This episode is filled with stories about root cures, granny healers and country doctors, as well as traditional tales of healing in the Southern Appalachian Mountains.
Written by Jules Corriere with Anne G’Fellers-Mason, Audrey Wolfe
Accompanist Brett McCluskey
Sound Engineer Mike D’Avella
Stage Manager Phyllis Fabozzi
Sound Effects Gary Degner
Editor Wayne Winkler
Theme Song Heather McCluskey
CAST
Jonathan Baker
Summer Buchanan
Deb Burger
Don Burger
Roger Castle
Lee Clements
Susan Cox Burke
Mike D'Avella
Lilli Erbach
Phyllis Fabozzi
Stephen Goodman
Abby Hathorn
Sadie Hyatt
Dana Kehs
David Kehs
Anne G’Fellers-Mason
Brett McCluskey
Lori Olmstead
Linda Poland
Maggie Polden
Nancy Rhea
Katy Rosolowski
Tom Sizemore
Anna Van Eaton
Joel Van Eaton
Vivi Von Voigtlander
Audrey Wolfe
Podcast Sponsored by:
The Wild Women of Jonesborough
Nancy Hope and Odie Major
LORI
Coming to you from Jonesborough Tennessee, the Storytelling Capital of the World, and broadcasting from the International Storytelling Center, it’s StoryTown, Jonesborough’s original storytelling Radio Hour.
LORI
Hello everyone, and welcome. I’m your host, Lori Olmstead. You know, every time we come to tell stories here at the international Storytelling Center, it’s a special time for us all, but tonight, we are happy to give you some big news. The Jonesborough Yarn Exchange is now sponsored by the Tennessee Arts Commission through an Arts Project Grant. We are so proud to have their support throughout the next year.
TOM
We’d also like to welcome Appalachian Light and Sound as a new sponsor to our program.
LORI
And where would we be without our long time sponsor the Makers of Parsley. That smooth, easy going flavor that enhances every meal. Sprinkle it on or garnish a dish,
ALL
It just tastes better with parlsey.
TOM
And Moms, do mornings come too early for you? Then Frozen Toast is the answer. From the freezer to the toaster, what could be simpler than frozen toast. Hit it, kids.
KIDS
It’s the breakfast sensation from coast to coast
MOMS
What do you want for breakfast kids
KIDS
Frozen toast!
TOM
Tonight is an especially exciting occasion. Our episode, “Good For What Ails Ya”, featuring stories of healing, and healers from all across these parts,
LORI
That’s right Tom, and between those stories, as well as the ones we have collected from community members both here and throughout the Appalachian region, we’ll be giving everyone a good dose of what we do around here for health and healing, doctors to granny healers, homemade remedies, and tried and true cures, tonight’s show will be sure to be good for what ails you.
DANA
Doctor Stewart brought me in to the world. I was born in the old Victorian house converted into apartments. I was put in the dresser drawer because mama and daddy didn’t have any more beds. There are a lot of people who would like to put me in a drawer today.
CALEB
Doc Cunningham brought me into the world, too. Old Dr. Cunningham. But I wasn’t put in a dresser drawer.
DANA
Well, you had more money than we did. But I’ll tell you something I bet you don’t know about doctor Stewart. He not only brought children into the world, he made sure they had a good start at education. Every child he delivered, for all those years- he would come by and see them just about when they would be starting school. I remember he came to our home, and had a shoe box. With shoes, brand new n them, just for me. It was the first brand new pair of shoes I ever wore. And he also brought me pencils and crayons, which I kept in the shoe box- enough to start school. I never will forget that.
PHYLLIS
Doctors do have an impact. Sometimes long lasting. I was named by the doctor. My mother hadn’t thought of a girl’s name, because Daddy told her they were having a son. And the doctor said, I think she looks like a Betty Jean and so that’s who I became.
ANNA E.
Dr. Stewart delivered me. He delivered everybody. I don’t even know how many hundreds. Mama wanted to name me after him, and I’m so glad he talked her out of it. I don’t think I would have wanted to go around in life as Stewartina.
SUSAN
Granny Meadows delivered all of mama’s children and named some of us. She named my Brother.
LINDA
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Clarke.
SUSAN
After he got older, he didn’t want that name.
DAVID
You try living up to that.
SUSAN
I think that’s why she named you that. So you would live up to it. At least try to. Granny believed any of us could become anything, and the older folks, they believed her when she said something was gonna happen, because it was said she could see into the future. If she gave you a great name to live up to, you could expect that she saw great things ahead.
