Chip, About a year ago, my front doorbell rang (it's not often that happens cause when you live in the country everyone comes and goes mostly at the backdoor). When I answered the door a lady threw up her hands and said "Don't Shoot, I may be family. I just saw your name on your mailbox and wanted to stop and see if you were my cousin." (BTW - I don't possess a shootin 'arn) She stated she was just in the area and had visited her great great grandfather's home place down the road about a quarter of a mile. I immediately new where she was talking about as it is my great, great, great granfather's homeplace also. It was built in the late 1790's and/or early 1800's and still stands today though it has been rennovated extensively and is occupied as rental property. Our ancestors are buried on a hill behind the house, in a cemetery, which I have not been able to get to for about 15 years now due to the steep climb and lack of access by any kind of road. A cousin from over in Kingsport comes in once a year, about this time, and cleans it off. Anyway, we sat on the front porch, drank tea, swapped information for about an hour and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. She had several other family members with her. Her family is planning now for their yearly reunion and I have been invited and hope to go. According to some information I have found on the net it is only a 97 minute drive from my house to hers with interstate highway most of the way. We have corresponded by snail mail and phone since that day and I have learned, for one thing, that she has a daughter with musical talent sufficent to sing 'Amazing Grace' on stage with Boots Randolph and his band ---- in the Cherokee language. Can't wait to hear that. I have now put my swing back up on the front porch and am planning to have a ceiling fan installed out there - just in case. Rsp. Jim Allen P.S. The 'Teaberry Shuffle' was in a commercial on televison back in the '60's for Teaberry Gum. A guy would be walking down the street, in a crowd of people, and all of a sudden he would just do this little 'hop dance and shuffle'. Everyone would look and kinda say 'whatthu'! When I would try it my wife said I looked like an ostrich trying to stand on one leg and that I would be better off just burying my head in a hole in the ground.. so I quit trying. Wives can really influence your life sometimes. Bless them all. Tim Stowell wrote: > At 09:41 PM 6/23/00 EDT, Morom01@aol.com wrote: > >What a great story! > > > >You know, I have relatives in NC and have thought about looking some of them > >up. I guess my biggest fear is that they'd think I was some sort of nut. I > >could just never bring myself to knock on the door. > > I've got at least two relatives - distant - that live within 25 miles of > me, yet I've not > got around to that knocking on the door and it's now been 11 years.... > > I guess I just haven't felt compelled to intrude into their lives. > > >Isn't it a great feeling when you finally do and it turns out like your's > >did? There's still a lot of good country folk out there. Thanks for sharing > >that, it reminds me of a time when people visited people, sat on a porch and > >drank lemonade. A lot of our problems today could be worked out with a good > >porch, and a glass of lemonade. > > So...perhaps this year. > > Tim > > ==== TNCHAT Mailing List ==== > To subscribe or unsubscribe to this list please visit: > http://www.rootsweb.com/~tnunion/tnchat > This list is generously donated by Rootsweb for our use. > Complete rules for TnChat may be found at: > http://www.rootsweb.com/~tnunion/tnchat