’t

know I’d been in the room or Daddy was leaving.

Daddy rushed out to the car to help. It was three

women and a man in the car. Mama stood holding

the house door open, waiting for them to come in.

Everybody was standing on the floor shaking water.

“Mrs. Maggie, we thought we could make it

home. That road is worse than we had thought,” the

man said.

“Y’all have a seat. That old backroom may

be a little crowded for all of us.”

Just as I started to return to the backroom,

that hamper of peas caught my attention. While

everybody was getting settled in I thought this

would be a good time to shell them peas. If we

don’t, Mama gonna make me shell tomorrow and

all these people gonna be gone. I went under the

kitchen cabinet and got me the largest pan I could

find and filled it with peas.

“Here Rose. Get this pan, girl!”

“What for?” She curiously asked.

“Rose we got to get Mama some help

shelling these peas. Rose stood on the floor waiting

for me to hand her a pan. I filled it with white acres

peas and passed it to her while the others were

talking.

“Come on, follow me to the backroom.

Mama got some more people in the kitchen. Y’all

may want to come in the front with the other folks.

Mama said, this room is a little crowded for all of

us.” Strangely enough everybody got up and started

to move by candle- light. Now everybody is in the

same room talking about something.

“Mott, what’s that you got in that pan?”

Lizzie Ann asked

“These peas, I gonna shell’em for my

Grandma while the storm is going on.”

“Pass me a pan, I like to shell peas, I’ll help

you.” She requested.

“Get me one too; we got to ride this storm

out doing something,” Mrs. Mary said. Then like

magic everybody wanted a pan to shell peas in.

Lizzie Ann blended in well with the community

folks.

“Mrs. Maggie, I need to get in touch with

my folks. I know they some kinda worried about

me,” she said out in front of everybody while she

was shelling peas.

Daddy was about to tell her where the phone

was when Mrs. Mary said the phones had been out

for hours. That explains why we hadn’t heard heads

or tails from Uncle Robert or Tee Jo.

“How you get here to our town?” I asked.

“Well, I thought I was going to get married.

Only to find out after I’ve been away from home for

six weeks with no contact with my folks, and no

money. That man had no intentions of marrying me.

We were headed to Jacksonville, we got into an

argument and he put me out of his car in this bad

weather and went on to Jacksonville to his folks

without me. I let him sweet talk me. I left my job

and slipped off from my folks. I thought he loved

me. They have no idea where I am. I know they’re

worried sick.”

Daddy all the time tells his girls,”Jus cause a

man can sugarcoat cow poop, it don’t make it a

doughnut. Do it Mama?”

“ That’s right Mott, now hush!”

“Lord have mercy, your mother must be

worried to death.” Mama stopped what she was

doing and looked over at her as if she could feel the

worry her folks must be going through, not knowing

if their child is dead or alive.

“Mama and Daddy always told all their

children, to get their own stuff. Mama may have

and Daddy may have, but blessed is the child that

has it own stuff. Right Mama?” I said as me and

Rose sat on the floor shelling peas.”

“Mott, watch your mouth and try to hush for

a minute,” I heard Mama say again.

“We gonna get in contact with your people

first chance we get. If there’s a will, there’s a way.

It ain’t no sense in yo’ folks not knowing heads or

tails as to where there child is,” Daddy said.

“Don’t you worry about a thing? We gonna

get you back to yo’ family,” Mrs. Mary said firmly.

“We got children and you don’t know whose

hands your children is gonna end up in. You have

to treat it like it was your child; what you would

want somebody to do for your child. Lord! What if

that was one of mines?” Mama said as she shook

her head..

“You never know when you’re entertaining

an angel either,” Miss Carrie said. I knew she had

something spiritual on her mind. I wanted to know

what all she was praying for and telling Lizzie Ann

when she had her cornered off in the backroom. I

felt, if it could be done, Miss Carrie was gonna

shake something loose from heaven and blessings

was gonna rain down on us and Lizzie Ann this

night.

