Twist and Turns of Family Heritage, SCOTT< MURRAY< LEWIS< PAYNE

This came about due to another blog post I read this morning.  Which  goes back a few years for when I found this person.  Having enjoyed the Country Music her site plays and the language reminding me of when we would go to Wheatland, Wyoming and visit with family.

Taking the test to see if I knew what those southern words meant I passed with flying colors. I did not get them all but over 90%.  

Ever so often she  brings up a topic that pulls on the strings of my heart. Today was one of those days.
So wishing it could be shared with MOM, her siblings and family as we sat around a table in Grandma Inez Scott Hoffman's kitchen. Or maybe at Aunt Pat's or Aunt Doris's or even at Aunt Marie's we could have done this.

Grandma was an aloof person to me, yet everyone spoke well of her and she was deeply loved.
Alas I could never seem to accomplish what she asked with out something going drastically wrong.
Yes drastically wrong, looking forward to the visit and wondering what the item would be this time.

Wish I had asked Mom when it happened the first time or only after I became older than ten.
 Grandma asked me to take my sister and go down the dirt road to my Aunt's to let her know we had arrived from California.  I took Sis hand and headed out the direction she said to go. Alas when I got to the end of the fence I had three choices. Knowing it was either down the road and up a hill or down a road and next to a hill. First we went down the road and up the hill to a home a  tornado had taken away.  So we back tracked to down the road and down the hill, stopping when a snake, as big around as my arm stretched across the length of the  dirt road. I did not see rattles so was pretty sure it was save to jump over the tail end of it. Which we did proceeding down the road to a small house on the side of the road. It was very small and a dog was in the back yard tied up. It was being teased by two boys in coveralls.  Dad would never have allowed this behavior so I did not think this was my Aunt's home.  We walked to the top of the hill on the other side of valley, spoke to the people there and back down to what was my  Aunt's home.  We called from the road because we didn't like how the boys behaved and were a bit apprehensive.  Our Aunt heard us and came out of a barn way back on the property.  She welcomed us and gave us a big hug. She told the boys to stop teasing the dog and get cleaned up because their family from California had arrived.

My Sis and I walked back towards our Grandparents, only to encounter that snake still laying in the road, yes stretched from culvert to culvert.  So we backed up and rain and jumped over it and ran all the rest of the way.  We were totally out of air by the time we got to Grandparents.

I was out of my mind to because I made a grievous error.   She asked why we had been gone so long, I reexplained our walking trip. She said, O, I should have said straight down the fence and hill so you would have known.  Then she said did I find Aunt Marie.  Alas my down fall, I said," yes, but I thought she was an Indian lady so went up to the next house to ask where her house was. "

Being  sent to the house to wash up and Sis was standing near Mom,  Dad came and took me out back and said, "Never, NEVER, NEVER, mention Indian around my Grandmother let alone call one of her children INDIAN.  

Having apologized to Grandma at the dinner table, telling her I would be proud to be Indian,  error again.

Later learning, we are of more than one tribe, Aunt Marie was a terrific Aunt and she carried the Indian heritage proudly. I loved her dearly.

But learning to never mention Indian near my Grandmother was a lesson I kept learning.

More stories to come on Grandma Inez Mae Scott Hoffman and that forbidden word.

Not sure if I enjoy the one my Uncle Gerald O Jones told or the one Grandad told me of when they were married in Iowa, the most. They were priceless events that Grandma never seemed to mellow from. Except she told her Father in Law, she guessed she still loved Grandpa and they were married
more than 50 years, with several children.