LINDA
As long as you did your own part.
SUSAN
At every visit, she told us that. My brother changed his name anyway. Granny Meadows named me too. I was always a little disappointed that I wasn’t called Cleopatra. I think I would have tried to live up to that. She just named me Anne. Pretty ordinary.
LINDA
Anne? Ordinary? I expect you must not listen to stories or do much reading. You look at the Anne’s in this world, and you’ll discover they did some great things.
SUSAN
Really, like what?
LINDA
That is for you to discover. Discover what they did, and discover what you might do. You are capable of doing great things, Anne. Never, ever forget that.
LEE
Everybody called her Granny Meadows, but she was my real Grandma, and she delivered me, too. She was there when everyone fell to a hush, because I Was Born with a Veil On My Face. That's What My Grandma Called It. She's the one who raised me. She was a kind of a medicine woman. She took care of folks- black and white. I went with her all over these parts. It was on one of these visits that she told me about the veil. We were walking home, and she got ahead of me. I saw something-- A lady- a real fancy dresser. My mother was a fancy dresser too, so I thought it was her walking down the road, so I ran to her and called out to her,
SADIE
Mama! Mama! Over here!
LEE
She kept going. Then my Grandma turned around.
LINDA
Fanny!
SADIE
I'm going to meet Mama!
LINDA
No, Fanny! Come here now.
LEE
I knew by the sound of Granny's voice that I needed to come back. All of the sudden, the fancy dresser turned and disappeared. Grandma and I walked a long time, maybe a mile, before talking.
LINDA
Let's rest our feet here.
SADIE
Granny, why wouldn't you let me go to her?
LINDA
She isn't who you think she was. And this is not the right time of day to be walking with spirits.
SADIE
You Mean She Wasn't Real?
LINDA
Oh, She's Very Real. As real as you and me. She once walked and talked on this earth, like we're doing. But she's on the other side of the veil now. Most times, they just want to be remembered. They show themselves and that's that. Sometimes, they need to pass on some news to people on this side. But every once in a while, there's one that wants something more, and you have to be careful.
SADIE
Something more like what.
LINDA
Oh, honey, when you get a little older I might tell you, but I don’t want to scare you now. That lady probably just wanted to be remembered. But I don't want you walking with a spirit when the time's not right. She shoulda known better. That's why I called you back.
SADIE
How did she know I'd see her?
LINDA
You were born with a veil on your face. I was, too. You were born with a half veil. That means you can see things- people and ideas that used to be. I was born with a full veil. That means I see things toward the future.
LEE
And some things that I used to wonder about started making sense. How she would know if someone was going to get well or die.
SADIE
Oh, like you said Mrs. Jones probably isn't gonna make it.
LINDA
Will I see the future, too?
LINDA
No. The half veil sees the present and the people from our past.
SADIE
Too bad. I wish I could see the future.
LEE
My grandmother hugged me. It was my signal to know she was done talking. We'd walk that road together many times over the years to come. We'd walk it for Mrs. Jones' funeral. We'd walk it after grandma delivered a set of twins, and I got to help. I've seen a lot of things going down that road, though I never saw the fancy dresser again. One of these days, though, I'm sure I will.
ABBY
My daddy was the town doctor in this little place in the foot hills. We grew up without a lot of conveniences, and without too much in the way of socializing since the nearest neighbor was miles away. Our remoteness gave us all a sense of freedom, but when we moved into a bigger town when daddy was hired as their new doctor, he carried some of those freedoms there, which were…well…a bit shocking to some of the residents. He’d often go out to get his paper in nothing but his boxers, there were other things,
ROGER
Bleepity bleep bleep. Who blocked the drive way.
ABBY
Like, the swearing.
ROGER
I only swear when it is appropriate. How many bleepity times do I have to say that?
ABBY
Daddy was kept really busy with everyone in town, treating everything from runny noses to sawblade wounds to delivering babies, and he had little patience for nonsense. There was a lady in town, that everyone knew to be a hypochondriac. There was always something deathly wrong with her, she just knew. He was called to her home by her relatives, and dad arrived. He looked her over and came to the same conclusion everyone else had. He was very frank with her.
ROGER
Lady, there’s not a bleeping thing wrong with you. If you ask me, I think you bleep bleep bleepity bleep--
ABBY
On second thought, we won’t use the language he used. OK. So, Dad looks her over, tells her in no uncertain terms what he thinks of her condition.
