Thank You, Benjamin Franklin

We didn’t have indoor plumbing or even electricity. We had a two-hole mansion in the chicken lot manned with the old Sears and Montgomery Ward catalogs. In the winter, talk about cold – these catalogs were still pushing for a sale and their pages froze together.

We were one of the first families in the county to have indoor plumbing and electricity. The electric company was located in Danville and we lived about ¼ mile from State Road 36. It was not on their schedule to put electricity down our road, but Dad had the flair of persuasion and they soon agreed to put it on their schedule if he was going to pay for it to be run to our property line. The company was to run it up the lane to our house with no fee attached. To me, electricity is one of the most wonderful things after the wheel. We have it and take it for granted.

Just stand in the middle of your home when the power is off and you find yourself saying, “What can I do?” Then darkness falls and it’s worse. You have your candles or other makeshift emergencies. But, when you go outside, everything is black and you don’t know how far or when. Sooner or later, it’s returned then you think of those who are unable to tell the difference and say a quiet prayer.

MaMa June