' MISS   E. D. '
 
 
 
 
 
 

I was seven years old when I first met Miss E.D.
 

Mama, me, my sister and two brothers moved
right next door to her.  I liked Miss E.D.'s house
better than ours because hers was a pretty white
painted wooden home with a long, high porch
in front.
 

You could tell that her house was old, just by looking
at it.  I remember the screen on her front door was torn,
and the door made a funny, sqeaking noise every time
it opened and shut.  But I liked her house and back
then, I thought it was the cutest little house I'd ever seen.
She had the prettiest treesb in her front yard that always
provided so much shade.
 
 

The first time I saw my friend Miss E.D.,  she was sitting on
the steps of her front porch.  She loved to sit outside and
watch  the cars go by in front of her house.
 

Miss E.D.  I  figured,  was about ninety years old.
Seems to me that one time when she and I were
talking, I asked her how old she was.  I remember she
told me she was  "bout ninety years old ".
 

She lived in her house all by herself, but she got
around pretty good, I thought.  She spent a lot of time
during the day, sitting outside on that big porch of hers.
 

The day Miss E.D. and I actually met, I'd walked
over to where she was sitting out on her porch and
said hello to her.  I remember she said 'hi' back
to me and then I sat down on the steps next to her
and we started talking.   After that, almost every
day, I'd walk over and sit next to her on her porch
steps and we'd talk.  One day, she asked me if I'd
like to earn some extra money by raking up the
leaves in her front yard.  She told me that she'd pay
me six cents a day and so I told her yes, I sure
would like to do that.
 
 

I was planning on saving the money I made so
 I could buy my mother some coca-cola's to drink.
We lived not too far from a little store that us kids
could walk to.  We were pretty poor back then and
didn't have much money.  My mama loved those
Butter-nut candy bars  and bottles of coca-cola.
Back then those coca-cola bottles were the short,
small bottles.  The ones that really 'tasted good
and had that strong, acid-y flavor', mama would
say.
 

I figured I'd surprise mama and earn some
money so she could have those two treats more
often, that she loved.  I sure did love my mama and s
he was a good mother to us four kids.  That made me
want to do nice things for her.
 

I knew mama did without a lot of things back then
and she had four kids to raise all by herself.  I didn't
mind that we didn't have expensive clothes to wear,
or a fancy home to live in, or a fancy car or a lot of
material possessions.  What we had was more
important...

we had each other and a mother who loved us very
much.  We were a very close little family, the five
of us.  Mama did her own hair, her own nails,
and she never spent much money on herself.  She was
a good cook and we always had plenty of food to eat.
Nothing fancy, but plenty of food.  Our house was
always clean and neat and mama kept our home
looking like a little doll house.
 

So two or three times a week, after school, I'd
use Miss E.D.'s big ole' rake and she'd bring out
some big bags and I'd rake up the leaves in her yard.
It'd take me a long time to do the raking because
she had a lot of leaves in her front yard.  I
remember  that  rake very well because it was
much bigger than I was!  I was a small seven year
old; skinny and short, to boot.
 

That rake of hers was so tall and I remember how
heavy it was for me to hold.  It was one of those 'old
timey' rakes with a long, heavy wooden handle.
Miss E.D. would always let me know when she
thought I'd done enough raking for the day.  She
probably felt sorry for me, watching me trying to
handle that big rake.
 

But I was determined that I could do it, and I did!
She always sat out on her porch steps and kept me
company while I was working.  Mama would tell me
to go ahead and spend that money on myself, when I
walked to that little store down the road.  I would wait
until the end of each week when I had saved up
enough pennies to be able to buy mama a soda and a
candy bar.  I'd walk home with a little paper sack
holding mama's goodies in it, feeling proud for
earning the money , all by myself.
 
 

I remember one time I was walking to that store
carrying a five dollar bill that mama had given
me.  I was to use it to buy a few groceries that day.
Mama had given me a list of what I was to buy.
Mama had been sick that day and I remember
telling her 'Mama, let me go to the store for you!'
 

It was very windy out that day, and I guess I wasn't
holding on to that five dollar bill tight enough,
because it blew right out of my hand!  It blew down
the side-walk and just kept right on moving, fast. I
remember chasing after it, for what seemed to me,
the longest time.  I never could catch it, though.  It
blew away and I never found it.  I walked on back
home and I was crying real hard.  I just hated to tell
mama that I'd lost that five dollar bill.
 

When I walked into our house, I was still crying
and I told mama what had happened.  I told her
I had chased that money for the longest but just
couldn't catch it.  She never got mad at me about it
though.  She told me it was alright and to stop crying.
I think I felt even worse about it because mama
was so sweet to me about me losing that money.  I
knew full well though how much money five dollars
was to us at that time.  I remember thinking that I
could make it up by raking more leaves for Miss E.D.
It is true, at that time, that I considered my raking
job a real important job.  And those six pennies
that Miss E.D. paid me each day was a good sum
of money to me.
 

Sometimes  Miss E.D. took me to Church with
her.  She went to a small Baptist church in town.
I remember the first night she took me with her.
I sat on a pew close to the front, next to her.
I listened to every word that Preacher said that
night.
 

I will never forget how much I enjoyed that church.
I really liked it and kept thinking that night how
much I'd like to go back to Miss E.D.'s  church
with her sometime.  I sat real still and quiet all through
the service.  I guess I wanted to show Miss E.D. that I
had been taught how to behave and sit quietly like a
nice young lady.  And so I did.  I loved singing those
old Gospel songs we sang and I well remember taking
in everything that Preacher was saying.  It's amazing
how to this very day, I can remember so well, sitting
there in her church with her.  I remember what a good
feeling I had inside my heart while I was listening to
what that Preacher was preaching on that night.
 

But it would be years later before  I would
come to know Jesus Christ as my Personal Saviour.
 

All I know is that in that little church, so many
years ago, something tugged at my heart.  I have
never forgotten that.  You see, at this time, me,
my two brothers,  and my sister and my mother,
well,  we were not Christians.  We didn't know
Jesus Christ as our Personal Saviour.

Not  yet.........
 

When we moved out of the house that was next
door to Miss E.D.'s,  I  really missed that sweet old
lady.  I missed all the talks we use to have.  I've
never forgotten her.  She was my best friend at the time.
And I don't think she ever knew that.
 
 

True story, written by:
Tammy Boatman-Young