More Dooge.....

Bicycle Bill

      My Uncle James lived through a lot, no really a lot.  I always heard him called Uncle Dooge so that is what I called him.  I have no idea why, nor does my mother but thats what we have always called him.  James was born two months early.  Granny said that she had to pin him to the bed with clothes pins.  Granny didn't know it but she almost starved him to death.  She was not producing enough milk to feed him, so she had to put him on a bottle.  This started it all.  Needless to say James was a bit of a walking train wreck.  James also had the yellow jondahs.  James also got the measles, mumps, rheumatic fever.  He cut the leaders in his foot with an ax.  Is it that wasn't enough to live through, James also was Bald Mountain's own Evil Convivial.  The boys had just got a bicycle and James decided to ride it.  Well he was riding, got some speed up, and went right off the side of Bald Mountain.  When they got to him, he had broken both arms, his collarbone and a leg.  Granny had to feed him and take him to the bathroom because he was unable to use either of his arms.  This earned him the title of "Bicycle Bill."

      Uncle James also earned the name "Scorpion Toe."  He was outside one day and he came running in the house scarring poor ole Granny Mary to death telling her, "Granny, Granny a scorpion done bit me on the toe!"  Granny Mary ran and got the turpentine she was so scared, and when she got to him there wasn't even anything wrong with him

      He had a tobacco wagon turn over on him and break his back into.  He was able to walk again.  Uncle James also had 18 ulcers to bust in his stomach and almost bleed to death, he also had skin cancer.  Every month or so since Uncle James was in his 50's he has to go and have his esophagus stretched because of the damage caused by the ulcers.

      Needless to say Uncle James had led a colorful life.  He lived at home was granny until he was 40.  He never really had any girlfriend, but he was relentlessly pursued by Wanda.  Wanda aka "Tootie." who later became my Aunt Tootie.  Tootie can best be described as a bit on the slow side.  She was raised in the back woods of Madison County, NC.  An escaped convict raped Tootie at the tender age of 9 years old.  This caused Tootie to have extreme emotional problems, she became a manic-depressant, and suffered from many nervous breakdowns. 

      One thing was for certain she loved James.  She met Uncle James though my Uncle Hiram.  She wrote James twice a week for years begging him to marry her.  She would say, "I've got the dress, I've got the shoes.... come and marry me James."  Finally, she wore James down and he gave in and married her.    

      Uncle James was a preacher.  He was a good man.  One time he was at the store down on the river and he seen a man that didn't have and shoes.  The Lord told him to give that man his own shoes.  Know keep in mind these were the only pair of shoes that James had himself.  So, Uncle James gave that man his shoes.  Aunt Mable found out about this and was mad at James.  She ask Uncle James why he did that and he said, "Because the Lord told me to."   A few days later a man seen Uncle James with no shoes and took him to the store and told him to pick out any pair of shoes that he wanted.  Uncle James ended up with a better pair of shoes in the end than he had in the beginning. 

                                                      ~The Lord works in mysterious ways

Uncle Dooge died on February 26, 2009.  He was 62 years old.  He was in the hospital for 9 days. 25 preachers came to see him.  When he died close to 100 preachers came to his funeral.    I will never forget Uncle Dooge’s funeral.  At the end of the service everyone sang Amazing Grace and it was so loud and very beautiful.  I don’t suspect I’ll ever hear it sung like that again.