“If any of you was in my home town you

would probably hear some not so pleasant things

about me. I’m not a bad girl. I just made some bad

decisions or ran around with what some would call

bad company. I’m probably guilty of a lot of what

they say about me, but I’m not the person they say I

am. I come from a praying family. I’m not my

folks best child, but they never made me believe

they loved me any less. A lot of what they say are

lies.” She hesitated for a moment and said, “Lord

help me right now.”

“That devil is a liar! Don’t’ you worry

yourself none about what folk say. They been lying

since the beginning of time. That’s just something

folks gonna do. Don’t let lies get you down. Your

hometown folks can be the worst thing you ever

seen, since God said, “Look.” They dwell on your

past so much, they can’t see what God has coming

in your future. There’s a reason why he said,

“Come out from amongst them.” They seem to have

a problem with other folks prospering or doing well.

They want to look down on you or look back and

see you. They love hearing about how bad

somebody doing, “Mrs. Mary shouted out.

“None of us can talk. We all have done

some things we ain’t proud of. But you hold on

Lizzie Ann to God’s unchanging hands,” My

Grandma cried out.

When Lizzie Ann heard those words, she

held her head down, like she wanted to cry.

“I’ve been down some troubled waters. I’ve

crawled in some holes I should not have been in.

I’ve been in the company of men my family don’t

approve of. I’ve done some things in my life and

many have gotten pleasure from seeing me

embarrassing my people. I’ve caused my folks to

walk the floor many a night and they have looked

for me during the day, but if ya’ll can help me get

back to my Grandmama this time, this will never

happen again. I have a praying Grandmama that

loves me more than her own life and has never gave

up on me. Her prayers have been keeping me safe a

long time. My family taught me how to pray and it

keeps bringing me through.

‘Say it child, we serve a mighty God, a

restoring God, a forgiving God, a heart changing

God!” Miss Carrie hollered.

It looked like Miss Carrie was about to get

stirred up. If Miss Carrie get stirred, it just ain’t no

telling what gonna go on during this storm tonight. I

believe Miss Carrie will tell the storm some things.

She was about to bring our help in and heal all the

pain.

When Lizzie Ann was speaking, I felt

something was about to go on in that room. I don’t

know what it was, but something was starting to

move in the midst of the storm. It felt like my hairs

was standing up all over my body.

“When my friend put me out his car in this

strange city, I did what I knew to do. What my

Grandma taught me to do. Call on the name of

Jesus. She told me, if it ain’t been no storms in

your life, Lizzie Ann, just wait awhile, cause it’s

coming. But it hasn’t been a storm that Jesus can’t

bring you out of.”

“Wow, that’s what Mama say all the time,” I

said to Rose.

“I got to get home and tell my Grandma I

know what she was talking about now. That man

has put me through some things since he got me

from around my folks. But the one thing he

couldn’t take me from is Jesus.”

Daddy got up from the table and walked in

the back rubbing his head. I know he didn’t like the

thought of something like that happening to one of

his daughters. If not that, he felt the same thing

moving in the room I felt. Miss Carrie was standing

on her feet with her hands on her hips and shaking

her head. Mama stopped making the sandwiches

and leaned against the cabinet. One of the ladies

started to hum.

“When y’all saved me from the storm today,

I was giving birth to a new me. Even though the

winds were blowing, I know I was safe. I had sung

until I couldn’t sing no more. I didn’t run out song.

I was running out of energy. Giving birth I hear is

painful; y’all need to know I’m in pain right now.

“It’s alright, Lizzie, you gotta hurt before

you heal,” my Grandma said as she clapped her

hands and shook her head.

My Grandfather always told us, “Learn

how to speak to the storms in your life. So I’m

speaking to my storm right now.”

Then she stood up and shouted with the pea

pan in one hand and the other waving to the

heavens, “Storm pass, you can’t last.”

