How My Neighbors Lived

Time for another memory from the "stone age" of my youth as I grew up outside of Memphis, Tennessee, in the Levi community. I don't know why I thought of it this morning but "Uncle Murray" Leech came to mind a few minutes ago. I thought I might either bore you or share some interesting occupations some of our neighbors had.

Uncle Murray Leech was not my real uncle, neither was his brother Uncle Dud Leech who lived across the road from up. But we always called them "uncle" and their wives were "aunt" to us likewise.

We lived on a dead end road, Leech road, and now that I think about it there were a lot of Leech's up and down our road and on Levi road, lived "Uncle Bob Leech" who had a peach orchard which has a lot of fond memories for us to talk about later. He was seriously hurt in an automobile accident and walked with a cane. I can still smell the springtime spraying of the peach trees. I wonder if that is why I have so much trouble with smelling things now. The scent lingered in the air a long time, I do remember that. And, we kids walked down that dead end road day after day when they were spraying. Year in, year out...Leech's peaches 3/4 mile, I still see that sign posted on the edge of Levi schools yard pointing peach seekers to the orchard. (Nice memory)

Uncle Murray had a barn type building in his backyard which, as I grew up and learned, was a foundry. From time to time the Leech girls across the road and myself would drop in on Uncle Murray and watch him at his craft. I don't remember what it was he was making there but I do remember he always had time to chat a minute and remind us, "You girls stay back from the heat and the flames as you can get badly hurt." And we did stay back and never got hurt. From time to time, we stopped by the little house to visit the two, almost grown, (just older than us by a few years), Leech sisters. They were Martha who we called "Mop Mop" and Sarah. Their mother, Aunt Vannie, was always out somewhere doing something else. She played the piano like nothing you ever heard, and was lots of fun.

This may not be an interesting story to you all but to me it brings memories of hard working neighbors who were working to the best of their abilities to make a living for their little country families. Thanks for the memories.