You'll Never Know Who You will meet in a Foreign Country

Soon after Jim and I were married, we went to Wurzburg, Germany to live for 2 years. He was in the lst Infantry Division and since he was a Corporal, we could not live in govt. housing. We lived in a little village not far from Emery Barracks where he was stationed. He arrived there in January 1955 and I went in March 1955, as a tourist. We didn't have a car and couldn't afford gasoline even if we had a car. We used      public transportation to get to wherever we wanted to go. Jim relied on the Deutches bundesbahn (train) to get to the army barracks early every morning. We lived upstairs in a private German residence, and ate our meals with them. They didn't speak much English so I got a German-English dictionary and learned conservational German very fast. (I wanted to know what I was eating!)



One morning Jim arrived at the bahnhoff (train station) and wanted to know when the next train was due to arrive. As he was struggling to get an answer, the station master told him he could speak English and Jim was so glad. They began to talk while he was waiting for the train and Jim asked where he learned to speak English. He told him that he was a prisoner of war during WWII and was sent to Camp Rucker, AL. And that he worked on a peanut farm while there and became friends with a farmer and his school teacher wife who tried to teach him English. They kept talking and he asked Jim if he knew where Elba, AL was. Of course he did. That was my hometown. Then he said the farmer's name was John B. Johnson - who lived near my family and we were actually living temporarily in a house in the middle of Mr. Johnson's peanut field when the German man was working there!! He had corresponded with the Johnson family after he returned to Germany and the war had ended. I thought there were so many coinidences in this encounter. I couldn't wait to get back to the US and tell the Johnsons who we met.


Jim got a promotion soon after this encounter at the train station and we were able to move into government housing in Wurzburg and we never went to the train station in the little village again. We have both been back to Wurzburg at different times and it looks much the same except for modern highways (autobahns). Our oldest son Ron was born in Wurzburg and has a German birth certificate. Six years ago on a business trip to Europe, he located the house we lived in, and called us on his cell phone as he stood looking at our house. He sent a photo via his cell phone to our computer and after 50 years, it looks almost as it did when we lived there. (That's our son Ron standing in front of our house at 66 Zepplinstrasse in Wurzburg in 2001. This is his birthplace!)

Churches in my lifetime

2003 to the present time -
Pictured here is Elba United Methodist Church where we are members. There is a large bell in the tower and it is still rung on Sunday mornings. When I was elem. school age, I would visit my grandfather who attended this church, and he would lift me up to ring the big bell by pulling on the big rope. I remember the big "sand" table in the children's classroom. We joined this church when we moved to Elba in 2003.

1996-2003 -When we moved to our farm between Elba and Opp in 1996, we went to church at First Baptist in Opp, when many of my friends from Curtis community were members, and my niece and family. Our first Sunday there was also the first Sunday for the new minister David Franklin. It was summertime and Jim was the only person there in a suit. They probably thought he was the new minister. David was entering the church the same time as we were and we didn't see any bulletins and asked if they had one. He said "I'll find you one." He came back with one and we were seated. We were surprised when we learned he was the new minister. He had asked our names and introduced us to the congregation. We were trying to enter unnoticed on our first visit. We became good friends with David and his family and he often came to our place in the country to fish early in the morning. We had been members of Covenant Presbyterian Church before moving to Opp, but there was not a Presbyterian church anywhere near us.

1990-1996 - We have such fond memories of Covenant Presbyterian Church on Lake Lorene in Albany, GA. The church was an unusual contemporary design and had a beautiful pipe organ. There was a big covered area outside the church,facing the lake, where people lingered after church to visit and have lemonade or coffee. I was on the board to help establish a 3-4 year old kindergarten there, and it has grown over the years. We went back to their 50th anniversary in 2004 and enjoyed seeing our old friends. Our minister Paul Luthman had been promoted to the head of the Presbytery and was wearing a beard. As we were getting out of the car at the parking lot, Paul saw us and yelled, "Here come the Gilmers", and everybody knew we were there.