KATY
I’m no bleeping bleep bleep. If you ask me, I think you’re the one who’s bleepity bleep bleep, and more than that, you bleep bleep bleepity bleep--
ABBY
Ok, so let’s just say she returns the compliment. At that, she decides to tarnish his reputation by insisting his diagnosis is wrong, and that she was going to die to prove it.
KATY
Won’t you be bleeping ashamed when they bleepity bury me.
ABBY
She took to her bed, and the family couldn’t convince her to get up.
ROGER
Well, Bleep.
ABBY
Being the shrewd psychiatrist he was, he gets his saline and sugar pills.
ROGER
It seems I owe you an apology. You really challenged me.
KATY
I…I did?
ROGER
Nobody called me that bad a doctor before and I got to thinking about your case. I’ve decided that you have a rare disease.
KATY
I…I do? Well, bleep.
ROGER
I didn’t recognize it at first. I’m going to give you a shot, and I want you to take 3 pills a day. This should help you get back to normal. It’ll probably take an hour before you feel anything.
ABBY
He gave her a saline solution shot, and she was out of bed in thirty minutes. Every month, for four months, she was given the same shot. She was kept well after that with the sugar pills, which she took every day, and was never sick again a day in her life. And of course, after that, he was the greatest doctor who lived.
ROGER
You’re bleeping right I was.
LORI
Oh, good old Doc. If you’re just tuning in, you’re listening to a Night with the Jonesborough Yarn Exchange on WETS 89.5 FM out of Johnson City, Tennessee.
BRETT
Play 30 seconds of music.
LORI
And we’re back. Have you ever heard that music soothes the savage soul? Apparently, it soothes other physical ailments, too. In a Harvard blog in November of last year, Music Therapy can reduce pain and anxiety, and improve quality of life for people with dementia. That is a lot of benefit from doing something as easy as turning on the radio. Or, in our case, coming to the radio show, and listening to the musical guest. Please help us welcome the Jonesborough Novelty Band to the stage, for some hand clapping, foot stomping healing sounds.
JNB plays a few numbers.
LORI
Thank you so much! It is always so much fun when you join us. The Novelty Band will be back later in the show. Let’s give them one more hand. (Applause.) Now, it’s time to get back to more stories of healing. And healing is not always just about doctors and medicine. Healing comes in all forms. And around here, it comes especially in the form of stories.
AUDREY
My great-grandmother lived to be 89 years old. Her name was Lou, and she spent her whole life taking care of other people. When she was ten years old, she helped her grandmother farm all summer long to pay off the bank note and save her grandmother’s house. When she was a young woman she helped raise her younger siblings and then went on to get married and raise children of her own. She helped her husband run his business while she ran her own business. When her daughter went through a divorce, Lou helped raise her grandchildren––my father and uncle. She was a constant, never-changing figure in my father’s life. She grieved with her daughter and grandchildren when she lost her husband. She grieved with my father and grandmother when my uncle died from an accidental gunshot, and grieved with my father again when my grandmother died of a brain tumor. Lou lived through the loss of her husband, daughter, and grandchild––lived through all that heartache with my dad. They mourned together through it all and still found beautiful ways to celebrate life through birthday parties and Christmases, and through storytelling. She would tell all kinds of stories about when she was a girl in the 30’s, about the way things have changed over time. But they were always stories about people and family, and she would remember every detail. The people she had lost weren’t gone, they were there in her stories and in her heart.
My dad stayed by her side over the years through countless surgeries and doctor’s visits. During her second hip replacement surgery, she went under anesthesia. As some of you may know, symptoms of dementia and Alzheimer’s can be worsened by anesthesia. And that’s what happened. So my father came by to visit her at the hospital, worried that she may have lost memory of where she was and who he was. Their conversation went something like this:
MIKE
How’re you doing, Nana? You feeling alright?
DEB
Yes, feeling fine, I suppose.
MIKE
How’s your memory doing?
DEB
I remember you, don’t you worry. Now shut that door and come over here. We need to have a talk.
MIKE
Nana, the door will be fine open. What do you want to talk about?
DEB
I asked you to shut the door. Shut it. Good. Now, come sit over here beside me and we’re going to have a talk.
MIKE
What about, Nana?
DEB
I know why I’m here.
MIKE
Why are you here, Nana?
DEB
Because I’m going to have a baby.
MIKE
You’re what?!?
DEB
I’m having a baby and it’s yours.
MIKE
Uh, Nana, I’ve really got to go now.