“I believe it’s gonna be alright for Lizzie

Ann. She has a lot of wisdom and word in her,

don’t she Rose?” I could tell Rose was really

enjoying Lizzie’s stormy testimony.

Rose had a blank stare. I don’t think she

heard a word I was saying. It was like Rose was

eating every word out of Lizzie Ann’s mouth.

My Mother always said, “Let Jesus fix it for

you. I lost her and my Daddy in a house fire many

years ago, but they left words of wisdom planted

deep in my soul. Praising is what I know to do.”

“Wow! I just said that.” I whispered to

myself.

My Daddy said, “The Lord will make a way

somehow. He is a way maker. My rock, He will

never leave me or forsake me.”

“My Grandma told me, I’m more than a

conqueror through Jesus Christ. He will bring me

through any storm. It don’t matter what the world

thinks of me. My Grandfather reminded me often

that, hanging on the cross can be a painful thing, but

you got to go through to get to. They said I’ll know

the spirit by the spirit. That’s why I could rest so

well in a bedroom I’d never been in before. I knew

I was in the hands of praying people. The God I

serve has already cleared a pathway for Lizzie Ann.

I’m broken here tonight, but I’m healed.”

After she said that, Miss Carrie went to her

knees. I knew it was about time for a hum to come

on. Daddy was already rubbing his head. Lizzie

Ann was shelling peas and telling her story. Tears

was starting to run down her face, but she didn’t

stop telling the ladies in the room about the storms

that she has been battling for a many years.

Suddenly she felt the urge to sing and talk to the

storm. She sing “I told the storm.”

“Wow!’ That girl started to sing. She

started to pat her feet on our old wood floor. She

closed her eyes while she held her head back, her

hands never stopped shelling them peas. It was as if

she was looking up to the Father and Him alone.

Giving Him thanks because only He knew how she

had survived the storms of her life thus far and she

was about to tell the storm a few things. God was

about to work a miracle. The way she hummed and

sang,

I told the storm to pass, you can’t last

Go away, you can’t stay,

I command you move today,

I’m safe in his arms

You can cause me no harm

If I didn’t know better, I would think she

sang with a group of people. Not that she needed

any help; she was good all by

herself and she knew how to sing that song. I could

tell everyone in the room was enjoying listening to

her give her story and singing. I enjoyed it too. I

liked everybody shelling peas as we sat there

waiting for the storm to blow over. Then there was

a cracking sound and a boom!! I knew something

had just got hit by lightning. Me and Rose went to

the front room window but we could barely see

outside. Then the lightning lit up the sky again and

we could see. Low and behold a tree had crushed

the car across the road. It had the road blocked.

“Y’all car is crushed to the ground!”

I ran and told the folks that had got out of that car.

“If y’all had been in that car, y’all would

have got y’all heads tore off!” Rose shouted. Rose

then started to pick the pea hulls up from the floor

that was near everybody. Everybody in the room

had made their own pile of hulls.

“Praise God nobody got hurt,” Miss Lady

said as she directed Rose on what piles to get next.

When I saw somebody’s pan getting low, I

ran over to the hamper, got two big hands full and

filled it again. We kept everybody’s pans filled that

night. The hamper was getting lower and lower. It

was getting later and later, and it didn’t seem to

matter to nobody.

Then Lizzie Ann changed songs. She said,

“Sometimes you have to learn to encourage

yourself. Some people don’t care how badly you

doing or looking. They scared you gonna look or

live better then them. They envious and jealous

fools. Oh, but the God I serve.” She started to sing

“Encourage yourself.”

After she said that, I was thinking her

Grandma and my Grandma must’ve gone to the

same school for Grandmas because she was saying

a lot of what I heard my Grandparents say.” She

continued to sing that song, “Encourage yourself.”

She got up and filled her own pan and kept singing.

I really liked Lizzie Ann. I think if she stayed near

us I could get a lot of work done. She was smart

and knew how to work while she talked and could

sing her heart out too. She could show me and Rose

how to sing. Then we could sing and dance when

we at Mr. Bo’s Store. Lizzie Ann entertained the

gathering the whole time.