1988-1990 - First Presbyterian Church in Florence, SC was our church and it was here that James wanted to "join the church". Th minister visited with him and discovered that James knew all about the Bible and was so sincere in his decision. Many of our family came with us the day he was baptized (sprinkled). James loved his Sunday School class because sometimes his teacher took them to the donut shop. We visited there last year when in Florence visiting our son and family. Didn't recognize a soul but Roger Gullich, the minister, and he remembered us.

1987-1988 - We lived in Dothan for a short time when Jim decided to try a new career in business real estate. (He decided right away that he wanted to get back into the clothing manufacturing business and we moved to SC). We joined First Baptist Church and really liked the minister there - Bob Baggott. We lived near the airport and he was always dropping by to visit us and talked with James about sports. I went back to that church in July to attend a funeral, and it brought back lots of memories.

1985-1987 - We were members of First Baptist Church in 

Haleyville the two years we lived there. We were not there long enough to get to know the people very well but we did enjoy visits in our country home from Dr. Stringfellow, the pastor. What I remember about that church was that they had a great pianist and her offetory music was always beautiful. I loved to hear her play "My Sheep Shall Safely Dwell".

1979-1985 - these years were spent in Winston Salem, NC - one of my favorite places we've lived. We were members of Knollwood Baptist Church where many people associated with Wake Forest Univ. and Bowman Gray Hospital attended. It was unlike any Baptist church we had ever attended and we really enjoyed going there. We loved Dr. Jack Noffsinger and his associate, John Totten. While there, we helped start a class for mentally handicapped adults, which is still in existence. One Sunday, our son James wanted to sit with the people in his class during church and we sat a couple of rows behind them. Dr. Jack was talking about the qualities of a good mother, and he said something about a good mother doesn't nag. James turned around and looked at me and said aloud, "He's talking to you". Dr. Jack heard him and got so tickled. James sat with us from then on!

1977-1979 When we moved to Minneapolis, I didn't see anything but Lutheran churches. We discovered Minnetonka Baptist church and loved going there. Dr Lawson was a great minister and wanted the church to be a big family. On Memorial Day weekend, the church was closed and most of the congregation went to a lake near Canada. The ice was still frozen on the lakes. James and I went to camp once while Jim was on a business trip. We nearly froze at night. We loved the Swedish people who made up most of the congregation.


1967-1977 Moving to Paris, TX was another world apart from Atlanta, GA. We joined the First Baptist Church of Paris and not long after we joined, the old 

church was replaced with a new one. Our boys grew up in this church. Dr. Jim Semple was pastor there for many years. What I remember most about this church was my close-knit Sunday school class. When I left they had a big party for me and gave me a Bible that I still use today, with this verse on the inside cover: Proverbs 31:29 . We went back to visit in 2002 and didn't recognize very many people. The older members had died and the younger members had grown older!

First Baptist Church, Bremen, GA

1957-1967 - We lived in the Atlanta, GA area. When as in school in Chamblee we were members of Chamblee Baptist Church and Cecil Sherman was pastor. We bought a house in Atlanta later and went to Peachtree Baptist Church. I don't remember much about this church although our oldest son went to Kindergarten there. It was a big church. We were transferred to nearby Bremen, GA for a couple of years and became members of Bremen Baptist Church. While there, the minister, Grover Tyner, took a post as a missionary in the Phillipines and they moved. We went back to Atlanta after a couple of years in Bremen so James could get into special education classes and we joined Woodlawn Baptist church near Towers High School.

1955-1957 Jim was in the army and we lived in Manhattan and Junction City, KS. We attended First Presbyterian Church in Manhattan and what I remember about this church was the kindness offered to us when our infant son died at one month of age.

1954-1955 - Wurzburg, Germany - we attended services on the post. 
Married Oct. 3, 1953
1952-53 - I was a student at Troy State Univ. and went to church at First Baptist Church in Troy. They sent a bus to the school to pick us up. Students didn't have cars back then.

1934-1952 I grew up at New Ebenezer Baptist Church in Curtis community, near Elba. The building was wood with big windows. In 1953 they built a new brick church. I still have ties to that church - I attend the monthly meetings of the WMU, along with some of my deceased mother's friends.

We get a lot of Christmas cards each year from friends we have made in these churches.

