MEMORIES OF FAMILY GATHERINGS!

      The following are more thoughts and memories of Dianne Smith Davis during this Holiday Season. Dianne is the cousin of Dennis Laverty and daughter of Arnold and Ruthella Smth. The period of time would have been late 1940's and 1950's.

      These are some thoughts that popped into my head recently. I guess the thinking about Christmas and family gatherings caused this to come forth in my memories.It was a custom of our family to gather at least once a month for a family meal and time to be together on Sundays. Our gathering spot was often Aunt May's home south of Laurel as she had had the largest home to host all of us.
     
       There were twelve cousins, and four sets of parents plus our beloved grandmother to enjoy this gathering. After a bountiful meal and the dishes were done, the men would gather together in the living room or if the weather was warm, outside on the porch chatting and casually smoking their favorite brand of cigarettes which were usually Lucky Strikes except Uncle La Verne and his favorite brand was Chesterfields. 

      The women w would gather in a place that was not where the men were gathered and the cousins were outside playing in the yard playing games that children of that era enjoyed. On occasion, I would sit and watch the women do needlework, and usually some type of embroidery, or knitting. Unfortunately, I didn't inherit the gift of crocheting or knitting, but my cousin, Bonita, has become a beautiful crochet artist and my handywork talents have been embroidery work or any other.