Miss Carrie was still on her knees. I’m sure

she was talking to God about the storm that was

going on inside the house and the one that was

taking the trees down outside. Everybody in the

room had forgotten all about the storm that was

going on outside. One of the young ladies that was

in the car, her name was Millie.

Mama said all the time,” that Millie ought

to be making records ‘cause she could sho nuff sing.

It was then that she started to show her gift that God

had given her; she joined in on the song with Lizzie

Ann. The Spirit inside the house was whirling

stronger than the wind that was blowing outside the

door. They both were rebuking storms and

encouraging themselves.

No matter how you feel,

Speak the word,

And you will be healed,

Speak over yourself,

Encourage yourself in the Lord.

They held them peas in their laps and poured

their heart out to the Lord. The room felt like it was

swirling around us. Right when I thought they may

be getting a little tired, Lizzie Ann went back to the

other song. She was determined to move that

storm.

“

Go away, you can’t stay

I command you to pass.

Even though the wind blows,

You will cause me no harm.

I’m safe now in my Father’s arms at last.

I will have peace,

And the world can see,

Christ has saved me.”

Let the rain come down and the thunder roar

All I need is Jesus and nothing more

Then Millie said, “Hold it! Hold it! Stood up and

started to sing:

“I never would have made it,

I never would have made it,

I never could have made it without you,

I would have lost it all,

Now I can see how you were there for me.

I’m stronger; I’m wiser, I’m better much better.

When I look back over all you brought me

through,

I never could have made it

.”

She sing to the top of her lungs.

Lizzie Ann just let her have it. I don’t’ know what

storm Millie was in, but she put that pan of peas

down and started to sing with all of heart. She

started clapping her hands and swinging her arms in

the air, giving Him all the praise.

Miss Carrie was still on her knees telling

God about the storm and calling on Him to step in

and help us out. I think everybody in the room had

their own storm raging. Wind, rain, thunder and

lightning were in everybody’s life. They came

together all because of their storm. I heard Miss

Carrie tell God that everybody in the room was

going through their own personal storm.

“Lord you gave sight to the blind. You made

a lame man walk. You changed water to wine. You

parted the Red Sea. You hung the moon and the

stars. You blew life into dry bones. You are an on

time God. We need you to come by here, right

now,” Miss Carrie prayed. I heard her telling God

about the storms that we were going through and

she was calling for help. Our cousin Margaret stood

up and started to sing,

I speak life,

You are the head and not the tail,

You will prevail

Don’t give up the fight for your life

You gonna live and not die,

God made us a promise

Hang in there my sisters and brothers

I speak life.

Millie continued to sing the song.

“Wow.” Our cousin Margaret was singing

like she ought to be making records, too. Those

three ladies were singing in such a way I knew the

storms had to blow away, they couldn’t stay. With

all the prayers and praises in the air, I knew some

miracles were going on. A heavenly rhythm was

bouncing off the walls. Everyone was feeling

encouraged in the middle of a bad storm.

Then Lizzie Ann started to sing again. She sang a

song about her standing in the middle of that

muddy road and what she was telling the storm

while she was in the rain.

I’m not gonna go through these storms always,

I’m going home with my family to experience

better days

You can’t have me Satan;

Take your filthy hands off my life.

I’m gonna make it with Jesus alone, I don’t have

to say it twice.

It’s all over now; I can make it on my own.

No more cloudy days for me.

I’m wiping my tears away

And working my way back home..

My faith has a brand new day.

Praise, is all I will do from now on.

A new day has been born,

I’m not doing it on my own”

That’s what they were telling the storm. I

don’t think I’m gonna ever forget that storm. They

all sang together a different song and it sounded like

a melody right out of Heaven. They took turns, one

would sing part of song and throw it to the other

one. My Tee Jo should have been home. Then she

could have learned to sing just like that.

