The name is Samuel Jason Maxwell but my friends refer to me as Sammy and you may do so as well. I live with my wife here in Owensboro, Kentucky where I was born and raised. My wife and I are yet to have children but plan to have a couple, or even a few, of the little curtain climbers someday.
My favorite hobby is simply observing folks. I find just everyday behavior fascinating and enjoy gaining an understanding of what makes folks tick.
But enough about me already as the story I have to tell you is not about me at all; rather it's about events I observed that took place about half a decade ago here at The Villa.
I've been an apartment dweller at The Villa for many a year with no real excitement. However, there was this one time ? But before I get ahead of myself let me tell you a bit about our little slice of heaven apartment building just off the downtown of Owensboro.
As apartment buildings go The Villa is on the smallish size with only two stories and a great little courtyard in the middle of the square building. Within the courtyard rests our pride and joy, a pool with attached hot tub. What The Villa lacks in size it makes up for in character. Built many years back it was meant to create a cozy environment for its inhabitants while still remaining within the city.
The courtyard is really the icing on the cake as it includes several beautiful flower gardens, bookend gazebos, numerous trees and shrubbery and of course our main attraction the pool/hot tub.
The building itself is in a word, quaint. Off white in color with a black roof it is nothing too fancy but just fine for the rent prices. The apartments are simple one or two bedrooms and house an eclectic group of folks.
Sitting virtually in the center of town The Villa is surrounded by Owensboro. Owensboro is a city on the border and a bit confused; on the border of Kentucky and Indiana that is and enjoys the Ohio River on the north side of town. Owensboro is in Kentucky but so close to Indiana some folks get a bit confused as to whether our town is southern or northern. With nine out of ten people being white folks and only about half the rest being colored I suppose it would depend on whom you ask. White folks seem to think Owensboro has southern charm and northern sensibility, but the black folks I know seem to know that southern race undertones rule when push comes to shove.
Most folks would agree that Owensboro is a great place to live and raise a family; a small town, but not too small with lots of recreation on the river and plenty of good hunting and fishing opportunities year round.
Now I suppose city folk wouldn't care for our town much but if you like a little bit of city and culture and a whole lot of outdoor life and farming, with virtually no crime to speak of, then Owensboro is your place.
With the primary jobs being farming and construction the town folk are pretty laid back and easy going. All you really have to do to find out if Owensboro, Kentucky is southern or northern is to listen to the folk's accents. You'll find a thick southern drawl in most of us, and most of us like it that way just fine.
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Here at The Villa we have all kinds of folks: married, divorced, single, men, woman, one that might be both, kids, and pets are allowed. Beyond the generalities we have good and bad folk too, mean and nice.
I'd like to tell you a bit about the nicest lady I think I may have ever met. Her name is Donna Amery but around here we all refer to her as Miss Donna. Miss Donna is a sweet hearted old colored lady that is quick to a smile and even faster to wise advice for those in need.
Miss Donna was born and raised in the country, just outside of Owensboro. As a minority in the area, it served the Amery family well to live in the country, both for farming (which was her father's trade) as well as socially, as most colored folks lived outside the city limits at the time.
Miss Donna moved to town after her husband passed away from a heart attack while farming; about fifteen years ago I believe. All of her kids had already grown up and moved away or to Owensboro, so Miss Donna must have thought it better to move to town than to toil away in the country with only the farm and the animals to keep her company.
From what I can tell Miss Donna has strong religious beliefs as I see her go to the Baptist Church every Sunday. She often sings as she wanders about The Villa and I've heard that she takes many leads in her church choir. I can see why as she sounds like an angel. I think her cat, Tendy, thinks so as well.
I'd mentioned that Miss Donna's children had either moved away or to Owensboro. To Miss Donna's joy she has her two oldest children, a girl and a boy, living in Owensboro. Her youngest daughter resides in Boston. And even more to her delight all of her grandchildren, I think she said seven now, are within ten minutes of her front door.
Miss Donna adores children and glows like a street lamp when she speaks about hers. She holds a special place in her heart for Grandchildren though, as she was particularly close to her Grandmother ? which brings me to a story she told me once that may help you understand a bit more of whom Miss Donna is.
In the summer of Miss Donna's fifth year she spent quite a bit of time at her Grandparents. She would play in the fields behind their farm house and frolic in the creek that was no more than a hop skip and a jump from the back door.
One particularly hot summer afternoon little Donna came sprinting up to the back door and yelled through the screen for "Grandma, Grandma, Grandma"! Some folks might have been startled by this but Grandma had come to know her Donna's exuberance about things she had discovered in and around the creek, and deduced correctly that there was no alarm, simply joy.
As quickly as Grandma could cross the kitchen and reach for the screen door handle little Donna had her hand and was pulling her down to the creek to see ? "you have to see, you have to see" cried Donna.
So there was Grandma being pulled hand in hand by Donna, while still wearing her cooking apron and a nice base coat of cooking floor for makeup.
As Grandma and Donna approached the creek little Donna's face lit up like a Christmas tree. Donna jumped down to her knees and pulled Grandma with her into the mud.
There in the mud knelt Donna and Grandma in a [formerly] white dress and her best kitchen apron. The apparent treasure found by Donna was a small pool of water that had become separated from the creek as the summer heat and lack of rain had dropped the water level.
Donna plunged her hands into the pool and pulled up two heaping handfuls of tadpoles while giggling and saying "look at these funny things Grandma, why they're slimy and messy and just darn funny lookin' ain't they".
Grandma just grinned and said "they sure are; they're called tadpoles". Donna looked at her with a sheepish grin and said "ok then we'll name them tadpoles".
They knelt there beside the creek for well over an hour playing in the little tadpole pool. Donna was so happy.
Later that evening after dinner little Donna was sitting on her Grandmothers lap telling Grandpa all about the tadpoles. She looked at Grandma and said "don't you just love tadpoles Grandma"?
Grandma replied "well honey, not really, in fact not at all, I find them kinda nasty".
Donna looked at her perplexed and said "well then why did you play with them so long"?
The reply Grandma provided Donna sticks with her to this day and she holds it to be true in every way she relates to her Grandchildren. Grandma said "Donna, you know why Grandchildren love their Grandparents so much? It's because Grandparents don't just feign interest; they truly find joy in listening to and watching a child."
Donna can recall to this day the kind explanation her Grandmother provided about what in the world the word f
eign means.
It was a few years later before little Donna fully understood what Grandma meant, that the joy of seeing a child discover new things was far greater than the chore of doing something you don't like; like playing with tadpoles.