Not a Celebrity Story, a Cabin Story

• Posted on 25th October 2018
• in Entertainment, entertainment books
• by Ben

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This is a story from (what my mentor calls) my celebrity book. There are no celebrities in this story so if that’s why you clicked on my link – celebrity stories – not today. But here’s a good story without movie stars.

If you read the book you may recall this excerpt from the first chapter of Three Stages.

Bish and Lucy both had good jobs with two week vacations which they always took in the summer. Several of my childhood vacations were spent in a cabin at “Big Creek”, part of the Holston river. We always shared it with another couple of my folks’ friends. The men fished in the river and the women cooked the catch on an outdoor barbecue. I still remember the wonderful, mouthwatering smells. I was constantly in the river, much to Lucy’s fear and consternation. I hadn’t yet learned to swim but I improvised, (neither Bish nor Lucy were swimmers). One thing I remember was that a steel cable stretched across the river, maybe 200 yards wide there, and we would sit in a flat bottomed wooden boat and ferry ourselves across the slowly moving stream. I don’t remember why we did this other than for the fun of it.

It turns out that the people who shared the cabin with us were my mom and dad’s best friends, Doctor Bill Graves, his wife Gwen and their two daughters Betty and Jeanne. Jeanne and I have stayed in touch over the years and recently shared an eMail exchange expanding on the Big Creek remembrance. You may find this interesting and/or amusing or you may not. I just feel like sharing it because it’s fun.

Dear Jeanne,
I was telling Elizabeth about the summer cabin at Big Creek in the 1940s and couldn’t remember if you and Betty were there. Know what I’m talking about?
Love, BB
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Sure do! That camping trip started out by our family going early in the afternoon and you guys were coming when Bish got off from work. [Bish: my dad’s nickname, short for Bishop] Daddy had left something important and asked your Dad to stop by our home and get it. The key wasn’t where it was supposed to be so Bish found a ladder in the back yard after noticing that an upstairs window was open. He climbed up onto the roof to climb in the window. Neighbors saw him and called the police! They were arresting him with you and your Mom sitting in the car! There were lots of laughs over that story. Great old cabin and great memories.
Love, Jeanne
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I’m laughing out loud reading your note to [my wife] Elizabeth. I forgot all about that “burglary”. And while I thought our housemates were you Graves, I wasn’t sure.

I do remember being in the river and so cold my lips were blue but Lucy [my Mom] had to drag me out. You must have been very young then. Right?
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Very young. Maybe 5 or 6. [Jeanne had to be 3 or 4.] I either remember it or remember, the often told stories about the “Bish burglar”. Our parents did seem to have a lot of fun together. I know that your Mama and mine were best friends and shared many secrets. I was so glad they found each other.

Yes, it was freezing and Mama would damn up a tub size section of the running brook with rocks and sit in the water and bathe each one of us little girls in that little secluded area that she had damed up like a skilled beaver. We loved the whole new experience! I know you were off doing something “manly with your Dad.” I thought you were so cool 😎. However much older than me.
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I didn’t know about your secret “bathtub”. I would have peeked.
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Wouldn’t have seen much. We were just little girls😀
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I was a little boy! (I always had the hots for you.)
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That’s so sweet of you, but I was so much younger than you at the time. Wouldn’t make much difference these days though.
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True. I just turned 83 in July, What are you, 78. 79?
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75. Can you believe we’ve gotten so old?

One of the good things about a long life is sharing your memories with others who were actually there. Another good thing is sharing one’s memories, both large and small, by writing a memoir. I recommend it.

You’ll find all three of my memoir books here.

Tags: Big Creek