Connecting the Generational Dots

“I helped Mary Alice name you,” said Kathleen Horrell. I was dumbstruck. Never did I know how I became a Brenda. “With Smith you needed something outstanding, something unusual, something that would let others know how special you are. Brenda Frasier was a well-known and well-respected woman at the time, so we your Mom and I thought that would be a great name.”
Kathleen and Henry Horrell knew Mom and Dad better than anyone outside family. Mom encouraged her to marry him; she got Kathleen a job at Davis Cabinet Company. Henry and Dad were teenage friends. One of his fondest memories was lying on the parlor living room in Dad’s house with the lights off, listening to Wayne King, and dreaming of making it out of the mill district of North Nashville. Both did!
Tom Cummings told me of the ways Dad stretched him in business. He related stories of Mom and Dad on their shared vacations at Barkley Lodge and Beaver Creek, Colorado. Sitting with him on a sunny afternoon in his beautiful home made me feel very closely attached to Mom and Dad.
Who knows your stories? Who will tell your children? It made me think hard about the power of legacy and the importance of passing along the joys of friendship.
A brief visit to 206 Carden Avenue renewed my love for the Tudor house. I remembered bringing daughter Meredith home and proudly strolling her up the street while toddler Heather ran ahead, laughing. Memories are funny --- they seem so safely stored away, but a few moments standing in front of this house jet propelled me back to the 60s. Happy days!