This went on for a long time. Three young

women, all from different homes, and all had their

own storm. Just like everyone else in the room.

I’m sure it had nothing to do with the one outside. I

found myself easing over close to Miss Carrie. I

could hear all she was saying to God. There was a

force around her that made your body shake. I

knew Lizzie Ann felt the need to tell her some

things the way they had their heads together in the

backroom earlier…I knew Miss Carrie knew

something about this young lady that we didn’t, and

before the night was over, it was gonna reveal itself.

The way Millie was singing, I knew she

knew about the storms of life. We didn’t see it

coming; the spirit came over our cousin Margaret.

She hit notes I didn’t know existed. She held them a

long time.

“I speak life.

I’m standing on your word, I’m keeping my faith

It’s amazing grace that has bought me here this

far.

And grace will carry me on.

I speak life.

No matter what storms comes in my life,, no

matter, what they do. I’m not alone.

I’m gonna make it; I’ve made up my mind.

I won’t look back. I’m going forward. I’m a new

me and I’m doing fine, Hallelujah

I speak life.”

You could feel the anointing in the room.

The Spirit was whirling around the room in such a

way I felt the need to hold on to my chair so I didn’t

get blown away. Storms were being cleared out of

some lives. It looked like all them knew how to

speak victory and life during the storm. They folks

must have been teaching them some things.

Daddy all the time says,” Mott with every

test and storm, there is a revelation and a

testimony.”

I think everybody in the room needed to

mend from their brokenness. We needed

supernatural intervention, that’s what Miss Carrie

called it, whatever that meant. I wasn’t sure what

that was, but I was sho’ nuff listening. Daddy had

eased back in the room and was on his knees near

the refrigerator. He was rubbing his head and

talking to God too, but I stayed near Miss Carrie.

“Father we need your ever present help.

Some people here need to be set free. We need to

hear from you right now. We speak peace in this

storm, deliverance, mending, good health, love,

money; we desire to be closer to you, Lord.” Miss

Carrie had started to clap her hands as she prayed.

I really liked the part about the Lord giving

us some money, and then Mama and Daddy can buy

us a car so we can go for a ride and a lot of other

stuff.

My Granddaddy was on his knees clapping

his hands. My Grandma was sitting at the kitchen

table with her head down praising Him. Miss Lady

had got up from her seat and looked out the

window, walking and clapping her hands. Rose had

moved closer to her Mama, Mrs. Mary. I guess she

was tired from cleaning up the mess. I wasn’t much

help there. The young girls continued to sing their

hearts out and crying out to the Father. They really

wanted them storms to blow over and to get out of

their lives. Like when I broke Mama’s vase, Mrs.

Elizabeth had given her. She was upset with me,

until my Granddaddy glued it together for her.

Mama felt a lot better seeing that old expensive

vase put back together again, and I did too. When

my Grandma was mad, that was a bad storm for me.

I didn’t know which part it was gonna take off, my

head or my butt.

While the singing was going on, I noticed all

the peas was shelled and the hulls were off the

floor. I was enjoying the singing so much I forgot

to help Rose pick up the hulls. I don’t think she

minded. Miss Carrie was telling God to show up

and show out for Lizzie Ann, she needs to be back

with her folks again. I guess that was to be

expected. The sun was out and we hadn’t even

noticed it. The storm had blown over. Nobody had

eaten one of the sandwiches my Grandma had

made. Then all of a sudden I heard,

“Maggie, it’s a police at yo’ door,” Miss

Lady said.

All the day had to do was break and she

was back taking care of business. My Grandma

didn’t hear her the first time. She walked over to

her and tapped her on the shoulders. She didn’t

bother Grandaddy. I guess it’s because he was on

his knees and my Grandma was sitting at the

kitchen table.

“Maggie, come to the door, it’s a police out

there,” she said sounding concern.

When the police come to your house, folks

start to thinking something is wrong. I’m sure

Mama was thinking something had happened to one

of her children.

