“Cravings” – Ep 1 — **Memories**
“Some pictures that I still have of the family. Forgive they’re all in black and white. We didn’t have money for a new camera and this was the one Daddy’s Momma gave him before she passed.” – Earl
1: The far left picture is of Momma and Daddy when they first got married. Up in the hills marriage worked a little different. Even in the 70s tradition still came first. They married around Daddy’s family and the old couple that Momma had been living with since her parents died at the age of 6. When they took her in they were already in their 60s and needed the help keepin’ house. They both passed away within a few years of Momma and Daddy gettin’ married and I never did find out exactly what happened to Mommas parent’s.
2: A Picture of me and Momma when I was about 2 goin’ on 3. She had the gift of never aging. Through all the years I can remember her, it’s like she never aged a day. Pretty sure she’d been workin’ in the garden that day because of the smile on her face. It’s subtle, but it’s there. Daddy’s Momma passed not too long before this. I think he was just trying to see how the camera worked.
3: Daddy and me when I was probably 4. These dates, besides the first one and last one, are just estimates. Sounds funny, but I remember that day pretty clearly. Daddy still hadn’t taken to the moonshine yet and Momma convinced him to go to church. That was the last day he ever set foot in a church because they asked him for money. He was so mad that he made us get up and leave in the middle of the offering. This picture was taken on our way to church. It was 4 miles to town, Daddy’s truck was broken, again, and my feet were hurting. Momma made him pick me up and then took this picture.
4: This was me and Momma the day Daddy lost his job at the mines. Daddy was drunk and stumbling around the house yelling about the place that took over. Momma was sad so I went to comfort her. Daddy mocked us and took this picture when he screaming at her that he didn’t know what else to do. Momma wasn’t one to cry and she would always wipe my tears away. That day Momma did cry and I was the one to wipe her tears away. Daddy drank until he passed out then threw up on the floor. He almost choked to death until Momma got up and turned him on his side. I can’t say I would’ve done the same..
“Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it’s less good than the one you had before. You can fight it, you can do nothing but scream about what you’ve lost, or you can accept that and try to put together something that’s good.” — Elizabeth Edwards
Author – Raymond Scanlon