Another View for October 13, 2005
By Maxine J. Bersch
'Pon my word! I usually go to the back of the Herald, read my church news, then turn to the editorial and Fred Anderson's Heritage page. This time [Sept.22], when I saw Valerie Carter's picture on the front page, I knew that would be “out of this world” news, so I started there. The front page continued on page nine. When I turned over to that, I found the editorial page.
Would that not beat all? I saw that this was a letter from “Aunt Ida” and when I read it, I knew at once, that lady and I are real close akin. Of course, I had not heard from her for a month of Sundays, but there is no question at all in my mind. We grew up together, went to the same elementary and high school together. Our lives took different directions, as happens, and a lot of water has gone under the bridge, but blood is thicker than water, you see. I can tell by the way she writes that she grew up only a whoop and a holler from where I did. She must be akin to Jim White by marriage.
Now, I never did know Orley, but by what she says, there is no doubt that he's right out of that same neck of the woods where I grew up. Nearly all the men over there are afflicted with that same turn of mind about making a will, and they didn't have to choke on a wishbone to cause it. It is just plain mule-headed stubbornness, in most cases the fathers pass it down to the sons.
My Uncle Billy was like that, and Aunt Suzy would ask him, “When are you gonna write your will?” He would answer, “That's for me to know and you to find out.” One day she asked him that and he gave her that sassy answer, so she went into town and had her will made. They joint-owned everything, so she left him a dollar and distributed everything else to her relatives and favorite causes. That's the way she found out. It looks like, though, that Cousin Ida is married to a sensible kind of a feller with a healthy streak of what we call “common horse sense.” I happen to know Ron Hall, and he is 100 percent wool, and even if he is not a yard wide, as they say, he stands plenty tall in these parts.
Now Ida says she likes entertainment. That sounds like her all right. She says she enjoys enjoying herself. That Ida! Not that I don't agree with her, we're not double first cousins for nothing, you know. The paper is enjoyable, for sure. I sit down and read it from cover to cover and then I go back and reread Fred and the editorial. Sometimes I am highly entertained by the letters to the editor. I like to hear what people are thinking. It's amazing all the different viewpoints, and I like to imagine the Lord's point of view on these various issues.
I couldn't help thinking, when I read Ida's letter, what if she would cut loose and answer some of those letters? The fur would fly for sure. Like her suggestion of a crossword puzzle-talk about a hornet's nest!
That's a mild one, but I know already what some of the letters are gonna sound like. I repeat, though, blood is thicker than water. I heartily agree with her about that crossword puzzle and Bluebell Baptist is not the only one that needs the ounce of prevention. I can see me right now, taking that along in my purse when I go to get my hair rinsed. (Oh yes, Ida, if you are reading this, you are not the only up-to-date one in our family.)
By the way, Ida, if you are reading this, why did you say you didn't mean to get into his business about the church subscription drive? If you didn't mean to get into his business, why did you have to give him all those suggestions for how to carry it out? I said right then, “If she is not my double first cousin, then her name is not Ida!” That trait runs in our family, you know, bein' as our grandpa was a Baptist preacher. Did you really mean it about the cartoon? Well, honey, that was a dead giveaway! Right away I said, “We're cut out of the same piece of cloth!” How about if we collaborate on one? You draw it and I'll do the caption. How's that?
I notice Ida signed her letter, “With love.” Now that is our most famous family trait! Everybody knows that. If I didn't have anything else to go by, that would be enough to tell me we're akin. Our folks are real close and we don't mind showing it.
By the way, if Jim's Aunt Ida is my double first cousin, what does that make me? I probably could make a claim even closer than nephew-how about “Sister?” Sounds good to me!
Love, in any language,
Sister Mackie
Maxine Bersch is a member of Derbyshire Baptist Church and president of the Richmond Story League.