One of my favorite flowers -

         I like flowers and spend many hours working in my flower garden. Today while I was weeding and sweeping the bare soil at my favorite hangout, the old Folsom house yard downtown, I remembered a funny incident involving day lilies and how I got introduced to them.
         We had a piano teacher at our country school and each spring we had a piano recital and parents and friends all came to hear us play our selections we had memorized. The girls wore long "evening dresses" and this was a very special occasion.
        I think I was in the 6th or 7th grade the year some of us girls decided we needed to decorate the front of the stage where there were lights in a shallow well that provided a dim light for the stage. So we started looking around the school grounds during recess. We spotted some glossy green smilax (a vine) growing on a fence in the back of the school yard and kept that that in mind to place over the dim lights at the edge of the stage. Then we decided we needed some color.
Cousin' Maggie lived near the Curtis School and always had beautiful flowers. When we needed flowers for special occasions at school, she would let us come gather some. 
          We got permission from our teacher to walk to Cousin' Maggie's house to see if she had any flowers we could use for our recital. She was such a sweet lady. It was hot that afternoon so she didn't come outside with us; just told us to take whatever we needed. There were lots of flowers blooming but I spotted these beautiful orange "lilies" and suggested we gather some of those for our decorating. We had brought a pail of water with us to put the cut flowers in so they wouldn't wilt. After collecting what we thought was ample, we hurried back to school and placed the flowers in containers of water all along the "well" so that only the blooms were showing above the smilax vine.
          Our teacher came to the door of the auditorium and praised us for the beautiful decorations. Then the bell rang and we all got on the school buses and went home. I can still close my eyes and see those beautiful decorations. Around dusk, we came back to the school house, all decked out in our formal dresses and the boys wearing suits, and we filed up to the front of the auditorium to be seated. The auditorium lights were dimmed a bit for the program so we didn't have a full view of the flowers until we were near the front.
Then it happened!! I could not believe what I saw! Those beautiful orange blossoms had closed up and were not visible anymore. No one told us that they would do that at night. I'm surprised that I even remembered my piano selections because I was so distraught. I thought people would laugh at us. But you know what - after the recital people were talking about how nice the stage looked with the lights shining on the glossy green leaves of the smilax vine. Nobody said anything about the naked day lily stems sticking up with something on the end resembling a deflated balloon! I never see day lilies blooming that I don't remember this occurrence.
          By the way, we had a great piano teacher, Mrs. Mary Ringsdorf, whose husband was a dentist in Elba. She taught us all about the old masters and this is where I got my love for classical music (even though the tunes were called another name, like The Happy Farmer for Schubert's Serenade. And I think that we only had to pay 25 cents for a lesson. Since most of us didn't have a piano at home to practice, we took turns practicing on the piano at school during recess or during class when we finished our desk work early. I'm so thankful for having this musical experience in my early years. I never had any more music lessons, but I have always had a piano and play for my own enjoyment and I love going to concerts.

My Mother

       This is one of just a few photos I have of my mother, Ruth Smith Wilson (made in 1960 at age 45). She  died suddenly from a blood clot at age 48 on Sunday afternoon, April 28, 1963 - the same month that two of her grandchildren (Bradley and Cyndi) were born. She wrote me a letter the week before telling us all about grandchildren #5 and #6. I got the letter after returning home to Bremen, GA the next week. I had great difficulty opening the letter and reading it. (I still have that letter.)
      We were living Bremen, GA when she died and Jim worked for Cluett Peabody who made Arrow shirts. He was on a trip to Washington, DC and New York with the Jaycee's from GA. We had to locate him and my brother in law Al whom Jim had visited in Washington, DC, called Grand Central Station downtown DC where they had dropped Jim off to catch the train and they got a message to him just before they boarded the train to NY. Can you imagine your name being called over the loud speaker in the big train station? He said he knew something was wrong.

     Our minister and his wife drove to the Atlanta airport to pick him up late at night and the next day we drove to Elba. I remember the shock and the sad trip. Our children were young: 5,7, and 8. Other sisters and their families were arriving from different states. My sister Christine couldn't come since her baby Cyndi was just born.

