The Golden Thread that Binds

Once again I learn of the death of a Knox Countian who was a friend I met through the Advocate many years ago. Ellie Helton passed away just before Christmas. This makes me sad. Recently I have been going to old writings for inspiration for articles. I picked up one of my binders and the following is the first I read. A bit of Devine intervention.
As I turn the key to unlock my kitchen door I see the red light on the answering machine. Putting my packages down I check. I hear a pleasant voice with a slight southern drawl. “Hello my name is Ellie Helton. I’m from Barbourville, Kentucky. I hope you remember me. We talked sometime back about the art of making paper roses. I planned to teach this at the Brown family reunion. You asked me to call afterwards to tell how the reunion and making roses turned out.” Ellie told me she had mailed a package to me. It had some things from this year’s reunion. The message ended with Ellie Helton saying, “I hope you enjoy the tape of a song I wrote about the time spent with Grandma and Grandpa Brown.”
The package arrived a day or two after her call with a letter. Ellie’s letterwas full of information. She also enclosed a single paper rose and the story of the rose. I was touched by the history paper roses. While reading I listened to her memory song. It is impossible to share Ellie’s beautiful heartfelt respect and love for her family. I did not waste time in calling Ellie to thank her for everything; especially her faithful reading of The Advocate. I asked if she minded if I share her memories about the reunion at the old home place in Grays, Kentucky. Ellie said she was more than happy to share her memories about her loving close family. Her family though scattered tried hard to have a reunion each year. She said she was thankful for her memories. Ellie said the reunion was like stepping back in time through the fence gate to the days of sitting on her Grandma’s front porch. A time when her Uncle Ed Brown better known as “Little Ed Brown” played the music for the family sing-along. Their voices rang out echoing up the mountainside around the family home place. Ellie said if her Grandma Brown was still living she would have loved the gathering! Grandma would have been right in the middle of the celebration. The ladies felt the presence of her spirit as each one of them worked on making paper roses in her memory.
Lilly Brown was well known for the art of her paper flowers. She was very talented and creative. She made many different paper flowers. Ellie said the ladies at the reunion had a good time learning the art of making paper roses. Grandma Lilly would have been happy to see all the roses.
The reunion was held at the cousin’s home next door to the old home place. Family wandered through grandma and grandpa’s house. They reminisced about how grandpa used to take all the grandchildren to Estill and Matthew Bargo’s grocery store. Her grandpa hitched his horse to a sled and loaded all the children for the ride downhill to the store. What a treat for children. And, what a happy memory! They never got a final headcount but the guess… 80 or more attended the reunion.
Ellie took a few keepsakes from her grandparents home. A single shoe from her grandma. She said it will make a perfect flower pot. Ellie cut a few pieces from the old linoleum that covered the floor. Ellie remembers having to mop and scrub the linoleum floor as a child. She remembers getting the floor wet with soapy water, making it slick. She mopped and sang a popular tune for the time “Slippin’; An a Slidin” while she cleaned the floor. Ellie said it wasn’t work… it was fun. She selected a mirror. She plans to hang it in her bedroom. And true to the old home place she ran across a brown bleach bottle dated around 1954. The bottle will make a perfect lamp base. Her precious items will remind her of the time spent with her grandparents. She described her thoughts about her keepsakes.. all things …everything old…. will become new again.
Millie’s Thought: I will end by saying memories are like golden threads rolling through the tapestry of a family’s life. The family tapestry stays intact even those some of the original threads are missing. The tapestry is held intact by the love of the remaining threads. A tapestry woven strong by the everlasting thread of love that binds families together.
We send our condolences to Ellie’s family. We know she will be sorely missed.