“Henry, come here, it’s a police at the door,”

she said as she tapped Granddaddy on the shoulder

as he was spending time with the Lord.

So I decided to leave Miss Carrie and see

what I could do to help.

As soon as Daddy opened the door, the policeman

said, “From the sound of things I believe this is

the right house. You folks got somebody in there

that’s holding up a big nice bus.”

“Holding up a bus, Sir,’ Daddy asked. He

was puzzled as to what the policeman was talking

about. Peeping between my Grandma and

Granddaddy I noticed a real big shiny, beautiful bus

trying to come down the road. It couldn’t make it to

the house cause the road was too muddy and

blocked, but the sun was out, jus’ like it wasn’t even

a storm last night and it was reflecting off that big

bus. It looked like it had mirrors around the bottom

of it.

“Look Mama and Daddy, it’s a big ole’

pretty bus coming down the road!” I said excited.

“I guess y’all ain’t holding it up,” the

policeman said with a pleasant smile on his face.

“They looking for.”

Before he could even get it out I pointed to

Lizzie Ann. Margaret and Millie was still singing.

We noticed an old woman with a cane had gotten

off that shiny bus and was coming down the road.

The policeman said, “That’s the old woman

that wouldn’t let the bus move.”

She told him her granddaughter was

somewhere in this area and she was gonna bring her

home. I don’t know if she’s dead or alive, but her

baby was going back home to Mississippi.

While Mama and Daddy was standing in

the doorway a hand came between them. It was

Lizzie Ann singing her way out the door. She was

singing her Grandma’s favorite song, “I Told the

Storm.” It was as if she knew her Grandma was

outside that door. She sure couldn’t hear what the

policeman was saying to my Grandma and

Granddaddy. That old lady was walking through

that mud just like it was no problem. She was

stepping high coming down that old muddy road. It

was two men with her. Lizzie Ann walked off the

porch, her arms stretched out as wide as she could

stretch them. That old lady was trying all she could

to get to her. The two men was trying to hold her

arm but she wasn’t allowing it. Margaret and Millie

came out the door behind her. They were all

singing, “I Told the Storm,” as Lizzie Ann made

her way to her Grandmother’s arms. When the

others on the bus saw her in the yard, the whole bus

unloaded and went into a mighty shout. They didn’t

care about the mud on their shoes or water puddles

in the road or yard.

What a celebration it was. They came off

that big pretty shiny bus singing the same song; “I

Told the storm.” Everyone was on the same note. I

know that policeman had never, ever seen young

colored girls sing like that before, nor the way that

bus unloaded. Everybody went into praise and sang

their hearts out. I had never seen anything like that.

The police said the old lady knew something.

Nobody else on the bus could hear anything at the

time the old lady heard it. It was as if God himself

sent a signal out to Lizzie Ann’s Grandma and she

used it like a road map.

I heard Miss Carrie ask God earlier to show

us a miracle today, so we can help Lizzie Ann get

home to her Grandmother. Our folks didn’t even

have to chip in together and get her a bus ticket.

Like when me and Rose had to put our money

together to hear a song on the juke box at Bo’s

Store or get us a snack. God sent the bus to the

house to pick Lizzie Ann up to take her home.

“Wow, the things you can do when a community

comes together and prays on one accord. The Spirit

becomes an unstoppable force.

Her Grandma got to meet my Grandma and

Granddaddy. Mrs. Mary and everybody else

introduced themselves. Oh, and she introduced her

folks to me and Rose. Folks was hugging, kissing,

singing and praising God. This was one

unforgettable storm. Tree limbs were down all over

the place. Roofs were blown off, stuff was turned

over. I think a lot of things changed that night. A

lot of stuff got washed away in that storm and the

sun was out again. All my Grandma’s peas got

shelled and we made some new friends. Me and

Rose jumped awhile in the mud to that Holy Music.

