These are pictures of my father Levi Gilbert Rockhold in the early years of his life.
My father, while teaching me to drive a car, told me he was born into the poorest family in the poorest community. I’ve decided that how poor someone is must be relative to who is making that statement. Those pictures do not look like the poorest to me.
My father started borrowing money from the Mt Victory bank, through the bank president Henry Dickerson, at the tender age of nineteen.
As often happened, I had taken my mother and five year old daughter Pamela Dawn to Marion Ohio, a twenty mile drive from my farm home, to go shopping.
It was just before Mother’s Day. While I went to another store down the street I left Pamela with my mother. In the meantime as they are looking around Pamela finds a present and gets $5 from my mother to purchase it to give to me for Mother’s Day.
All the way home she is basking in the joy of having a secret gift to give me. On returning home she hangs on tight to that present that is in what looks like a large shoe box. But I know it is not shoes.
Then the school bus drives up to a stop and out come her sisters, Susie, who goes directly to her room, like most teenagers, and her sister Meredythe happily bouncing in the door. Holding her boxed gift, Pamela rushes over to meet her, takes the lid off the box and they both peek in. One good look at the contents, they each raise their head and laugh.
Well………..whatever it is in that box……..it’s funny.
A portrait of my granddaughter Sarah Christina Drake I painted in 2014.
Did you know that in France you can get a pilots license to fly an airplane when you are sixteen years old but for a license to drive a car you have to be eighteen years old? Of course that makes sense when you realize France is the world’s top builder of aircraft.
So at age seventeen this French exchange student attending Salem High School had a pilots license but no drivers license.
My granddaughter Sarah Drake a Salem High senior was a life guard evenings at the Salem community center and through the year some times gave this French student a ride back to the home of the American family with whom he was living. Then came the PROM. And he ask her for that date. I present to you my beautiful granddaughter Sarah Christina Drake and her handsome French connection Paul Robin.
These dolls are beautifully made with extra details that make each one very special. These dolls were given to me over a period of years by my brother Bugs, my daughter Pamela and my daughter Meredythe.
This beautiful eighteen inch Alexander doll was a Christmas present from my brother Bugs and his wife Mary. It is called the coca cola doll and is dressed like Scarlet O’Hare as she appeared in the movie GONE WITH THE WIND. So……..I call her Scarlet!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was associated with CENTURY 21 FIRST REALTY OF VENICE, with Ron Morrison as broker owner, for the most part of my 18 years selling real estate in Florida. Note my Century 21 gold coat. Each Real Estate agent had an 8×10 photo, such as this one of me, on the wall of the front office where I worked.
Each Friday morning was realtor open-house held at the Venice Area Board of Realtors building which was headed by Marlene. We realtors who were holding an open house following the meeting, would stand up and pitch the house we were holding open and as I stood up, gave the address and details of the newly listed house I was holding open, I would say I was serving refreshments.
Before going to the 9:00 am meeting I would bake a Duncan Hines butter cake, no icing, to serve at my realtors open house. I called that a breakfast cake. There was a man, who I didn’t know, came to my open house each time, didn’t talk to anyone or do anything but go right for the cake, eat 3 or 4 pieces of that cake and leave. I concidered that a really nice compliment.
Every Wednesday morning we had an office meeting and then went to preview all the new listings from our office. I often took a cake to have with coffee during this meeting.
After eating the German chocolate cake with Coconut caramel icing I had taken, a realtor in my office said ” Flo, that cake is so good, I want your recipe.”
I turned to her and said “OK, get out your paper and pencil to copy it down”. And I waited until she was all set to write and said, ” Walk down the few doors to Winn Dixie and buy a Duncan Hines German chocolate cake mix and a can of German chocolate cake icing.”
I just couldn’t resist the temptation to be mischievous ……then I told her the secret is getting the cake out of the oven a few seconds before it is done so you don’t lose moisture and has more flavor. Cake, cookies, rolls etcetera bake a few second longer after they are removed from the oven.
Since I have had a request for my orange cake recipe……..here it is.