      My dad wanted mother's body brought to the house for the wake (like they used to do long ago) instead of leaving her at the funeral home. I guess the shock of her sudden death made him want to have her close by. I just remember people sitting up all night in the living room where her casket was placed, and how difficult it was to sleep in the bedroom next to the living room wall.

     My 3 younger sisters were still living at home. Judy was a senior in high school, Alice was a Jr. and Carolyn was in the 6th grade and only 12. I don't remember too much about the funeral except there were so many people there. They even closed the school in Elba the day of her funeral and I didn't ever remember them doing that. We met so many people who knew her from working with her at Covington Industries where she went to work on her first job, as an inspector in 1952, when I started to college. So many recounted the kind things she had done for them and how nice she was to everybody. That was my mother!

      When we were young she made all of our clothes, gathered food all summer to can and preserve, worked in the garden and field, cooked meals in the early days on a wood stove, and helped all the neighbors with their chores. Wash day was a big event every week with all of us chipping in to help. I loved building fires under the big black wash pot. Even today I love to build fires and am very good at it. She taught us to iron the stiffly starched garments and not to scorch them or create wrinkles or creases. To this day I like to iron and removed all the wrinkles.

     My mother would remind us to complete our homework (but never had time to help us) and encouraged us to make good grades so we could get a scholarship to go to college and leave the farm. She was valedictorian of her class at Elba High School in 1932 but the depression was going on and she couldn't go to college. She wanted to make sure we did. All 6 daughters have college degrees, plus one has her doctorate and two have Master's degrees. Our brother Perry attended the Univ. of Ala. and had so many college classes later at work that he probably had enough hours for a PhD.

     I recently read in an old Elba Clipper, on the front page, that Ruth Smith, a popular young lady, had married Lawrence Wilson, a farmer from the Curtis community. They moved in with his parents and we lived with them until I was in the 6th grade. Ah, such happy memories living there with them. Another story, another time. This was during and right after WWII.

      I remember the first visit back "home" after my mother died, how hard it was to get out of the car and go inside. She wouldn't be there to greet us and hug and kiss the grandchildren. In time, my father learned to locate his clothes, to buy groceries and do a little cooking, and after a few years remarried when his youngest daughter was in high school.

      I have a hard time remembering what my mother looked like since I got married at age 19 and lived too far away to visit but once or twice a year. But her kindness and all the things she taught us has remained a big part of my life. When I accomplish something in my life for which I am proud, I always look up and thank my mother, and I can just see her smiling down on me!

My High School Graduation

Elba High School where I graduated in 1952

It was an exciting day in Elba, AL on May 17, 1952 when we assembled for graduation, all 61 of us; 30 girls and 31 boys.

Imagine packing that many students on a small stage, all wearing cotton caps and gowns and many of the girls wearing white, cotton dresses and high heels under the gowns. We marched into the auditorium to the strains of Pomp and Circumstance. There was no air conditioning then and the big windows were raised. The fog from the river bottom crept into the auditorium, along with flying insects.

The honor students were selected and the top three students all came from the Curtis Consolidated School 8 miles out in the country; and I was one of them. The other two were Annette Taylor and Floyd Griffin. We attended school together for all 12 years. When we graduated from Curtis in the 9th grade, we started to school in Elba for the next 3 years. We got a good basic education at the country school.

The day before graduation, I had a sore throat and my eyes were burning. I went to see Dr. Kimmey and he gave me a shot of penicillin (a cure-all back then) and said I would be better the next day. Graduation morning I got up and went to school but didn't feel too good. I had a terrible headache and my eyes were burning.

I had to make a speech and although I had memorized it, I had notes in case I faltered. When I got up to make my speech, I was very light-headed and vision was so blurred I couldn't read my notes. I remember it was dark out in the auditorium and that helped the situation. I got through the speech and sat down. Immediately I began itching all over with a rash. It was so hot on the stage and I thought I was going to pass out. Graduation was finally over and we marched back through the auditorium to the hallway.

I was invited to a graduation party and had brought clothes to change into but all I wanted to do was to go home and cool off. I located my parents and my mother said that I had little red bumps all over my face and arms. Guess what! I came down with the big red measles the night I graduated.

