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Memories Toomer History |
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ToomerFamily.com |
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Memories can provoke laughter, tears, a sense of security and the chill of fear. Share your memories. Memories can be past or present, of people living or dead. Send memories to info@toomerfamily.com or contact Floyd. I put a few stories of my own to get you started. Also included are stories from the Toomer Baby Boomer 1999 Family Birthday Calendar "When We Were Kids". Don't be shy!
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"Aunt Ida [Parson] slapping my hands off her living room wall while teaching us to sing "Yes Jesus Loves me"." Sandra Riley Beckett |
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"Sitting on a wooden bench in Grandma Toomer's kitchen, waiting for her to hand us a biscuit and a baked sweet potato." Rita Toomer McCann |
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"Being Scolded by Grandpop Toomer for putting on my mother's high heeled shoes and tripping down the stairs." Bernice Toomer Sullivan |
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"How good Aunt Sister's homemade ice cream and cake were" Debbie Toomer Brown |
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"Emily and Jakie locking me in Grandmom Toomer's chicken yard and her rooster attacking me." Patsy Toomer Washington |
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Of course going to the blueberry field, competing with Ronnie Reid to see who could pick the most berries. Jeffrey Toomer |
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Uncle Alber bringing me gifts and Aunt Sister bringing gifts for everyone when she went on vacation. I thought she was rich! Marilyn Reid Hill |
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Stealing Willie's [Uncle Jack] beebee gun, hiding it at Mrs White's house and shooting at birds and windows. Then sneaking it back inside his house without being caught. Ricky Reid |
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Aunt Ida [Parson] fussing and chasing us kids out of the grapevines. Loretta Phillips |
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Uncle Donald boiling a pot of water in the backyard to kill chickens and someone knocking it over on my leg. It hurt real bad and he dug into his back pocket and gave me a 5th Avenue candy bar to keep me from hollering. Lenore Toomer Gardner |
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All of the going out to th ebluebeery field with Aunt Eleanor. That was slave labor Cornelius Toomer Jr |
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Cooking |
My earliest memories of my Great Grandmother
Sister, Lucille Toomer Jackson, is her beating batter. She would hold
those huge bowls against her middle and beat away. Her fleshy upper
are would flap to the motion. Whenever I am baking and forget about
a modern convenience called the mixer, the beating motion reminds me of
Sister. Shamele |
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East Berlin, NJ |
Miss Mattie and the Maturing of Rosie As a child it was always fun to take a daily trip to Miss Mattie's to buy candy. There were other candy stores on the street, such as Mrs White, in the house across from Miss Mattie, but Miss Mattie was always open for business and she had the biggest selection. She was the Wal-Mart of candy on Myrtle Avenue.
Soon this pleasure trip turned into a risk of life and death. There was a huge obstacle that we had to conquer. This obstacle seemed 250 lbs, 7 feet tall with fearsome face that growled and claws just for swatting at kids. This powerful being was Rosie.
Rosie often blocked the way to Miss Mattie's. It was like she knew when we were coming. Even though we could out run her, the terror of the passing was still great, as the claws had a magical reach.
Finally, one day, the coast was clear. No Rosie. So Susie and I skipped our way to Miss Mattie's, singing a candy song, full of joy. After a knock we could hear a familiar voice telling us to come in. We entered the kitchen to make our selections and there she was - Rosie in the kitchen! We stood at attention, backs firmly pressed against the door, eyes as wide as Steppin Fletcher.
"Come on in. She is not going to hurt you," Miss Mattie said. "Come on in," she said again, as the last invitation did not remove our backs from the door to safety. Well, not only did we remain in the room with Rosie, she sold us candy. From that moment on the obstacle was removed. We started to greet Rosie instead of running from her. Soon we saw something that we did not think was possible. Rosie started to smile. Sometimes that smile contained lipstick and accompanied by a hairdo. Rosie had gone from someone to fear to just another woman in the neighborhood. Shamele |
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Family Reunion |
Mooka and the Family Reunion My first cousin Denise Mooka Toomer provides me with two reunion memories. One - when she won the pork-n-bean eating contest, Floyd asked her how she was able to do this. She said "I love Porn-N-Beans." Two - when she, a non-swimmer, jumped into 10 feet of water thinking that it was only 5 feet. Yes, she is still with us, as Rev Mark sprang to the rescue. A lil cuz tried to help, but jumped on her head instead. Thank you both for saving her. . Shamele |
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Family Trip |
The Ride Home From LakeWorth Park I remember taking a trip to LakeWorth Park with my Uncle Phillip's wife and their children. After the fun we walked to the Pike. We were sitting at the park sign and all of a sudden Uncle Phil pulled up, in his big gray Oldsmobile with the maroon interior. He drove us home, down the Pike, like a bat out of hell. The kids were use to this so we rolled onto each other in the big back seat and had fun with it, especially on the Berlin Circle. When we reached Myrtle Avenue, near to the house, Uncle Phil slammed on his brakes so hard that we skid past two houses (Aunt Susie's and the Parish's) until we ended up in front of the house in a cloud of dust. When the car came to a complete stop a back seat passenger had becom a front seat passenger. Dwight had flipped from the back seat to the front seat. Shamele |
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Driving |
At an early age I learned about driving from Little Aunt Ida. Leslie was learning to drive and I was a passenger. I remember her telling Leslie to get over to the right, as the left lane was for passing only and a cop will pull you over if you drive slow in the left lane. (I wish that Aunt Ida could have taught more people how to drive.)
Shamele |
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Trips |
Flying into Jamaica with Auntie Ursh My Auntie Ursh and I took our first island trip together. This was my second trip to Jamaica. Too bad that our flight was September 17th, six days after 911. But we went to Jamaica anyway. As the plane approached the runway my Aunt looked eagerly out of the window, to see our island paradise. "Mele, this place looks like Camden," Ursh said with a face full of disgust, "Oh you think this mess is funny," She continued, looking out the window, as I laugh, doubled over in the next seat. "Yeah you gonna get the beat down when we get off of this plane. Got me flying all the way over here, paying my money, just to go to Camden." Needless to say, I laughed all the way to the all-inclusive resort and our oceanfront room. We had a fabulous time and look forward to our next trip. Shamele |
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ToomerFamily.com, Toomer Family History, family historian: Floyd M. Riley webmaster: Shamele Jordon, © 1999-2006 All Rights Reserved. |
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