DEB
No, sir. You’re going to sit right here and we’re going to talk about what to do with this baby!
MIKE
Uh, Nana… No, I’ve got to go! I’ll see you tomorrow!
AUDREY
And he did come back the next day, but this time in a brand new truck.
MIKE
How’re you doing today, Nana?
DEB
I’m feeling fine, how are you?
MIKE
I’m great, Nana.
AUDREY
Everything seemed like it was back to normal.
MIKE
Good to see you looking healthy again. Have you been entertaining yourself?
DEB
As well as I can. What have you been doing today?
MIKE
Well, let’s see… I did some work this morning, then bought a new truck––
DEB
A new truck? Well, I just can’t believe you! A new baby on the way and you’ve gone out and bought a truck! And just how do you think we’re going to afford that?!
AUDREY
Even though she didn’t remember exactly who my dad was, she still knew she loved him, even if it was a… different kind of love. She thought her grandson was her husband, even though her husband had been gone a long time. She saw him so vividly because he was still alive- in her memory, and in their legacy, her grandson, who was sitting there, holding her hand, as she remembered them all. She kept them alive through her memories and the stories she told, stories that were always about family, and always about hope. Now, I realize it’s my turn to keep her alive the same way, and perhaps, in 70 years, I may be sitting with my grandchildren, her great, great, great grandchildren, and they will get to know her, too. I hope so.
SUSAN
They call me the cookie lady. I am the cookie lady of Sycamore Shoals Hospital. I come in and get to work in the kitchen, baking dozens and dozens of cookies. Then I put on my little apron, load the cart up, and go through the hospital giving away cookies. A lot of people say, “Well how much are they?” and I tell them, “Nothing! They’re free! Please take one”. I give them out to patients, and I also give them out to staff. Sometimes, a doctor or a nurse will have a really hard day, and I’ll come by with my cart of sweetness, and offer them a cookie. It might be the only sweet moment of the day they’ve had. I love to see the smile in their eyes, when they bite into the cookies I bake, and I feel like, in that moment, they are wrapped in a big hug from me to them. That’s what it’s about. To show them that someone cares. That we care, and that no matter how hard everything is, there are still sweet things waiting around the corner.
PERSON 1
I volunteer, too. Once a week, I bring the therapy dog to the cancer treatment center. You would not believe the calm that the dogs bring. They could be having a really hard day, and they can sit and pet the dog, and not have to say a word. And the dogs, they seem to know when people need them. I remember one time I was on my way in to the center, still in the waiting area, and the dog stopped, and went over to a lady, looking out the window. She had lost a son a few months before in a bad accident, and now, her husband was being treated for cancer, and the outlook was grim. The dog nudged over to her, and I tried to excuse myself, but she said “No, I need this right now” and she and the dog sat together for a long time. When we left, she looked more at peace, the tears were gone from her eyes, but mine were full.
DANA
Beep Beep!
ANNA E
Just a minute!
ANNA VAN EATON
Burgie Drug Store in Elizabethton, Tennessee, was established in 1892 by pharmacist, Harry Burgie. Later, Max Jett began working for Mr. Burgie as a staff pharmacist in 1927. They were partners for many years. Mr. Jett became the sole owner after Mr. Burgie's death in 1952. Then, Larry M. Proffitt, began work as a pharmacist for Max Jett in 1969, then later bought the business from him in 1971. Burgie Drug Store was moved from downtown to its present location in 1975. It has been owned and operated for the past 43 years by Mr. Proffitt. The business was built on the promise of providing quality drugs at competitive prices, with quick service and is still practicing this today. Over 120 years after its start, they are still serving the same community. I’ve gone there for years, and I remember when they put in their drive thru window, It caused quite a stir at first, and everyone wanted to use it.
DANA
Beep Beep.
ROGER
What did you say?
DANA
I said “beep”. Can’t you see I’m driving? I said Beep. As in Beep. Not “Bleep”. As in, something you might say, Doc. Beep Beep.
ANNA E
I’ll be there right away Miss Mavis. BUrgies drive thru started sort of unofficially at first.
A lot of the older people would drive to the drug store and beep their horns in the lot. They’d never get out of their cars or even stop. They just--
PHYLLIS
Beep Beep!
ANNA E
And we’d bring their prescriptions or other orders they’d called ahead for. Others saw that, and pretty soon, it wasn’t always the older customers who came by and beeped their horns. So to keep us from running back and forth between the drug store and parking lot, we finally put in a drive through window. People still sometimes beep their horns, but I don’t feel like I need roller skates anymore to do my job.
