My Carnes Grandparents

My grandparents on my Mother's side of the family were Marianne Campbell Carnes and Alfred Burton Carnes. They were opposites as are many couples. She was quiet, reserved, and proper. He was an outgoing fun loving kind of man that enjoyed having his grandkids around him where he could spin wild tales and watch our eyes get bigger and wider. His grandsons he especially liked telling tales of loading us all up and taking us to the "farm" where he would get old so and so with his coon dogs and we could all chase after the dogs treeing coons all night. He had us thinking that we would load up as soon as it got dark and off we would go. I'm sure the other adults around would chuckle listening to him spin his tales. I tell people now that it was because of him that I still enjoy doing wildlife things. Mother reinforced that by putting me to sleep as a small kid by my insisting on her telling me about the little boy that went hunting.
One of the things that stand out in my mind about our Grandmother, "Mammaw" as we called her, was that she really didn't like storms of any kind. A loud clap of thunder would have her off to find the jar of "Holy" water which she would sprinkle about the house. She must have had a bad experience with storms is the thing I guess happened.
She and "Pappy" as we called our grandfather married when she was thirty and I think he was thirty-four. They raised eight children. Four girls, Mother, Aunts Patty, Rosemary, and Johnnie, and four boys, Uncles Tom, Burt, Bob, and Don.
Pappy served Wilson County as Sheriff for twenty years. When he died there were so many people at the funeral that there were more standing outside the church than were inside. Someone observed that when the herse arrived at the cemetary some three miles distant that cars were still leaving the Church. When the family was talking about how many people had come to the funeral Uncle Bob said that half came to pay their respects and half were there to make sure he was gone. He said it jokingly but, it is said that he served his twenty years without ever once wearing a pistol.
They raised all of us to be an extended family. It continues to be fun to be part of a family that truly enjoyes each other. My Dad often would say, "There is nothing to a Carnes like another Carnes".