AlexSandra Lett "Lett's Set a Spell"

Blending Sacred Stuff from the Past:
Making New Memories in the Present

On our family’s farm in Buckhorn community in Lee County Daddy and Mama (Bud and Ruby Lett) and we three young’uns lived in a simple frame house and observed country customs. When I was growing up in the ’50s and ’60s, our lives centered around work, church, and school.

Mama loved sewing and made lots of clothes for my sister Carolyn and me. At an early age I showed signs of being highfalutin’ because I had a flair for fancy frocks. I would save my tobacco earnings each summer and go to Sanford and buy “citified” shoes. In 1967 I purchased a navy blue and lime green pair.

Despite Daddy’s comment that they were “the ugliest thangs” he had ever seen, Mama and I went to the fabric shop and bought matching material. I drew sketches on a piece of paper and designed a dress, and back home Mama cut out the pattern and material, then cranked up the sewing machine. The results were “mighty fine.”

When our family visited with Daddy’s brother, Gilbert Lett, and his wife, Isabelle, in their large “citified” house, I longed for luxury. I especially coveted my cousin Janice’s bedroom suite: cream trimmed in gold, featuring a large dresser and tall chest with drawers, a canopy bed, and a vanity table with a mirror. Years later Janice used the suite in a guest bedroom in her new house, and when she decided to redecorate she gave the furniture to me.

Four years ago when I moved back to Buckhorn, Janice’s furniture looked festive in my mauve bedroom. My sister Carolyn brought over a Victorian-style comforter with pink and mauve flowers for my bed. Her custom-made pink curtains looked fabulous with the mauve walls. The bedroom looked exactly like what I had longed for as a child.

Meanwhile, I decorated another bedroom with a Celestial theme: a bold bedspread and pillows featuring a blue background with gold suns, moons, and stars. I painted Grandma Knight’s cast-iron bed bright gold, hung gold draperies and added a Celestial border above the windows. I accented with memorabilia showcasing images of the night sky. This bedroom depicts that flamboyant side of me!

Now that Mama and Daddy have died and I’ve inherited their house, I had to move their belongings elsewhere so my nephew Wayne could rent it. Recently Wayne brought four employees from his tree removal business to help us deal with Mama and Daddy’s possessions. For the crew it was a job. For Wayne it was helping “Aunt Sandy” do an overwhelming task. For me it was sorting through sacred stuff that had belonged to my parents and reflected decades of homemaking, farming, and working … for me it was laughter, tears, and sweet memories.

Our team started in the large storage building behind Mama and Daddy’s house where Wayne and I looked through numerous items such as canning jars, discarded furniture, tobacco plant bed covers, a meat grinder for making sausage, and a hundred tools. We examined Mama’s old sewing machine and noted that the instruction book was dated 1899.

One wall features old overalls—Daddy’s uniform on the farm—hung on nails, and we left them there. Recently Wayne’s wife Emily had taken Daddy’s U.S. Army uniform from his service during World War II to a man who restored it and put it in a glass case and gave it to Wayne as a present.

Daddy was so proud when he erected this building about 30 years ago and had a brand, spanking new shed for his lawn mower, shovel, rake, pitch fork, saw, tools, etc. As his gypsy daughter left home and lived various places we created shelves to hold file boxes full of my writings. Daddy complained often to folks about “Sandy’s junk” in his space but he kept letting me bring more in every time I moved.

Next, our team tackled the house. Most of the furniture remained in the same place as when Mama died more than a year ago. Recently, the refinished china cabinet Mama inherited from her mother, Mary Knight, had been moved to my sister Carolyn’s house. To my home, we brought the cedar wardrobe and matching chest from my childhood bedroom and the maple suite that graced my parents’ bedroom for 50-plus years. I am painting the mauve room cream and have bought a new comforter set with an Oriental flair… a red background with gold, blue, and black designs. I just wish Mama were here to make me a matching night gown!

My homeplace has stood still for many months. Folks say that a house without residents will start decaying and “go downhill.” Now Wayne will be using it for his business office. Here his crew can eat in Mama’s kitchen. Wayne can sit in Daddy’s favorite chair in the den. Emily can host gatherings for kinfolks and friends. My parents’ beloved garden space boasts of big trucks and equipment for Wayne’s tree removal service.

Now Wayne and Emily’s family will bring fresh memories to the house and farm that Bud and Ruby Lett loved so much. The land is filled with activity again, and Mama and Daddy’s legacy of love and devotion to work will live on.

Meanwhile, as I see the precious pieces from my childhood in my home I remember the joy and sorrow that made up the fabric of our family’s everyday life. As I blend the past with the present I will cherish the memories, some happy, some sad, and honor the home environment and experiences that made me who I am.