Recently I was reading old Elba Clippers on microfilm at the Elba Library and I found an article about our graduation and it mentioned that a large number of students in all the grades had had the measles the last few days of school - and I was one of them!

We had our 55th class reunion this year and sadly, many of the 61 are no longer with us. We are all in our 70's now and many have health problems. But when we get together it's as if we were back in school and we re-live those days and have fun recalling them. We agreed to start getting together once a year now.

By the way, the year I graduated our football team won almost every game (tied one).

I Believe In Santa, Don't You?

James Gilmer visiting Santa



Santa will always be coming to our house and we must remember to leave cookies and milk for him. Our adult son James looks forward to Christmas with great anticipation. We insist he wait until the day after Thanksgiving to start playing Christmas music and practicing his near perfect Ho-Ho-Ho’s. This is also when he starts wearing his collection of Santa sweatshirts, and Christmas ties every Sunday.

James was born on Dec. 8, 1956 and we realized very early that he was not normal. He didn’t walk until he was 4 years old and speech came slowly for him. His older and younger brothers were kind to him and helped him during his early years. Things he said and did when he was young were funny, but as he grew older, they took on a different meaning and sometimes not so amusing.

Apart from his size, there aren’t many ways that he functions as an adult. He reasons with the capabilities of a six-year-old, but communicates and has social skills of an adult. When we realized that he had absorbed all of the education skills that he could attain, we started emphasizing social skills and teaching him “survival” skills. His memory is terrific – a living appointment book for us. He never forgets dental appointments, special events, etc. Also he never forgets names of people which is a great bonus for his dad and me!

Back to Santa Claus… We have given up trying to convince him that he’s too old for Santa. Even made him a Santa suit one year and when he put it on and looked at himself in the mirror, he took the suit off and never put it on again. It frightened him. So, we just gave up and let him believe in Santa. He goes about singing carols (his favorite is Jingle Bells) and playing his Christmas records.

Life is simple and uncomplicated for James. He is so trusting and loves everybody – almost. There are a few people he rejects - those who treat him different and talk down to him. He wants to be just like everybody else. As Christmas draws near, his anticipation is so great he can hardly sleep and is up before daylight every day, often checking to make sure there is space under the Christmas tree for Santa to leave his gifts.

James believes that you should always apologize when you are wrong, never wants anybody to argue, and if you promise him something, he never forgets that promise. He is always sincere. James has always gone to church and a few years ago, wanted to join the church. Our Presbyterian minister questioned him about his sincerity and belief in God The minister came away with tears in his eyes and said he had no doubt about James’ simple faith and he was accepted as a member of the church.

When you ask James if he knows the true meaning of Christmas, he can relate the entire story about the birth of Jesus. He doesn’t like the Easter story, especially when Jesus was crucified. His limited reasoning cannot handle that wrongdoing. James truly believes in Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men!

Life isn’t easy living with a mentally handicapped son but we have been so blessed by his presence in our family (and often embarrassed). He has endured a lot of physical pain in his 50 years, but his limited knowledge of his problems helps him move on to better things. He treats everybody equal and is comforted by having his friends around.

James rides a van to Enterprise every day, 20 miles from home, to attend the Coffee Training Center. This is his life and where his friends are. He enjoys bowling with his friends 2 times a month. They have parties and dances and field trips at work.

If he had enough money, he would buy a present for everybody in the world! He enjoys putting money in the Salvation Army kettles and donating to charities. He doesn’t ask for much for himself but loves to help shop for presents to wrap for his 5 nieces and 2 brothers.

His hobbies are watching the Atlanta Braves ball games, collecting baseball cards, and trains.
At the present time he is battling kidney failure and the prospect of having to go on kidney dialysis is looming in the future. Right now his kidney's are operating at 20%. It's becoming more difficult to travel for long distances. But that doesn' bother James. He's seen a large part of the US and has been to England. He's content to stay at home and watch the travel channel.

