Duck Ponderings: Remembering extraordinary "ordinary" people

An extraordinary “ordinary” woman ended the obituary's description of my Aunt Pauline.

I would like to think all of us have been blessed by several people we could place in that category. Pauline was born in Buckhorn, Kentucky in the early 1920s, the oldest of ten children. They played, worked, prayed and even attended a one-room school house together for a period of time.

Pauline had the foresight to keep records and to write stories to help others in the family understand our roots. There are many great stories never published. Local newspapers like HSJ Online help get more of them out there. I thought our readers would enjoy a few more of Pauline's entries from her book. Her stories might inspire others to record some family stories to be shared with one another and handed down from one generation to the next.

We played this game when we were at home which required a building we could run all the way around. Players were on opposite sides of it. We would yell 'ready,' and the one with the ball would yell 'Anti-I-Over.' If you caught the ball, then you would run around the building and try to hit a player on the other side. If you hit them, then it was a point for your team. My brother, Jesse, could not find the ball. So, he picked up a pony shoe and threw it over the building. I was looking for a ball, not a pony shoe to come over! It hit me in the head, and I still have the scar to prove it. Jesse got a good whipping.

Mother always sang and rattled the pots and pans in the morning when she was cooking breakfast. She kept a large wooden bowl that she made biscuits in. As she pulled the bowl out of the cabinet this particular morning, there was a big black snake rolled up in it. She dropped the bowl and started yelling for Jesse. He jumped up and grabbed a hoe. By that time, the snake had crawled out of the bowl and had gone behind the stove. Jesse, who was not very big, finally found it and killed it. Good thing! Even though Mother handled most problems calmly, I think she lost her nerves in this case.

There was an orphan home in Buckhorn. I loved going to the home as we had two cousins there. The one I remember was Penny. Penny had had polio and was crippled. She was so sweet and grateful for anything your did for her. When my Uncle Quincy would come to see us, he would always put a quarter in my hand before leaving. Then, I would go straight to Mr. Keen's store and get twenty-five cents worth of candy and go to the home. You could get a lot of candy back then for a quarter. The kids would go crazy when they saw me coming. They would swarm around me. It made me feel so important, and I felt so happy doing something good for someone else.

(Aunt Pauline continued giving throughout her life. It was mentioned by several during her viewing and Celebration of Life.)

One Saturday, we were outside playing when a small plane came over low making all kinds of noises. We were all scared to death and hid under the house. Later, we found out the plane had landed in a neighbor's cornfield. We all took off running to see the plane since none of us had ever seen a plane on the ground. The pilot said he was out of gas. We were all so excited over seeing a plane up close. It was such a big deal to us in 1937.

(Pauline would go on to experience many firsts in her 95 years.)

The value of extraordinary “ordinary” individuals can not be measured in dollars, but their value makes a lasting effect on the many lives they touch. Where would we be without them in our small community and in this world?