Trying to put it all together!

In Honor and memory of my Parents, James V. and Ruth Harris Bozeman! James V. Bozeman, October 24, 1918 – January 12, 2012 Ruth Harris Bozeman, August 22, 1925 – April 24, 2005 James C. Bozeman, December 21, 1950 - Just thinking out loud on the Keyboard! The Bozeman family journey began a long time ago and much work has been done to keep up with the journey. I regret my real interest in the journey has only began to take root in me in the last few years. When Mom went home to be with the Lord on April 24, 2005 and then my Son-in-Law Darryl Smith soon followed her, something began to happen in me that caused me to want to know more about my family and our history. From what I see in the Bible, the Old and New Testaments, give us great illustrations of how important family history was to the people of that day. Matthew and Luke give us generations that take us forward to person of Christ and also a look back at His ancestors. As a matter of fact, the people of the Jesus day would have the 14 generations that represented our Lord's family tree, committed to memory. So with that said, it is clear to me that time spent on a Family Tree is time well used. When all is said and done, I thank God that "we once existed.”

As for as the early part of my life is concerned, memories only return to me in little increments of events. I remember living in Greenville, Alabama. I have quite a number of pictures concerning living in Montgomery, Alabama but I only remember “visiting” Montgomery, not living there. We lived in a number of houses in Greenville and even a little while in a little place called Antioch for a short time. Daddy would love to still have that place as we had a little acreage while there. For the most part, Greenville, Alabama and the city limits were where my childhood days were lived out. We lived in two different houses just behind the courthouse in Greenville. One location was 215 North Conecuh and the other was on Thames Street just around the corner from there. Prior to that, we lived at place called “Grayson’s Store. Back toward town from there was the Greenville Church of God where we went to church. Funny, I guess, what you remember about church. One Sunday night I remember holding Mom's hand and then I must have needed to run because that was what I did and still holding my hand she tried to keep up but the both of us tripped and down we went in the Choir loft. That Church is still there but unfortunately the house we lived in at Grayson's store has been dismantled and is no longer standing. There were four almost identical houses in a row there and all are gone now but one. Amazing isn't it! Like the houses, our memories seem to go away. However, I will never forget the old Catalpa Tree out back where we used to get plenty of fish bait. The tomatoes plants that we just let run all over the ground back in those days are so real at the moment, I can almost see me planting them. Daddy had me to dig a hole and pour some water in it. Next, came the tomato plant and the repack of the dirt around it and then pour more water on it so that it would get a real good start. The end result would be tomatoes running all over the ground. Amazing, the small things that make such long lasting memories! The smell of sardines that had been left on the table in a house without air conditioning is still in my nostrils to this day. That's right no AC. How did we ever survive back then? Now out beyond the back yard and to the South East of that house was Mr. Jones Pond. Across the road from that row of houses was a school where the Black Children went to school in those days. That reminds me of another memory about life in the South in those days. Over across town from the house at Grayson's Store was a Dairy Queen. Forever etched in my mind are the words above the windows where you made your order, "White Service", and on the other side of the building was another window for folks to place their orders and that was the window for "Colored Service". Never as long as I live will I forget seeing that with my own eyes and back then I actually thought that was “normal!” There is nothing "Normal" about such a practice thank God that doesn't take place anymore, at least that I know of and hope it never does. Right beside Grayson's Store and just back toward town was a house in which Granddaddy and Grandmother Harris and my Aunt Judy lived. Delivery trucks in those days were very versatile because the truck would bring a load of coal on day and the same truck would bring ice for the refrigerator the next day. I guess I said all that to say that each place we lived provided the unique times of our lives in general and my life in particular and oh what a good life it has been. My memories of these Childhood days fade in and out and some of them are very precious memories indeed. Well, like the one that just came to me! It was late one afternoon and we were all home. By then I had learned to read because what I was about to read shook me to the core even being so young. If you have ever read or heard sung and old Hymn called "Supper Time" you will know what I am talking about. There was a Hymnal there in the living room and I picked it up began reading and I happen to read that one. I lost it big time! Same thing usually happens today with one tremendous difference. Mom can't come running to me and wrap her arms around me! There are other songs that come to mine such as the one Grandmother Harris used to sing quite frequently, "You are my Sunshine" and I know she wasn't singing about me! She was singing about Jesus! Speaking of my Grandparents, they were, Willie I. and Elizabeth Harper Bozeman. Melvin L. and Lessie Reeves Harris were Mom’s parents. I spent the most of my childhood with my Grandparents. I never got to meet my Granddaddy Bozeman. He died in 1945 so I only know about him through what Daddy and others have told along the way. They all loved me and I will always treasure the time that we had together. I can see Grandmother Bozeman sitting in the old straight back chair in the house on Water Avenue in Selma. My Aunt Mildred would be right by her side all day long. I hear Granddaddy Harris talking to the old mule as he plowed the fields and I feel the heat of the sun as I walked the cotton rows, hand applying the soda (Ammonia Nitrate) to make sure he had a good crop. Grandmother Bozeman could make the best Apple Turnovers in the South. I remember the biscuits that came from the old wood stove in a big city called “Industry” Alabama. How firmly planted in my mind was the dislike that my Granddaddy Harris had for "Nut grass". You would have to have dealt with it to know what I am talking about with that stuff. Yes, they practically raised me. While Dad and Mom were away at work and I wasn't old enough for school, I would be with my Grandparents. Granddaddy and Grandmother Bozeman rest in Good Hope Baptist Church Cemetery in Covington, County Alabama. Granddaddy and Grandmother Harris rest in Sunrise Cemetery, just outside of Greenville, Alabama. Me and Dad would visit both Cemeteries several time over the last few years and now, of course, Dad and Mom rest at Pine View Cemetery North of Selma on Highway 22 North. Our crowd is getting real thin on both sides of the family. Just a handful of us left, if you can even call it that. Nothing is going to slow the process down! A day at a time and the years have all piled up and taken the toll on the Bozeman and Harris families. It all just proves Dad was right and I never will forget it because it is almost just like he just told me. In reality, it was probably 1957 or so that he said, “Boy when you get to be 15 years old, your life will fly by” and my how fast the years have gone and it seems to me they go by faster than ever before.