A Home on North Oakwood

Momma spent most of her life growing up in the home on North Oakwood Avenue in Beckley, WV.  She was raised in a time and place where innocence was golden and getting caught smokin' cornsilk was a big deal.  I remember a story about Momma and her girlfriends actually sitting in the cornfield that grew atop of the land attached to my Grandmother's land and rolling cornsilks like cigerettes, lighting and smoking them and coughing for hours. 

Thus, Zina Mae did not smoke a thing afterwards.  She didn't drink a drop nor did she wear makeup unless it was red lipstick in the younger days or clear-colored chapstick in the silver years. 

Another funny story I remember her telling me is about the time she and her girlfriends went back up to the garden on the top of the hill and ate some very hot peppers.  She said they couldn't run down the hill fast enough to find something to soothe their burning mouths.  Luckily, Grandma had some fresh cornbread and butter on the table so this was the natural choice to remedy their situation.  Then they cooled their mouths by drinking cold glasses of milk! 

 

Momma was quite a sweetheart and looked much like her Daddy's side of the family.  Especially when it came to her eyes and hair color.  I always felt a little sad for her knowing that she was only 5 when her Daddy passed away.  I'm sure this must have been traumatic for her and her siblings.  But she was the baby of the family and a little girl at that.  Losing her Father at such an early age had an impact in ways that came out later in life.  Momma always spoke highly of her Daddy and I remember Aunt Gin Gee and Momma calling him "Daddy" when speaking about him although they were all grown up at the time of their tableside talks.

 

My Momma's Daddy and My Grandfather

Rufus Campbell Coffman

 

A Sidenote:  The name of Coffman....it just dawned on me that this very name may add a thread of Jewish Heritage to the mix of Italian, French, German, Irish/English previously mentioned.  I'd like to think it's true....Kauffman, Coffman or any other spelling of this name may hold the clue to the origin.  I'd like to think that somewhere in my ancestory, I have Jewish blood, the blood of God's Chosen.  I've always felt particularly cared for and so perhaps this is part of the reason why or perhaps it's because God loves me and He knows me by name.  I'm His Daughter.