PHYLLIS
Beep Beep!
ANNA E.
I’m coming! I’m coming! Service with a smile. Even when they’re beeping the bleep out of you.
LORI
Thanks, Anna. I’ve been to the historic Burgie drug store in Elizabethton, and it really is remarkable to be in a business that you know has been around for over a hundred and twenty years. It speaks to the traditions that are handed down in this region. Coming up, we’ve got Corrine Stavish, someone who knows all about traditions and stories. A regular teller at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough Tennessee, recipient of the Detroit Jewish Woman Artist of the Year, and this week’s Teller In Residence, please welcome to the stage Corrine Stavish.
CORRINE
Tells an 8-10 minute story.
LORI
And that is why she has been a featured teller at the National Storytelling Festival. Corrine will be here at the International Storytelling Center all week long, Tuesday through Saturday at 2:00. Get your tickets now, because she always sells out quickly.
SFX
Bells and whistles.
TOM
I know what that sound is everyone, the time our cast comes together to share their deep thoughts and wisdom. Tonight, we’re doing things a little differently. Since our show is on healing, we thought we’d ask our cast members for the old home remedies and cures they’ve been taught through the years.
STEPHEN
If you have arthritis, Have a cat sit on your knees whenever you have arthritic pain.
DON
Or Mix turpentine with either vegetable oil, an egg or animal fat and rub on skin.
DAVE
Granddaddy always said to put two horse chestnuts in your pants pockets for arthritis.
DEB
No, no, no. One large thimble of gunpowder, mix in a spoonful of milk. After taking that, drink a good half-pint of milk separately. Then go to bed with a lot of warm blankets and sweat a lot.
DANA
If a child has a bad dream, you rub garlic on their feet.
LEE
If you’re bleeding and don’t have a bandage, put a spider web on the cut to seal it.
PHYLLIS
If you get a fishbone caught in your throat, swallow a raw egg.
ROGER
I thought you were supposed to eat soft bread?
PHYLLIS
That probably works too.
ANNA VAN EATON
If you catch a head cold, eat a roasted Spanish onion before bed.
JOEL
If you get a corn you can’t get rid of, Take one genuine mother-of-pearl button in a saucer. Squeeze lemon juice over the button in the morning and in the evening for a week. The button turns into a paste. Then spread this paste over the corn and cover with a bandage. Repeat daily till corn is gone.
BRETT
If you eat coleslaw before you drink, you won’t get drunk. Problem is, I neer know how much coleslaw to eat, so it hasn’t worked for me yet.
SUSAN
If your child gets a fever, Chop up raw onions and put them into a linen cloth. Tie this to the child's feet. In the morning the fever should be gone.
DAVE
To cure a hangover, When you wake up in the morning, take a quarter of a lemon and rub the juicy side on each armpit.
CALEB
For hiccups, Hold a penny between any two toes of one foot and transfer the penny to any two toes of the other foot, being careful not to touch the floor.
JONATHAN
No, no, that’s not right. You wear nutmeg around your neck.
KATIE
That’s not it either. For hiccups, take something cold that's also made of metal such as a spoon. Tie this on a string and lower it down the hiccupping person's back.
LINDA
For memory problems, drink sage tea.
ABBY
To prevent sunstroke, put a cool, wet cabbage leaf on the crown of your head, under your hat.
NANCY
For everything else, take castor oil.
ALL
Yep!
LORI
OK, OK, those are some interesting remedies. Some I’ve heard of, some I might have even tried, but when I’m feeling ill, I prefer more modern treatments, like you might get through Mountain States Health Alliance, especially from their nurses. We sat down with many of their nurses, to get their perspective on what it is like to deal with patients every day, and this is what they told us.
DANA
I had a lady I’d taken care of for several months. She had a lot of health issues, and was a below the knee amputee and was having phantom pains. You can’t give any kind of special medicine for something like that. I felt honored to care for her and coach her through that pain. There’s a whole spiritual aspect of caring for someone. Despite the pain, she had faith through it all. And that restores my own faith, too.
ANNA VAN EATON
A patient I recall who affected me was a woman who was one of 12 children. She would talk to me while I administered to her. They lived on a farm, and raised everything they ate, vegetables, meat, everything.
VIVI
You had to get to the table early if you wanted something to eat. If you were late, you might miss the chicken. It was a good lesson. I was on time for everything in my life. You never know what you might miss if you’re late, and it might just be delicious.
