Story

I usually got up of a morning , got dressed and went down and ate breakfast.  Daddy used to fix the breakfast and he would have  grits, country ham, eggs, fried sweet potatoes, and sliced tomatoes in season.  Then I would feed the chickens and go out and open the store up.  That and the Post office were the only things  on the place locked; the house and barns were never  locked.  The back door had a key but the front door and all the  windows had iron bars that went across them. Next I would sweep out the entire store and post office and the front steps and in front of the store.  Mamma would usually be milking the cows while I did this.  Then she would have the milk all strained and ready to be put away.  I would take a couple quarts up to our preacher at that  time.

— “The Way It Was,” Chapter Twelve: “THE STORE,” 1999

Story

When I returned it all depended what was going in the store. I may have been waiting on someone or just watching. The mail arrived and when ever there was a break, I would have lessons.

— “The Way It Was,” Chapter Twelve: “THE STORE,” 1999

Photographs

(Editor’s note: The full photo at the top of the page is the store of which Bee / Momma / Grandma speaks. You can see the house just to the right of the store, and if you look really closely, you can see Bee / Momma / Grandma! We posted these pictures before, back in March 2013, at which time Bob / Daddy / Granddaddy’s cousin Alva Caroline suggested that they might have been taken in 1997, at the time of Floy’s funeral.

Currently this is the only photo of the store we have in our collection. Do any of you have any photos of the store when it was in use?)

Story

Not going to school, I grew up in an adult world. It was rare that I ever played with anyone. My sister Jessie who I called “J’Mae” played with me some but I remember we were always working.

— “The Way It Was,” Chapter 3: “My Elementary Schooling,” 1999

Story

I can remember playing many times on the roof of the house upstairs until Mamma would come and make me come down. I used to slide down the banister from up stairs all the time. Since the other children boarded away from home for high school years and I stayed home through high school, I was there for a long time by myself as an only child and I remember doing things by myself . I used to sing and dance on the back porch alone imagining that I had a great audience and I was a great star.

— “The Way It Was,” Chapter 1: “THE HOUSE,” 1999

Photograph

(Editor’s note: The back of this photograph reads “William ‘Billie’ Benjamin Garris, Howard, Minnie Anna Dodd Garris, Jessie Mae, Willie B.” Do you think this was taken at Round O? How old do you think Bee / Momma / Grandma is here?)

Story

My sister Floy  boarded in St. Matthews with Aunt Bess and J’Mae boarded with Aunt Jess during their High   School years and both finished at St. Matthews High School.  So you can see that this made me an only child at home for extra years since I went to high school there..

— “The Way It Was,” Chapter Seven: “My BRother HOward,” 1999

Story

My brother Howard was 12 years older than I and always my ideal.  He boarded with a great aunt Lizzie in Walterboro to go to High school.  He won a Scholarship to the Citadel by making the highest grade on a Competition Exam for the whole County.  I can remember how happy we all were that he had won this and could go.  I must have been 5  when he left.

— “The Way It Was,” Chapter Seven: “My BRother HOward,” 1999

Story

I used to work every problem in the Math book , all evens and odds. I remember I wished I were in public school so I could have a report card and desk.  Mamma got the report cards made them out monthly and Daddy signed them.  I still have them. Also I still have my high school reports I can remember sitting in the double swing on the front porch studying my spelling.

— “The Way It Was,” Chapter 3: “My Elementary Schooling,” 1999

Clipping

(Editor’s note: This report card is from the 1930-1931 school year. This was the last year that Willie B. Garris — a.k.a. Bee / Momma / Grandma — attended school taught by her mother, Minnie Anna Dodd, at home.)