Washington Family

NPS/Photo Washington

Family to me would be those you have known from day one of your life. They were there when you laughed, and they were there when you cried. They laughed with you and they laughed at you. But, most of all they didn’t allow anyone else to laugh at you. The loyalty of a family member is the most rewarding experience you could have. In most cases when you are happy you share the experience with your family and then when you are sad or in trouble you also call on family first. Being born into a family comes first then you marry and start your own family, now, that is when you truly understand the bond between family members.

Like everyone else the family starts with a mother and a father. In my case my mom (Willie Ross) became that single mother that was there no matter what and my grandfather(Rev Lucious Spellers) became that father figure in my life. I have a brother (Anthony Thompson) and a sister (Doris Thompkins). My sister married and moved away when I was 8 or 9 years old and started her own family.

Now on to my family life. I saw my mom embrace all her sisters and brothers (6 siblings). She was close to all of them. They didn’t have much at all as they grew up. They didn’t have to go to school if they didn’t want to. My grandfather told my mom if she completed the sixth grade, he would give her a watch. Which she did, but he couldn’t afford the watch. She continued through and finished her high school education at Edward Waters College of Jacksonville, Florida. With that background she became a presser at a dry cleaner's company to support her family. Fast forward, with her being our mom we did have to go to school each snd every school day. I remember her being pretty dressed up to go to that long hot day at the cleaners and admired how pretty she was. I would even try on her clothes when she wasn’t at home. Funny, can you imagine how big they were on my little frail body? With that in mind I always dressed my best when I went to work as an adult.

We moved a lot as a child. I think moving was a hobby for my mom. We lived in the housing projects and other neighboring houses until mom had enough money to buy some lumber so that my grandfather, uncle and even my brother could build a house in my grandfathers’ back yard. With all of that going on she still found the funds to somehow help my sister and her family. The house was never finished but we moved in any way back in the 60’s. Mom went on to purchase some property a little way from my grandfather’s home and purchased a mobile home only to have to have it relocated when one of her neighbors went to my grandfather's place of employment and threatened that harm would come to her if she didn’t get out of the neighborhood. So, she bought property somewhere else and moved the mobile home. She only wanted to have something of her own. She would always say “blessed is he that has his own”.

Now, what I would gather from this is the family always look out for each other. As my mom says until this day “good looking out”.

We were encouraged to be our best. We always had a piano in our home that mom tried to learn to play and encouraged us children to take piano lessons. My brother learned to play the piano, drums, harmonica, and guitar on his own and with that beginning he went on to start a couple of bands. Today he is still active with his blues band (Packrat’s Smokehouse). Now, me on the other hand, I gave up on learning to play instruments. I did graduate high school and attended some college. My mother was quite the seamstress, I picked that hobby up from her and my first job as a teenager was a tailor at a dry cleaner in Daytona, Florida. We were also taught from example to keep steady employment if you wanted to survive. That thing about having your own. Having employment was necessary. My brother found odd jobs and worked from the age of 8 or 9. Some people remember Earnest Carter the local farmer that had the local neighborhood children working the farms for him. Anthony (my brother) also would sometimes work with our dad, Turner Thompson. He successfully completed more than 35 years on his job. I would go to work with my mom sometimes to help her out. I really didn’t mind working with her because we knew that was just something you had to do. It taught me a great work ethic which I passed on to my child (Shayla). She knows that it takes hard work and determination to have anything or get anywhere in this world. I also completed more than 30 years of work on my job where I started as a Cashier and was later promoted to Data Processing, then Customer Service Supervisor, Billing and Collections Supervisor and on to retire as Utilities System Analyst. I might also add that I was the first black female Supervisor for the company and at this time, the only black female Supervisor so far.