Ernestine and Me

 

Introducing my new friend. Ernestine Paschall Shade.

We've worked together for over two years to write her life story, and what a story it is! It's out in the public now and I can't wait for you to read it. 

As we worked through the personal interview process, Ernestine repeatedly gave credit to God and her mother's prayers for how her life turned out. When time came to select a title for the book, I knew that phrase somehow had to be included. Although I came on the scene years after her mother Inez passed, I feel like I know her from our many discussions.  

Ernestine and I are involved now in a zoom workshop with NC Poet Laureate Jacki Shelton Green and a group of talented writers from our area. We were to select an artifact from our home that would introduce us to the others in the zoom meeting. I was caught off-guard at first, but after a week of walking around my house, I found the one item that defines my past and the reason I live in North Carolina, a model coal miner my mother kept on the top of a bookshelf as her reminder of a life once lived. It represents the job loss my father endured when I was a young child and our migration from the mountains of western Pennsylvania to the Piedmont of North Carolina.

Through this amazing series of zoom-sharing activities, both Ernestine and I have dug deeper into our pasts. One such activity has been to develop an imaginary "Human Museum" of artifacts that tell our individual stories. Coal miner goes first into mine, along with the tiny lantern that hooked to my grandfather's safety hat when he entered the mine each workday. 

I talked with Ernestine as to what artifacts from her early years (she's over ninety) she would include. The oldest item she could think of was the piano her father gave her as a child. She talks lovingly of it in the book, still has it, and cherishes it greatly. There's also the autograph book from her senior year at Bennett College where her mother led off the signature pages with words of wisdom.

Most precious of all is the Christmas card she received from her seventh grade boyfriend that she saved through all the years of moving from east coast to west and back again. Their love story is one for the "Human Museum" for sure, full of miscues and star-crossed love. How it unfolded was the best part of the book to write.

With God and My Mother's Prayers is available at Tybrisa Books in Lenoir or from Ernestine herself. Start with the preface and imagine you are walking through a museum that tells a compelling story of love, faith and devotion to family. It's a must read.

Catch of the day,

Gretchen