Calvin Beldon Pauley
On an Autumn day when Uncle Pete was about 4 years old an event took place in the Pauley family that, to their dying days would not be forgotten.
Here is the story.
Uncle Pete and his siblings had little cares on that October day. They all were well fed and clothed and loved. They had been born to hard working parents. The barn was filled with hay and tobacco. The cellar was brimming with jars filled with the harvested summer garden.
But in a tragic moment the world stopped turning for uncle Pete and his mother and four siblings. It was a moment so heavy with grief, sadness and tragedy that it was never meant to be borne.
Uncle Pete's daddy lay dead upon the ground. His strong, young heart of gold pumping the last ounce of blood from the gaping wound in his chest. His blood ran into the rich dark soil he had loved and tended.
A millstone had blown apart and thrown, as if from a hateful and skilled enemy, a shard of stone directly into his fathers chest. It struck him with such force that he fell instantly dead to the ground.
And in that moment the lives of Uncle Pete and his family were forever changed. Their lives altered for all time.
The next day the wooden box where the body rested was lowered into the ground as Lola and her children, Evelyn, Van Buren jr., Juanita, Uncle Pete and Billy watched. And a lonely little little cemetery on a green hill side became a hallowed spot.
And life for Uncle Pete and his mother and his family had become an up hill struggle for their very existence.
Uncle Pete, Uncle Billy, Uncle Jr.
Uncle Pete did survive. He became a husband, a father, a business man and my Uncle. And he lived to the age of ninety.
So long Uncle Pete.
Kat, Jr., Nancy, Pete, Evelyn (mother) Phyllis, Billy & not pictured Aunt Juanita who had passed away previously.
I send my love to Nancy and Shawn and Kim & Doug & their families.