The music felt good in our spirit. It was a little

different from the music at the store. This was a

feeling that was down deep in our bones. We

danced and jumped as long as our hearts could

stand it, along with everyone else in the yard. Me

and Rose didn’t shake our hips, but we jumped and

shouted for awhile, then everyone else sang

together, “I Told the storm.”

Mama and Daddy asked them, “how did

they find Lizzie Ann?” Come to find out, that ole

fool, that ole good for nothing, useless, piece of

breath in britches that Lizzie Ann called her

boyfriend, boasted to his friends that he put her out

in the rain, in a town, on the main highway about

four hours from Jacksonville.

I don’t think Mama would have liked me

describing him like that, but that’s what Aunt Willie

Mae would have called him.”

His friends called Mississippi and told one

of Lizzie Ann’s cousins, and they called the other

family members. The old lady took over once they

got to our city. They said she prayed and pointed

the whole way. Everybody was in the yard praising

God for his divine direction and her protection.

When that old lady put her arms around Lizzie Ann,

it was like thunder and lightning all over again.

Tears were running down everybody’s face. Lizzie

Ann sang to her Grandma.

She kept saying, “Grandma, the storm is

over now, it’s gonna be alright. I’m broken, but I’m

healed.”

The men that walked that old lady to our

house started to sing with them and I could not

believe what I was witnessing.

The bus driver said to one of the men, “We can piss

on the fire and call in the dogs. The hunt for Lizzie

Ann is over.”

There were a circle of people in our front

yard around Lizzie Ann and her Grandma.

Everybody that was on the bus was now in the yard,

singing and shuffling like nothing you have ever

seen. The police stood there in amazement. He was

clapping his hands too; he was just on a different

beat than us. He was enjoying himself. That old

tree down, didn’t seem to bother anybody, neither

did the car it crushed across the road. I looked back

and Miss Carrie was standing on the porch looking

up to the heavens with arms in the air, shuffling her

feet all over the porch. She was crying out to the

Lord, saying, “There is nobody greater than You!

Nobody Lord! Nobody Lord, greater than you!”

She was jumping and shouting more than me and

Rose. We was really kicking up a storm.

The family said that Lizzie Ann’s Grandma

talked to God the whole time after she got the news

she was alive. She asked God to bring her

Granddaughter to her. They had just finished a

concert in Jacksonville. Come to find out, Lizzie

Ann’s family is gospel singers and they travel all

over the country.

Her Grandma said, “Lizzie Ann’s gift of

singing is more powerful than that of her mother’s.

Her mother was the lead singer before the fire

accident that took both her mother and her daddy.

Praising God and performing concerts is what our

entire family does. Lizzie Ann got off track and

took up with a young man that wouldn’t take a job

tasting pies in a pie factory, and he loves to eat. She

had to have him and the family couldn’t tell her

nothing when it came to him. She just would not

listen when it came to Johnny, Juking Johnny, that’s

what everybody called him. Many folks said he

would sleep with a snake if somebody would hold

its mouth. It’s fifty-two kinds of money out

there and he ain’t had na’an one. Folks say every

time you see him; he was slobbering at the mouth

like a white mouth mule at other women.

Everybody round the town say he would kill you

graveyard dead if caught looking at Lizzie Ann, but

he wouldn’t treat her right. Besides that, he was a

big liar, and what’s a lie for a man to tell; it’s like

spitting on the ground. I often heard love was

blind; it will also make one complete fool out of

you if you ain’t very careful. We just hope she has

learned something from this experience and can

finally see her way.

Aunt Willie Mae always says, “It’s two kind

of women or men a person shouldn’t want. One that

nobody else wants and one that anybody can have.”

I realized that what’s out there in big cities,

we also had right here in our own village. Pea

shellers, Prayer Warriors, storms, singers, songs.

Our cousin, Margaret, and our neighbor, Millie can

rock with the best of them. Also Juking Johnnies

and Good Time Charlies was everywhere too,

waiting to steal them young girls hearts and take

them through the storms. I see them all the time at

Bo’s Store. Broken angels searching for someone

or something to give them pleasure, fulfillment and

end their loneliness, some call it love and happiness.

