Going crazy? Who’s driving? I’ll be here waiting for you. We’re going to be just fine. All our Imaginary Friends are here.
The mind is a fertile place. Ask any fisherman. A 12-inch trout will be at least 16 inches by the time I get home. The mind is a place where a normal everyday anything can gain legendary status.
My Great-great Grandmother Katherine Lucinda Jones Harding Hodge Gilley, a Cherokee woman, was the subject of many family legends on the Harding side. Her first husband, whom she outlived, was William H. Harding. She was later married to William Hodge and subsequently to a Mr. Gilley.
One family legend relates an incident where her husband was hollering and yelling and running from a bear. The story does not differentiate between running for the safety of the house or getting away from the bear. I figure either one was about the same at that point.
Hearing the commotion and knowing what had to be done, this rugged Cherokee woman opened the door, set the shotgun out on the porch, then closed the door. I’ve heard the story often, but no one has told me for sure which husband it was or what the outcome was. I haven’t seen “kilt by a bar” on any death certificates.
My Great-great Grandmother Katherine Lucinda Jones Harding Hodge Gilley (Rosanne Rosannadanna) has been quoted as having said “When I die, bury me in a knotty pine box. I’ll crackle and pop all the way to hell so the devil will know I'm coming.” Lofty ambitions. Maybe Mrs. Old Scratch will leave a shotgun on the porch.
The picture is of the grave of my Great-great Grandmother, Katherine Lucinda Jones Harding Hodge Gilley, just outside of Burnsville, NC. Doesn't the grass look a bit singed around the edges?
At death, lay me down
In a box of knotty pine.
Hell waits. “Crackle.” “Pop.”
Peace, Y’all
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