Our lives are filled with characters.
Those folks we refer to with respect and honor and a smile and maybe a laugh. We fill these pages of Journey magazine with those making an impact, a difference, of those who have a story or cause to relay that makes the world — and mostly, Sunflower County — a better place because of them.
My life has been filled with characters from Sunflower County. My early life was overflowing with characters that were mostly my dad’s friends and running buddies.
Billy Ed Tinnin, Bill Bennett and probably the entire Lions Club roster and of course all the members of Cordy Brake Hunting Club. I love to tell of my memories of these men and the women who made a difference, entertained us, made us laugh and smile.
I know of a lot of Hall of Fame folks but the only one I’ve ever had the pleasure to partake in their profession with them was the late Billy Ed Tinnin. I say I took part.
I was in my teens and it was late at night running through the woods chasing raccoons. I just knew we were having fun. I had no idea I was out there with greatness.
I was just hanging out with my dad’s friends and staying out of trouble. Every time I see a raccoon, I smile and think of the Coon Hunter Association Hall of Fame member from Caile.
Monica Maxwell was the Extension lady during my youth. I spent many days in the courthouse basement where the ladies met.
I reckon they were all my babysitters. She had programs I do not recall but the ladies enjoyed her creativity and talents and she was one of my mother’s best friends.
As I got older, I realized she was pretty as well. Lol. Her little meetings and get-togethers and training made a difference in lots of families’ lives.
There are those characters I missed out on, but who influenced so many around me that I feel like I was influenced as well. The late Grace Young created the excellence that was the Indianola Academy choral program along with the madrigals, where many of my heroes met on a daily basis. They laid the foundation for the rest of us to sing and dance and perform for decades to come. At the same time she was building musical excellence, Coaches Bill McGuire and Johnny Parker found a secret sauce 50 years ago that built excellence in young high school football players that pushed them to championships and into successful men off the gridiron.
And I think of the late John Taylor and his wife Myrtis. The Taylors lived in the back of our country store and he took care of my grandparents and Myrtis took care of me and my siblings. The best part of my summer days were taking John Taylor a big slice of my other grandmother, Miss Ada Mae Aycock Herring’s chocolate pie and a cold Dr. Pepper when he was mowing the yard. He’d smile and push his fedora back on his head and say, “thank you, Mister Mark.” I’d smile and well up with pride like I’d just fed a king — because in my mind I had done just that.
Don’t forget the characters of your life and the impact they have on you. Say their names and remember their deeds and unselfishness. That’s what makes Sunflower County the great place that it is and will always be.