ANNA VAN EATON
She was missing her sisters, who had already passed away, and I did her wound care, which was very painful, but she told stories about her family as I worked on her, and I could see her pain ease, if only for a little while, when the stories were being told.
DAVID
One thing I know is, you never stop being a nurse, not at home, not in the community. It is part of who you are.
LORI
The most amazing conversations happen in the wee hours of the morning. One patient, she was old and frail, and very sick. She was doing a lot of reflecting, and asked me to pray with her. I did. A couple of days later, she passed. I felt that loss. It is always a special moment when a patient asks you to pray with them.
PHYLLIS
When patients are transferred to Johnson City Medical Center, they are often far from home. What I learned, is to embrace the family, because they are coming from far away, perhaps two hours from home, and full of fears and anxiety. When we ask patients what they want, the main thing they say is “communication” so we work hard to bring that to them, and to their families. It’s important to listen to the patient. We have to know their goal.
LORI
Those are some really moving perspectives. Joseph Sobel, has a story that can speak to that last idea, about listening. He was with our region’s own Ray Hicks, the famous Jack Tale storyteller, while Ray was brought in by his family to seek medical help. Before I give anything else away, I’ll just ask Joseph to come to the stage and tell us that story. Joseph.
JOSEPH
Tells 6-minute Ray Hicks story.
LORI
Thank you, Joseph. If you’re just tuning in, you’re listening to a Night with the Jonesborough Yarn Exchange on WETS 89.5 FM out of Johnson City, Tennessee.
BRETT
30 seconds of music.
LORI
And we’re back, and as promised, we have brought back the Jonesborough Novelty band. Let’s welcome them again one more time.
SUMMER
Music always makes me feel better. Listening to music helps me walk better too.
LORI
Summer, that is so great to hear. So here they are, just for you. The Jonesborough Novelty band.
JNB plays a few numbers.
LORI
Thank you so much. I don’t know about you, but I always feel better after listening to them. One more hand for eh Jonesborough Novelty band.
TOM
In the South, in the late ’30’s, there were no taxes for neglecting mandatory medical insurance. In the South, in the late ’30’s, there was no medical insurance, especially for farmers who lived off the land.They earned money off the land, ate off the land, and found healing by the land. In that Southern heat, when the mornings started before the sun rose and daylight savings didn’t change the time the cows were milked, and doctor’s - when you could afford them - still made house calls and carried little black bags, home remedies were the norm. It was more affordable and kept you out in the field. Farmers couldn’t afford sick days. But they still could afford to impress woman. Farmers needed hardy wives, who could grow a kid as well as raise a vegetable. A woman who enjoyed the feel of dirt under her finger nails and wasn’t scared when the coyotes came calling for the chickens after dark. But no farmer could catch a fine woman if he had warts on his hands. Which is why in the South, in the late ’30’s, at the end of harsh day of farming, my grandfather could be found on his front porch, wearing a sweat-stained shirt, a freshly rolled cigarette between his lips, and a cricket in his hands, eating off the warts. I suppose it must’ve worked. He married my grandmother 1942.
LILLI
Last summer, I had a stand-off with a bottle of black strap molasses on aisle 4 of the local grocery store.
That may sound dramatic, but I promise you, it’s an apt description. Black strap molasses is a ghost from my youth that still haunts me, and if you’ve tasted the vile syrup, you know why.
When I met my nemesis, I was gathering ingredients for a popular barbeque side dish: baked beans, and to my amazement, the recipe counted blackstrap molasses among the ingredients, which led to me standing in the aisle, recipe in hand, refusing to believe that the evil goop could be used to bake anything edible.
When my mother started taking it daily as a health supplement, I was seven years old, and it wasn’t long before she insisted that we, her beloved children, take it as well. According to her -- and the internet -- blackstrap molasses is rich in vitamins and minerals and is supposedly good for stress, digestion, your skin and hair, and a myriad of other things.
At seven, I didn’t care about stress or digestion or the shininess of my hair, though. I cared about the fact that black strap turned people’s teeth black when they ate it, and that its consistency was reminiscent of molten lava. It was always reluctant to leave the spoon. Just looking at it made my stomach turn, and the call for our vitamins always came at the worst times; when we were just about to finish a board game, or when we were two innings deep in a baseball game in the backyard.
“Come on, kids! Blackstrap time!”
We would line up like little soldiers, all in a row. Four of us, waiting with wrinkled noses for the terrible dose.
