Bookworm

I must confess something to you. I'm a bookworm. I always have stack of books on my nightstand that I'm currently reading or that are next in line to read.

I remember when I was younger, I would read every spare minute I had. If we had to drive in the car somewhere, I'd bring along my book and devour as many pages as I could before we made it to the grocery store. My parents used to say, "Morgan, put down the book and look outside at the scenery." How many of you have had to tell your kids to put the book down and stop reading?

My love of reading translated into my college education. When I settled on a degree in Elementary Education, I selected math and history as my concentrations. I picked math because there was no subjectiveness as far as grades were concerned. You either got the problem right or wrong. No gray areas. Obviously, my OCD tendencies were showing themselves there. History is a subject I have always loved; especially American history or military history. I don't know if it's because my dad has such a love of history or if I was just blessed with great history teachers. Either way, after some time in the education department, I decided to change from Elementary Education to a full on History degree. The History world is full of reading. For one class, I was expected to read a book a week during the semester, and they were great books! We had incredibly stimulating class discussions on these readings, and I always left craving a little more.

However, by the time I received my degree, I was burnt out on reading. It made me feel kind of lost to not want to read because it really is one of my passions. But having to read and being able to read what I wanted when I wanted was completely different. Time passed and slowly I began to pick up some books again. Quick, easy reads that didn't require any thought.

Years have passed now, and I'm back to my pre-degree bookworm status. My Amazon cart is always full of my next purchases. I redeem Swagbucks for Amazon cards. I joined Paperback Swap (Genius! Go sign up and tell them made2sing referred you.) I love participating in things like The Bloom Book Club.

Here are the books I just purchased on Amazon yesterday.

 By Angie Smith, who blogs at Bring the Rain

I've heard great things about this book; several people have mentioned it lately.

This book was just announced as the next book for The Bloom Book Club. If you want to join in, we don't start reading until October 17th, so you have time to get your hands on a copy!

And here are the books I'm currently reading.

I'm actually one chapter away from finishing this book. Incredible account of the life of Mary Beth Chapman, wife of Christian music artist, Steven Curtis Chapman. You may be familiar with the tragic loss of their 5 year old daughter, Maria. 

Bobbie Houston, along with her husband Brian, is the pastor of Hillsong church in Australia. She's a powerhouse for Jesus, and I can't wait to finish this book.

Lisa Bevere's ministry is all about inspiring women to be who they are in Christ. She just released Lioness Arising last week (which is in my Amazon cart), but I wanted to read this book first. 

So I want to know; what are you all reading?

*All images courtesy of www.amazon.com. Go there and buy these books!

The Tale of a Legend

My Great Grandaddy bought B.B. King his first guitar.

That statement sums up one of my family’s most well-known stories that has been shared and passed on for generations with so much pride.

Let me start at the beginning…

Riley (B.B.) King lived in Kilmichael, MS, as a young boy with his mother, Nora Ella King, and grandmother, Elnora Farr. His mother died, and a year later his grandmother passed away. Riley went to live with his father, Albert King, in Lexington, MS, but he didn’t like living with his father. In 1942, at the age of 16, Riley rode his bike 50 or so miles back to Kilmichael. He was planning on staying with his family but all of his relatives had already moved back to the Delta.

A relative of Riley’s, John Farr, asked my great grandfather, Flake Cartledge, if Riley could stay with him. Grandaddy Flake picked up Riley and brought him home to Cartledge Farms. He moved into a small one room cabin that John and Lessie Farr had just moved out of. Grandaddy Flake took care of Riley; he bought him new clothes and gave him some work on the farm. Riley ate his meals at the Cartledge’s table.

A local young man named Denzil Tidwell had a guitar for sale. Riley asked Mr. Flake if he would buy the guitar for him and let Riley work to pay the money back. Grandaddy Flake agreed and paid the $15 to buy Riley his first guitar. Before that Riley had put nails and strings in the wall of his cabin and would play them like a guitar. A local minister, Archie Farr, helped Riley start to learn the chords, but he really more or less taught himself to play. This was the humble beginnings of the King of Blues, B.B.King.

Wayne Cartledge

My grandfather, Wayne Cartledge, was 9 at the time Riley came to live at the Cartledge Farm. I don’t know that you’d call them “friends” as there was a 7 year age difference, but my grandfather followed along behind Riley as any younger boy would do. Riley was the one who taught my grandfather, Wayne, how to ride a bicycle. They remained friends for life. Every time Riley was in town, he contacted my grandfather. The relationship was something that my grandfather was so proud of. He would always talk about B.B. and force us grandchildren to listen to B.B.’s blues music. Looking back, I can appreciate it, although I must say that at the time I often plugged my ears.  Too young to understand good blues I suppose.

Papaw showing the documentary crew around the farm
Photo Credit Suzi Altman

Several years ago now, BBC sent a crew from England and author Charles Sawyer also came to the Cartledge Farm to gather information for a documentary and book on B.B. King.  My grandfather loved entertaining the documentary crews and driving them around our family’s property showing them the spot where B.B. lived. "You can still drink from the creek B.B. drank from when he worked here as a young boy."

My grandfather, Wayne Cartledge, died suddenly in December 2006. One of the most meaningful things we received was a huge bouquet of flowers from B.B. himself. He was out of the country at the time, so he was unable to attend the funeral, but his gift meant so much to my family. My grandfather would have LOVED it. We placed them right beside the casket.

Photo Credit Suzi Altman

The B.B. King museum recently opened in Indianola, and my family received a special invitation to attend the pre-opening ceremonies. The picture taken above was taken when they were filming a documentary that is in use at the B.B. King museum. One of the exhibits are donated items and artifacts from the Cartledge family and a video interview with my grandfather. Since he’s no longer here, it’s my job to carry on the family story of how my Great Grandaddy Flake bought B.B. his first guitar.

*Some details paraphrased from Charles Sawyer’s The Arrival of B.B.King. Other details obtained by oral interviews of Jocleta Cain Cartledge and Marshall F. Cartledge, II.

Teaser

This photo is a little teaser for tomorrow's post. 

This is blues legend B.B.King and my grandfather, Wayne Cartledge. 

Wanna know the full story? Stop by tomorrow :)

Photo Credit Suzi Altman