My Uncle, My Family, What a Legacy!

Now days not every family has a legacy our family has, but what a heritage we as grandchildren of John and Lois Bourne were given. This week for me as been a lot of memories going through my thought process.  My mother was the oldest of the six siblings. There were Margaret, Jean, John Jr., Buford, Donnie, and Wayne.  Most of those memories I have had include most of all my family, especially when it would come to life on the farm or family gatherings.  After the siblings, there were 16 grandchildren and 13 of us were girls and the ones that lived close by worked on the farm.  We all have fond memories of those times even though it was hard work. 

In my memories of Uncle Bud this week there are a couple things I want to focus on and the man I so admired. I will first share a little about the man on the farm and family life.  When Aunt Ruth started working at the school I went to I started riding with her to school. One day on the way home I asked her if I had been her and Uncle Bud's daughter what would she have named me?  I can remember her laughing and then with a long pause she said "I suppose, "Petunia". I was young and I really wanted to cry because I thought that was the ugliest name I had ever heard. When she got home and told Uncle Bud he just laughed and laughed and that became my Nickname on the farm.  Everybody had a nickname and that is what you were called, especially on the CB radios.

One day we had been cutting tobacco on the Riley place, (each farm has a name) back behind Uncle Bud's farm and it was the end of the day and we had several scaffold wagons full to pull up to Uncle Bud's house until morning to hang in the barn. He said Petunia you get on Ole Blue and pull that wagon. Ole Blue was a tractor that had not been a friend of mine since I was a young girl because I fell off of it riding with Uncle Donnie one time. The other scary thing was the old road coming out from the Riley place had one section that if your wheels weren't just right you would loose the whole load. I was a nervous wreck. I was the first one to come out. When I got to that narrow section I was white knuckled, I knew my front tractor wheels were good, my back wheels were wider but they were just on the edge on either side so I stopped and sized up the scaffold wagon wheels, I took a deep breath and thought I got this, (a lot of pressure for a 13 year old) and off I went. I pulled up and there stood Uncle Bud and Uncle Donnie and they both had big smiles on their faces and Uncle Bud came and gave me a big hug and said, Im proud of you Petunia, you did good. You see, that was just like him. He always loved you and was always proud.

Every year at Christmas, on Christmas Day the highlight of Christmas Day morning was Breakfast because Uncle Bud and Uncle Nook would come and eat breakfast with us. That smile would light up the morning brighter than the Christmas tree. It didn't matter what Santa had left under the tree, the best thing was that they were eating breakfast with us. He always made things fun.

But the best memories of Uncle Bud were spiritual. They were the ones of Singing. Him teaching me words to songs when I just couldn't remember and there are still lines to songs that I will never forget and I will always smile because of how he taught me. Those are the memories that have been so strong in my mind this week. They started singing when I was small and even then I would sing occasionally but as I got older I would sing with them. I would stand between my Daddy and Uncle Bud. I knew that when you became a Christian the Holy Spirit dwelled in you but there were times when we would sing I would see the tears start to well up in his eyes and I would know that God was moving in his heart.  He could teach us how to work, he could teach us integrity, but he also taught us how to love the Lord. 

There was one song I sang he loved. The title was "Come Morning." I always knew when the Lord would be speaking to him. We would sing through the song and he would have those big ole tears just rolling down those cheeks and he would step up and say,  "I just love where I live. I can step out my back door and look out over the river bottom in the morning and I know that one morning I'll walk by the river with Jesus." Then he would say, "Sheila, step on up here and sing that last verse."

Well, Uncle Bud, Sunday Morning you got to walk by that River! 

Oh how I loved you! How I admired the Man you were. And thank you for Loving the Lord and setting the example you have for your family.

God's children too long have been burdened.
They are longing for Heaven's green shore.
Where heartaches are left far behind them,
And burdens are carried no more.

Come morning I'll walk by the river.
I'll rest 'neath the ever green tree.
I'll carry my cross through the midnight.
Come morning there's glory for me.