Monthly Archives: May 2018

Happy 100th Birthday, Nanny!(They don’t count time in heaven by years… eternity ya know, but still )

. Family, Nanny & the Alexanders, Uncategorized . , , , , , , ,

nanny_1982

Happy 100thBirthday , Nanny! (They don’t count time in heaven by years… eternity ya know, but still ) May 15, 1918 – August 10, 1985.

Mary Naomi Alexander Caylor would be 100 years old today. She was born around 3 o’clock in the afternoon (a relative in Varnell, GA may have her birth certificate with the correct time).  Her parents had waited over 8 years for her. Nanny’s older brother had been stillborn in 1910.  She was born in Smyrna, Georgia in Big Ma’s house. Big Ma was a black woman who had turned her lovely Victorian, Turn of the century home into a home for borders.

From approximately 1924 until January 1936, Nanny lived at 1195 Niles Avenue Atlanta, GA.

Nanny_house

Today, My thoughts keep turning not to the grandmother I knew but to teenage Naomi who, without thoughts or cares, could go to downtown Atlanta AFTER DARK. Imagine if you will a 15 year old girl in 1933 going to downtown Atlanta with her best friend, Louise Hollingsworth and 10 year old sister, Madeline to see a movie at the Fox Theater or Lowe’s Grand!

fox

The three girls would walk from their house to Marietta Street (West Marietta Street now) to the Streetcar Stop. In 1933 there was an elementary school at the corner of Marietta Street and Knight Park. They would then take the streetcar to downtown. They would then return the same route after their movies were over. Doesn’t it just boggle the mind that they could do that? But yes, they did.

I hope and pray to write more about Nanny, Granddaddy, and Mamaw Wimpy this summer. I am doing this for Carter and Ammon. I want them and future generations  of Caylor-Browns to know more about how their ancestors lived in the 20thcentury. I know I am being a bit vain, but to my dear relatives who have disfellowshiped from me yet perhaps visit my blog you really should be sitting down with me to compare,  correlate, and confirm some of my memories. As you well know, I am not a fan of “false history”.

 

Sophie Chose Us: Sophie Caylor-Brown (Dachshund) June 25, 2005-May 12, 2018

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sophie_ddays

 

Sophie Caylor-Brown (Dachshund) June 25, 2005 – May 12, 2018

 

Shophie Chose Us

Sophie Caylor-Brown was born in Jasper, Tennessee. When Sean and I decided to select a dachshund puppy in the summer of 2005, we found Sophie’s owners’ names in a newspaper. The small yard in Jasper was full of adorable, dachshund puppies on Saturday July 23, 2005. Sean had wanted a black and tan dachshund male like his beloved, “canine brother”, Paco, from his childhood, but a little, humble, and sweet black and tan dachshund girl followed us around for over an hour that day. I talked Sean into getting that black and tan dachshund girl, and the rest is Caylor-Brown history.

She was loved by every human she came in contact with. She even learned to get along with Madison our 18 year old Tom Cat this past year. They had always been household enemies.  Many times these past 12 months she could be found waiting patiently by their water bowl while Madison “tanked up”.

She could fit in our shirt pockets when she was four weeks old. She would run with coonhounds in the woods. Katie, the mama coonhound, protected Sophie like she was one of her own puppies. She traveled to Florida with Sean and me when I defended my doctoral dissertation in Sarasota, Florida. As we traveled to Sarasota,  Sophie swam on the quaint Fort De Soto Dog Beach: she was a natural. When Buddy our rescue dachshund came to live with us in 2007, Sophie took him in as her adopted brother. Buddy had never gone down steps, so Sophie had to teach him. After he could not bounce down 14 steps, she returned to his side, bounced down one step, turned long ways on the step, looked up at him, and bounced to the next step down until he followed down all 14 steps. She was also one of the few dogs in my lifetime that chose to chase lightening bugs.

 

sophie_bug

Sophie chasing lightening bugs June 12, 2012. 

When Carter and Ammon began to swim, she was so anxious and would not hush barking while they splashed. She would try to jump in to make sure they were okay. She fell in twice (she didn’t like it! LOL), so she resorted to running up and down the side letting us know her concerns.

Her number one vice that finally allowed her passage to the Rainbow Bridge was her love of food. What hound dog doesn’t like to eat? Her motto was, “If you can get up in the morning and eat, it’s a good day!” On Saturday May 12th,, 2018 around 8 PM she had a swollen belly and was lethargic. Earlier and with much gusto, she had eaten her evening meal. After the dachshunds ate, Sophie, Buddy, and I went outside, and I called my mother. Sophie lay on the step breathing heavily. Like so many times before during the past 12 years, I thought she had over-eaten.  I sat beside her, kissed her nose, and opened the back door. She jumped up and trotted in . 90 minutes later, she was flat and listless, yet still very conscious. We four immediately took her to the 24/7 vets.  She would raise her head and sniff, but she would not kiss us nor wag her tail. Vet Dr. Belt said she could see internal bleeding. We all concluded that Sophie, the scavenger, had eaten a dead rat that had been poisoned. That was 10:30 PM . By 11:30 PM, our beloved dachshund was dead from cardiac arrest.

Thank you, God, for allowing Sophie to choose us. She was such a good girl and part of the family. We were blessed to have her, and , yes, she was blessed to have us as well.