"Grandma's Song"

Here is a poem I wrote in 1981 regarding my Paternal Grandmother, Victoria Pack Adkins. "Aunt Vic", as she was known by her large family, was born August 4, 1891 on Queen's Ridge in Wayne County, WV. She and my Grandfather, Caudle Adkins, Sr. were married on November 15, 1919 in Ironton, OH after he had returned from World War I. He had been gassed by the Germans in the battle of the Argonne Forest. He had lifelong health issues as a result of his injuries and eventually died of lung cancer in 1959.

Together, they raised three sons (Millard Joseph, Caudle Jr. and Samuel Everett Adkins); and a daughter, (Lola Diane Adkins Presley). All but my father are now deceased. A fourth son, James Ray, died as a little child, and my Grandmother also delivered a set of still born twins. After a successful gall bladder surgery, she developed a blood clot that suddenly and unexpectedly took her life on November 15, 1955.

She cooked thousands of meals, washed a mountain of clothes and helped mold the lives of her children and grandchildren. Mamaw was a kind and loving mother and grandmother who lived her faith daily. I am blessed to have had a wonderful Christian heritage. Victoria Pack Adkins was an important part of that heritage. This is for her...

"Grandma's Song"

Victoria Pack was as lovely then

As a delicate mountain flower;

When she found her young man and held him fast,

With a tender but lasting power.

He was home from the war across the sea,

When the century still was young;

He was drawn to her, as though by the power,

Of a siren's song she'd sung.

There had been others who'd shared in his life,

But none of them could compare;

To the sound of her voice - her hazel eyes,

Or the light of the moon on her hair.

They courted, married, and lived on the farm

Where he, himself, had been born.

She bore the children and nursed them, while he

Raised beans and potatoes and corn.

Tho' things were bad when the stock market crashed

At the old home place times weren't so hard.

The family was fed by the fruits of the earth,

And the chickens that scratched in the yard.

Victoria knew that physical food,

Would never satisfy

The spiritual needs her children would have,

As the years would go swiftly by.

She brought the kids up in the Baptist Church,

And prayed that each would see

The blessings of God; and she taught them to sing,

"Rock of Ages, cleft for me."

She came from the stock of old pioneers,

Who knew about right and wrong.

Forever she'll live in my memories,

Along with the words of her song.

By the time I knew my Grandmother

Her voice was shaky and weak;

Her face deeply lined; her body was frail;

But her faith was still at it's peak.

She died when I was five years old,

And left Grandfather alone -

For four more years, until he too,

Would move to their Heavenly home.

My father still has her hymnal at home;

It's yellowed and brittle pages;

Remind me that her soul is at rest,

In her blessed Rock of Ages.