I would often see my young Daddy on his

knees, but it wasn’t the Lord he was calling on. He

was calling on Little Lucille from Mobile. He

would yell, “Come on Little Lucille from Mobile

“cause Daddy need some help!” And he would

throw them dice against the wall, hoping his

numbers would fall. He would say, “Mott

sometimes you got to take a chance; just roll the

dice.” I don’t believe that was a prayer. A lot of his

britches had holes in the knees. Little Lucille from

Mobile need to come on and bring some needle and

thread before my young Mama raise a storm about

all his britches he’s tearing up. I guess love and

happiness is kinda like throwing them dice. You

never know what you gonna get when you get in the

game.

It was bittersweet watching that real nice

bus back out the mud that morning. I could still

hear the song, “I Told the Storm.” I could see

shouting on that big ole’ bus and hands were in the

air, and praising God as the bus slowly rolled out of

our sight. I couldn’t help but wonder what it must

feel like to roll up and down the road in something

that nice.

It was a sweet thing, Lizzie Ann’s family

had found her. God had shown us another miracle

and it was bitter seeing her leave so soon. We all

enjoyed her. Me and Rose wanted to learn to sing.

I guess we’ll have to worry my cousin Margaret and

Millie now. We got a record from that Mississippi

singing group and Lizzie Ann was leading most of

the songs.

Lizzie Ann said, “the storm is over now,”

and if we need anything or whenever we want to

come to a concert, just give her a call. She gave my

Grandma and Mrs. Mary her phone number and me

and Rose copied it down for ourselves.

If there was anybody that could tell God all

about it in song, it was Lizzie Ann. She was tearing

up every song on the record. You could feel God’s

presence on her in every song. Her Grandma told

my Grandma that Lizzie Ann had bought her a new

house on a lake in Mississippi, and she’s about to

do a solo album; Whatever that means. She gives

her testimony before every concert, about the

storms of life and how God led her to a family she

had never met before who took her in. How God

will lead you and give you peace and safety in the

middle of a storm, if only you trust him. Lizzie

Ann always told the audience, “You see my glory,

but you don’t know my story.”

We heard that Lizzie’s ex-boyfriend was

still in Jacksonville. He’s not doing so well these

days, since they found him in that ditch. I wonder if

her brothers had anything to do with him not doing

so good. Lizzie Ann’s Grandma still prays for ole

Johnnie to get himself together, for his healing and

for him to stay a good distance, far away from her

Granddaughter. On the other hand, if he knows

what’s best for him, he may need to move farther

away. Cause if she hear anything about him trying

to come near her, it just may be a different kind of

singing the next time. I believe if that had

happened to one of my Granddaddy’s girls, it may

have been some slow walking and some sad

singing.

You know what? No matter where folks

come from, it don’t matter who their folks is, it

don’t matter their walk of life, or color of their

skin…. Everybody is weathering their own storm,

no matter the shape of it…. A storm is a storm is a

storm is a storm. It’s a blessing to be raised in a

village that knows how to come together and call in

help in the time of the storms.

Me and Rose got us a new song we like. We sing

all the time when we playing. It’s called “My

Help.” We sing.

Our help,

Our help,

Our help.

All of our help, cometh from the Lord.

Our help,

Our help,

Our help.

All of our help cometh from the Lord

.

That’s all we know now, but, my Grandma

said, that’s a real good start for me and Rose. She

said for us not to look for it on Mr. Bo’s Juke Box.

I may ask Mr. Bo if he can get that song for me and

Rose. Maybe he can get some of Lizzie Ann

records too.

And if it ain’t been a storm in your life….. You

just wait a while.

Pain has its purpose.

Refuse to resent clouds,

Because you’re going through a

storm.

This road isn’t easy,

But it’s the road that leads to life.

I’ve had enough death for one

lifetime.

So I shall press on.

Pastor Hart Ramsey

THE END

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