“I’m going to throw up,” I’d yell, when the spoon was presented. But I would swallow it down with a grimace on my face.
“I’m going to throw up,” I’d say the following day, and I would cough in disgust after downing it.
“I’m really going to throw up,” I’d say the next time the spoon came round, but I would force the thick liquid down my throat, gagging.
Finally, one day:
“I’m going to throw up. This time for real. I know it.”
With my stomach twisted into knots, I eyed the bottle of molasses.
“You’re not going to be sick. It’s good for you,” my mother said. She opened the cap and poured a large spoonful. “Open up.”
I closed my eyes, braced myself, and took the spoon into my mouth. And I followed through with my promise. It was not a pretty sight.
In fact, it was such an ugly sight, my mother never made us take blackstrap molasses again. And blackstrap molasses became a thing of the past. That is, until that day when I stared it down at the store, trying to determine whether or not I could muster the bravery to add it to my purchases.
In the end, I decided I was not ready to overcome that childhood adversary, and I pushed my buggy on past it with a smile. There are some childhood fears worth revisiting, and there are some that are not. I’ll add that fear to the ones that are not. Twenty years later, the taste still lingers at the back of my throat. For a barbeque side dish, it’s just not worth it. Besides, there are plenty of recipes that don’t call for blackstrap molasses.
DON
My story will end with my last telling of it before I pass into eternity, for I’m childless. No one will be left to recall it. My story starts with those before me, to understand the miracle of it. My father is from a deeply religious Christian family. His father and grandfather were ministers. Daddy, being just 20 years old and mama just 17, were married in the spring of 1951. Daddy shipped out to Korea in 1952. Mama lived with her parents on the “Mill Hill”. Daddy finished his tour and I was born a year later, on Valentine’s Day, their first child. We moved out of my grandparent’s place and into one of our own. The apartment was heated by oil heaters – the big four foot, upright kind that had pilot lights and temperature regulators. They could get extremely hot. Mama had her hands full, keeping me away from that heater. She had a dreadful fear of fire. In 1932, on a cold October night, a horrific fire broke out in a house on the Mill. A whole family perished – my mama’s aunt and her husband, their three children and his sister. Two of them lingering into the following couple of days. Back then, the doctors could give morphine for pain but not much else for such burns, except to pray that God would be merciful and allow death to deliver them.
It was on another cold October day that I was toddling around our home and fell against the heater, searing my face, arm and body. My parents administered cold wet cloths but they didn’t take me immediately to the hospital, nobody had cars on the mill hill, and payday was still a week away. Never the less, they were with a severely injured child, and had a decision to make. My maternal grandmother recommended calling a woman who could talk the fire out of burns.
LEE
You need to call Granny Meadows. Now, before it is too late.
DON
It became a spiritual test for my daddy. He didn’t want to call this woman, who, to him, performed witchcraft. Daddy also knew that I could die. It was a life and death call, and it was my life or death.
Daddy wanted to wait until I could receive real medical attention, but this couldn’t wait until payday. The healer came and wasted no time explaining her gift, but instead just assured daddy it wasn’t witchcraft.
LINDA
Don’t worry, it will be alright.
DEB
Will she live?
LINDA
Everything has a place and a time. I do not believe this is her time. You should believe, too.
DON
She stood over me with her back to them. She placed her hands on the burned places of my body and cited a bible verse from the book of Jeremiah. And spoke softly, I can’t remember everything, but I remember a verse from Jeremiah.
LINDA
The pain will end soon. The scars might remain, if you don’t hold still.
DON
My pain was more than relieved. It was gone. After telling my parents not to put bandages on me, she did not linger. She left with one last instruction.
LINDA
Believe. And expect signs of healing.
DON
It was a difficult thing for my father to do. To believe in something different. He struggled, as I struggled. As I began to heal, he was able to believe. Or perhaps, when he was able to believe, I was able to heal. The scars disappeared, save for one ridge on the side of my face. The mystery is, we’ll never really know which came first, healing or belief, because he never told me, and he’s gone now. And one day, I will be too. Not even the scar left to remind anyone what I lived through, who I was. Everything has a place and a time. There is healing in that knowledge.
NANCY
Doc Thompson was working the ER one night, and a man comes running in.
BRETT
Quick, Doc! My wife is in the backseat of the car, and the baby is coming now!
STEPHEN
I’ll go! You let the nurse know her name so we can get her in a room!
NANCY
Doc Thompson runs out with his bag, and pulls open the car door.
STEPHEN
Get on the floor! Get on the floor now!
