Alice McGill
More
years ago
than Franklin Roosevelt’s last presidential year, reading and
storytelling were the favorite activities in my family of ten; my
mother, father and eight children. We lived in Mary’s Chapel,
a
small farming community named after Mary, a former slave who
contributed money to build a church. Our four-room, elementary school
stood nearby, also, named for Mary.
The nearest town, Scotland Neck, NC, rested almost three miles north of
our little house that sat in the middle of a cotton field surrounded by
skirts of deep woods. My father often walked these miles, regardless of
the weather, to purchase a five-cent copy of Time Magazine.
By the light of a kerosene (oil) lamp my younger siblings and I
followed our father’s finger along the sentences of precious
links to far away places and events. Winston Churchill traveled all the
way from England to visit President Roosevelt in Washington. DC. I
recall Jackie Robinson’s portrait, on the cover of Time, with
baseballs decorating the whole cover. We talked about such true stories
at school.
Although my father was the best storyteller, (my opinion) everybody in
the community told stories—all the time. Therefore, I was
surprised when someone offered to pay me to telling stories.
Thus, my telling, teaching and writing skills began to
grow—way back yonder.
I graduated Brawley High School with a four-year work-aide scholarship
to attend Elizabeth City State Teacher’s College, now
Elizabeth
City State University; earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in
Elementary Education, Elizabeth City, NC. I completed the requirements
for a Master of Education Degree from Towson State University, now
Towson University; Towson, MD. My twenty years of teaching experience
began in Halifax County, NC and ended in Baltimore and City and Lida
Lee Tall, a Research Center for Towson University, three years, five
years, and twelve years, respectively.
Almost two years after graduating from Elizabeth City State Teachers
College, I met a prospective young man named Marion. He chased me all
of 8 months before I caught him. By his account I did the chasing and
he caught me. We have been married well over forty years; still best
friends. We reside in Columbia, Maryland where our two daughters, their
husbands and two grandchildren visit often—to our great joy.
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