The Richest Family--A Legend of Love

Our family was very special. I believe that specialness began with two people who were openly, completely in love-my parents. Let me introduce them to you because their story-literally, their legend of love-began long before they were my parents.

In the early 1940's, my mother, Bertie, sewed men's clothing in a factory. Also employed by the same clothing factory was my grandmother, Birdie, whose son, Walter, was a soldier. A slightly pudgy soldier who so wanted to date my mother. But she didn't like "fat boys," and refused to be "fixed up" with him.

One fateful, life-changing day, when my mother got on a city bus, my daddy was already on that bus. "Bertie!" he exclaimed, and made a beeline to sit beside her. Two weeks later, two smiling, happy people stood before a justice of the peace and were married. And now comes the good part.

You see, those two young married people-in 1945-loved children, and looked forward to having a houseful of their own. Until that happened, some 9 years later, they lived for adventures with each other and enjoyed their numerous nieces and nephews. Even now, some 65 years later, the luckier of my cousins still tell of their special childhood times spent with "Uncle Walter and Aunt Bertie."

Both my parents were hard-working, honest and loving, and both were devoted to our whole family-all the brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, cousins and nieces and nephews and all their children, spouses and hangers-on. And when Aunt Bertie and Uncle Walter loved you, they loved you forever. Should you divorce the family member, well, so what? You were still considered part of the family-along with your future mate and step-children. Heck, family reunions meant several generations of us, 150 people for lunch, my Daddy cooking barbecue all night and playing guitar in the back yard by the fire pit, with wash tubs of ice and soft drinks. Every room in our house would find babies on pallets, and if you walked through and found a baby crying, you were expected to pick it up and love it until "mama" was found (and eventually she'd be found in the long line waiting for the only bathroom in our house).

I miss those times... they were times when love surrounded us all-the love that sprang from a man and a woman who fell in love during a city bus ride. Just this morning I wrote a Facebook status that asked my relatives what were their favorite memories of our family's get-togethers, and I found the responses to be very touching:

• I can't decide between my daddy playing music and barbecuing and Aunt Bessie's snowball cake!

• At your house and our parents playing rook and your dad and Cubby playing music. Fond memories

• Or Aunt Jo breaking the swing!

• Or the Easter egg hunts -- or getting to Percy Warner park at dawn to get just the right picnic spot for a reunion. There is one thing for sure that most of our cousins have mama and daddy in their fondest memories. That makes me very proud to be a Fields child.

• They all talk of their Aunt Bertie and Uncle Walter. We should all 4 be proud to be a Fields and have caring cousins who also cherished them.

• Or how much Juanita loved playing horseshoes!

• Reba's peanut butter cake!! Momma's oatmeal cookies and baked beans!

• And somewhere I think I may have Aunt Bessie's snowball cake recipe. How about all her pies. mmmmmm I can taste Reba's cake right now.

• I have Reba's recipe. Trisha gave it to me

• Would love it if you shared the recipe. I might even try to eat a bite or two.

• All the cookouts, music, fun and the love. These are great memories. The year I went to Pittsburg with you all. Aunt Bertie's smile, Uncle Walter's laugh. Love!!

• The eating! & picking n grinning!

• Agree with Dana - the eating, picking n grinning! Cousins running around all day and sleeping anywhere we could find a spot. There is not alot that I can remember of my childhood (unfortunately) but Easter egg hunts and get togethers stand forefront in my memory.

• As a child, it never occurred to me that everyone didn't have parents like mama and daddy. We never knew how desperately poor we were by dollars and cents but we were the richest family I ever knew when it comes to love. I now cherish those moments that I took for granted.

I think the lessons I learned from my parents had to do with the importance of love and family, forgiving, accepting your loved ones where they are even when you don't agree with their ways. Love for living things-from the trees that grew on our property, to the strays that we fed and named, to unending, unfailing love for each other. These are the things my parents shared with us and with everyone who knew them.

So I guess my sister, Suze, summed it up just right: "As a child, it never occurred to me that everyone didn't have parents like mama and daddy. We never knew how desperately poor we were by dollars and cents but we were the richest family I ever knew when it comes to love. I now cherish those moments that I took for granted."