NANCY
The lady gets on the floor like he tells her, and Doc Thompson pulls up her dress to deliver the baby. Then stops.
STEPHEN
Sorry! Wrong Car!
SFX Car Door Slam
STEPHEN
Get on the floor! Get on the floor now! Wait! Are you having a baby?!
NANCY
The second visit was the charm. Another one about Doc Thompson and a second visit. This happened before chemotherapy and radiation became routine treatments. It used to be, cancer was a death sentence, no matter what kind. Doc Thompson scheduled surgery with a woman having stomach pain. When he opened her up, he found that she was eaten up with stomach cancer. I was his nurse assisting, and we all went silent. I said, “There’s nothing we can do for her. Let’s sew her back up.”
STEPHEN
Wait. There is one thing we can do.
NANCY
Before sewing her up, Doc Thompson said a prayer for her. He knew it was out of his hands, so he asked to put it in the Lord’s. He told the woman the prognosis and scheduled a second visit to check her blood count. When she came back, the cancer was gone. And he knew there was nothing he, himself, had done.
STEPHEN
Healing doesn’t always come through a doctor’s hands, alone
JOEL
There’s a river between my home and office. I got a call one afternoon. There’s a guy was on a tractor had turned over and his leg was broken. I thought I’d come over and help do something about it, but I’d need some transportation to take him to the hospital from there. The guy that drove the ambulance, he’d been in the service too, around the same time I was. And like me, even though he was a Sgt. First class, he was treated second class the whole time in service-- for talking with a drawl, wearing denim off duty, being different. He and I got along real well. We’d shared something not a lot of people around here had. We’d both served during the Korean Conflict, which any kind of war is going to make a band of brothers out of you. But more than that was that we’d gone out. We’d seen more than what was right here. It’s important. To be fair, that doesn’t go for just Sullivan County. If you never go away from where you were raised, you think there is no other place, same as if you’re from New York City or Kalamazoo. You gotta go away to see things fresh. Me and this fella that drove the hearse, we saw things different than a lot of our neighbors.
When we got there, the bridge was lined with people standing on the deck- I mean, looking over the rail of the bridge. And this tractor had turned over down below and this one man was down there. One person. So I got Arthur to go with me down there. I could tell this fella had a fracture of his femur and his thigh- the bone was sticking straight through, he was bleeding, and we needed to get him up the hill. I called for help. Arthur called for help. We couldn’t get anybody to come down. The fella who was hurt. He was different. Nobody came down to help us carry him up. Well, I gave him some Demerol in his vein. It took away some of the pain. I look at Arthur and we both know we had to get this guy out. He was in real trouble.
It was just gonna be Arthur and me. We looked at this big heavy fella. 250 pounds. He was so pitiful. Broken and bleeding. Red blood. Nobody helped because he was different and I won’t even say what kind of different he was, because in the end it doesn’t matter. There isn’t a difference in the world that’s an excuse to treat anyone less than the precious human being, the miracle of life they came into the world as.
I thought about those years in medical school, in the Navy, at conventions and being treated a certain way because I was different. I thought about the nurse that worked with me, who would never be the doctor she knew she was, because it wasn’t her place. I looked at that long climb up and I thought about the long climb we all have in front of us. Anyone who’s different. I was carrying more than this fella up that hill, and when I looked at Arthur, I saw it in his eyes too. We took a breath and reached down to lift. You carry your end of a 250 pound person on a stretcher, you’re gonna remember that. I didn’t know how we were gonna do it, but somehow, when we lifted, it was like he weighed ten pounds. Maybe it was adrenaline, that would be the scientific explanation, but it was more than that. I don’t know where we found the strength, at one point it wasn’t even like it was us carrying him up the hill anymore, it was like an army of help was with us, when we thought we were alone.
LINDA
Believe, and expect signs of healing.
COOKIE LADY
No matter how hard things get, there is always something sweet waiting around the corner.
AUDREY
Whether it is a sweet memory from the past-
LEE
Or a hopeful glimpse into the future.
JOEL
If you are hurting, there is always someone there, even if it is one person, there is someone there.
STEPHEN
At one of the many locations of Mountain State Health Alliance—
DAVID
To root healers and old time knowledge—
BRETT
To music that soothes the body, mind and soul—
NANCY R
Just remember--
ROGER
There’s someone who cares, someone there to help you. Don’t ever bleeping forget that.
LORI
Thank you, to all the helpers, healers, doctors and caregivers, who make our lives easier to live.