I sent this out to the list a couple of years ago. These are some of my memories of my MaMaw and PaPaw Antley who lived in Point, LA. Mamaw was the daughter of Joseph Nolan and Lucy Guice. Papaw was the son of Richard Antley and Dona Buckaloo. Richard's father, James Augustus Antley migrated to Union Parish and settled around the Point area in 1850. Debi AsI sit here tonight thinking of Thanksgiving tomorrow it's easy to go back 30-35years and find myself sitting on the front porch of my MaMaw and PaPaw Antley's house in Point. For those of you who have never been to Point, it's really just a curve in the road with a store, churchs, couple of cemetery's and a few houses. Gosh, I can still smell all that food cookin coming through the screendoor. The old wringer washing machine is sitting off to one corner of the porch waiting for Saturday. Hangin on the side wall is the big old wash tub she'd bring in and pour buckets and buckets of hot water into for us to bath. If you listen real close you can hear the mantel clock that PaPaw wound every Saturday night. The key was in a little drawer inside the clocks door. Everything is so quiet you can hear a car coming from miles down the road. As it comes in front of the house they slow,blow the horn and wave. The only people who didn't weren't from around there. On the other end of the porch sits the well with the old wooden water bucket and dipper sitting on top just waiting for somebody to lower it down and get the coldest and best water you've ever tasted. It gets awfully hot in Louisiana in July and August and that water sure did hit the spot. If I close my eyes I can see myself walking down the porch steps and turning around the corner of the house. There sits theOuthouse down through a few trees. If it's still day light I could evenlook at the Sears Roebuck catolog while attendin to business. Listen real close and you can hear MaMaw working the hand pump in the kitchen drawing water in a pan to wash dishes. I can go around the back of the house and look in the screen door and there she is getting the biscuits out of the oven. There's two meats and a gillion vegetables on the table from her garden. Hanging on the wall is an old mirror with PaPaw's razor sharpening strap beside it. Just as I hear another vehicle coming she's pouring the tea in glasses. This one stops and PaPaw comes through the front door that's placed even with the back for a breeze to go through. He'll wash his hands for supper in a old battered tin bowl and dry em with a towel hanging from a nail. MaMaw won't sit to eat until everybodyis served. Not long after dark we'll take a trip to the Out house with a flash light then climb into one of the five beds in that two bedroom house. There's one double bed in the back of the living room, three in the main bedroom and one small one in the back room. If it's cold weather you'll be weighted down by the moundsof quilts on the bed. It's so quietthat you can almost hear the water ripplingmiles away on D'arbonne! Daylight finds breakfast already on the table and PaPaw pouring his coffee intothe saucer to cool it. My grandparents got there indoor bathroom in the mid 70's and sold the old outhouse to a neighbor down the road. It was much better than the one they had. My heart and gut grows heavy thinking of all that's lost to us now. So many of our old folks are gone as istheir way of life. Excuse the nostalgia today but it seems appropriate as we give Thanks to also thank those who came before us. And even as those are sweet sweet memories to me I have to also give thanks for the many things I have that make my life so sooo much easier than my ancestors. I had a beautiful nephew born yesterday and he'll never know anything of their wayof life except my memories. As I ThankGod for him tomorrow I will also pledgeto tell him about our folks that paved the way for him. HappyThanksgiving to you all! ^j^ DebiAntley Murphy November 1998