How my Graduation Gift turned into a visit to Harrods in London

My dad, Lawrence Wilson, traveled all the way from Elba, AL to Paris, TX to attend my  graduation from East Texas State University in May 1976 (now Texas AandM at Commerce).


In the next photo, I'm getting pinned with my "Honors" cord. I entered the school's honors program and graduated magna cum laude. My thesis was "A 2,000 year Circle in the Use and Concepts of Ladies Undergarments". A copy is in the school library and when our younger son Bill was at ETSU, he discovered my name in the card catalog and called me in Minneapolis to ask if I knew about that!                                
I started to Troy State in Sept. 1952 

and met Jim in the summer of 1953. He was in the army and stationed at Ft Rucker. We got married in Oct 1953 and in Jan. he was sent to Germany and I dropped out of school at the end of the winter quarter and went with him. During the ensuing years I would take college classes at various places we lived and in 1973 I entered Paris Jr. College to take some art courses. I only needed a few basic couses to get my Associate Degree so I did that in the spring of 1974.

My art teacher encouraged me to go to East Texas State Univ. in Commerce, Tx (40 miles away) and get my B.S. degree which I did in   May 1976. Jim was working at Vassarette, ladies division of   Munsingwear, and I was very interested in the history of ladies undergarments and chose this topic for my honor's thesis. I enjoyed my historic costume classes so much that I asked Jim if I could travel to London to visit the Albert and Victoria Museum when I graduated and he agreed that would be a great trip for graduation. Six years passed before I went to London.

Soon after I graduated, Jim was transferred to Minneapolis where we lived 2 winters and decided to move back south, this time to Winston-Salem, NC. Soon after moving to NC, I signed up to go on an exchange trip with FriendshipForce and we went to Peine, Germany for 2 weeks.

You lived with a host family one week and then could travel other places the 2nd week. Finally I was going to go to Albert and Victoria Museum in London. I arrived in London by train and found a place to stay near Victoria Station. The next morning I got up very early and got the tube (subway) to the museum.

When I arrived at the museum that morning, I went to the building housing the historical clothing, etc. and a sign on the door which said: "Closed for renovation until further notice". I could not believe what I was reading. I sat down on the steps and cried.  I remembered passing Harrod's Dept store on the way to the museum so to ease my grief, I decided to spend the day browsing around Harrod's.

Then I left there and visited the National Gallery of Art. The next day was Saturday and I did the tourist stuff in London, i.e., Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards, a double decker bus tour of downtown, and the Royal Gardens. That night I went to see "Best Little Whore House in Texas" at the Royal Theater, along with a friend of our son Bill who was living in London. She met me for dinner and then we went to the theater.

When I got up Sunday morning, it was very cold (April) and it was Easter Sunday. I didn't have many clothes in my carry on bag, so I put on everything I had in the bag to keep warm. I was wearing open sandals so I wore 2 or 3 pair of stockings. I went to Easter service at Westminister Cathedral and was allowed to sit near the front of the church since I arrived early. It was so warm inside, I stayed for 2 services and to hear the beautiful music again!

On Monday, I read the newspaper headlines that the airlines were on strike and trains were about to stop running. I cashed in my airline ticket for a train ticket and headed back to Peine, Germany - located between Hamburg and the East German border to meet up with my group to get on a bus to go back through East Germany to Berlin where we would fly back to the US.

I arrived back in Peine at 2 a.m. and got a taxi back to the family's home where I was staying.

My trip from London, thru Belgium, France and back to northern Germany was an experience I'll never forget. I'll save this for another blog. I thought that if I ever got back to NC, I would remain there forever.... but I didn't.

Years later when I was visiting my sister Carolyn when they were living in Ascot, near London, she asked if I wanted to go to the Albert and Victoria museum and I had lost all interest. For 3 weeks she took James (our mentally handicapped son) and me all over England on day trips. James and I took the train to the Cotswold mountains one Sunday to visit my daughter-in-law's parents who were retired and living in Stroud near the Wales border.

Moral of this story is to call ahead when you are going to see something special (even in a foreign country) to make sure they are open! For example, Jim went to the Louvre when in Paris, France, attending a meeting in the early 1970's and the museum was closed because the workers were on strike!!