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A
Lifetime of Memories
transcribed by
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Jo and Fred
Mom and Dad Nana and Pop
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As you have traveled down life's winding roads,
you have seen, heard, experienced and accomplished
so many things. In this book, we ask that you
write your footprints down...
Questions
When you were young, what did you dream about being when you grew up?
Deborah A. Ayers, granddaughter
What do you remember most about junior high?
Andrew P. Ayers, great-grandson
To what do you attribute your success in business and in life? What advice would you give to others?
Douglas S. Ayers, grandson-in-law
Dad: What prompted Granddad to get into the store business and might that have influenced starting your business?
Garry R. Mason, son
Mom: When you went to work at the Grocery Company, did you suffer or notice discrimination like we hear about today?
Garry R. Mason, son
Mom: What was it like having to give Pop's job back to him when he returned from WWII after doing it yourself for several years?
Sharon Parker Mason, daughter-in-law
Pop: How did your faith in God help direct you in your marriage, in raising your sons, and in your business?
Sharon Parker Mason, daughter-in-law
When traveling down life's winding road, what kept you going when the going got tough? (Health, business--life in general).
Garry R. Mason, II grandson
What one piece of advice would you like to give us?
Garry R. Mason, II grandson
When, where and how did you meet? Did you know immediately that you would get married?
Pamela J. Mason, granddaughter-in-law
When you were young, what did you dream about being when you grew up?
Deborah A. Ayers, granddaughter
Nana
I dreamed of being a school teacher, but when I got to high school my plans changed. I took a business course, with bookkeeping, typing and shorthand. I did take over a good-looking and loving man's job as a bookkeeper during the war--he was my husband and is your grandfather. After the war, we started our own business. I became his private secretary, bookkeeper and business partner. Many, many years later I'm still his bookkeeper and just hope he lets me continue to be for many more years.
Pop
I guess when I was young I wasn't much of a day-dreamer about my future. I tended to take each day as it came. I guess I had the attitude that I would take advantage of the opportunities that today had to offer and tomorrow would take care of itself.
When I was a senior in high school I started thinking about my future. Bookkeeping and accounting got me involved with thinking what I wanted out of life. Arithmetic was always easy for me in grade school...(fractions and decimals were always a piece of cake for me). Bookkeeping and accounting showed me the power of numbers and the miracles they could perform.
What do you remember most about junior high?
Andrew P. Ayers,
great-grandson
Nana
It was quite an experience going to junior high school. We got to move up to the second floor and we changed classes. I took cooking and sewing classes which I really liked. We only had two years of junior high. I went to school in the same building all through school. I started to school in January 1925 since I was six in January. I graduated from high school 11½ years later in May 1936.
Pop
I never went to junior high school. I went to a one-room grade
school. We had the first through eighth grade in one room. Each
grade level would go to the front of the room at various periods
of the day and have our lesson time. When we were in eighth
grade we had to take a state board examination in order to
graduate and to qualify to be passed into high school.
With some teachers we would go to neighboring schools on Friday
afternoons. The first four grades would have their lessons early,
then sent home and grades 5 though 8 would go for competition at
other schools. (This was about a 2 mile walk one-way--remember
we had no school buses.) We would have ball games, foot races,
sack or three-legged races, spelling bee's, recitations and
whatever else we would think of. Almost two or three Friday
nights a year we would have literary and the whole community
would attend.
We always had one box social a year. The girls would fix a box
of goodies and wrap them real pretty. The boxes were auctioned
off. We boys would bid on them. Each boy was hoping to get
some certain girl's box. Fun! Fun!
To what do you attribute your success in business and in life? What advice would you give to others?
Douglas S. Ayers, grandson-in-law
Nana
When I look back over what we have accomplished in our life, I
can't believe what we have acquired and how we did it. I would
say faith in God and each other was the biggest factor. We lived
on what we had, and never beyond our means. We have never carried
a balance on our credit cards. We didn't have a credit card when
we got married.
We tried to teach Garry and Jim to do the same. We are so proud of
them and feel that they have.
Pop
Success in business and in life both require the same ingredients:
faith, trust, hard-work and I had a mate that loved, supported and
worked with me. My father and mother gave me a background in
trust and in faith. During the Depression, they trusted neighbors
for food and farm supplies when they didn't have a nickel and
didn't know when they would get one. They had the faith that when
they got that nickel it would be theirs.
Dad: What prompted Granddad to get into the store business and might that have influenced starting your business?
Nana
I don't believe they had given much thought about going into
business at all. The couple that owned the store decided they
wanted to move to town and they had no one interested in buying
the store. Their name was Huffman. They offered to sell to Pop,
Mom and Grandpa Pyles and carry the loan themselves--a deal that
is hard to turn down. Some years later, Pop and Mom bought out
Grandpa.
Mom: When you went to work at the Grocery Company did you suffer or notice discrimination like we hear about today?
Nana
No, there was never any discrimination at the Grocery Company
against we women. Mr. Flesher was out-numbered five to one by
women. There was never any at McCrory's or Murphy's 5&10 stores.
I didn't know what discrimination meant or never heard of it until
the past several years. I just thought you had to wait on men
and look up to them. I know better now. I still remember how mad
I got when I had to get up and get my dad or brothers a cup of
coffee or a glass of water when we were eating. That was not a
man or boy's duty.
Mom: What was it like having to give Pop's job back to him when he returned from WWII after doing it yourself for several years?
Nana
I could have continued working at the Grocery Company--not as the bookkeeper but the person in charge of war ration stamps.
This gave me a faith that if I used my God-given abilities to the
fullest, I could accomplish anything I set my mind to. For the
most part, I was able to surround myself in the workplace with
trustworthy people and likewise with friends. Hard work came
naturally and still does (so Jo says).
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
Garry R. Mason, son
I guess being raised in the business, I more or less always wanted
to be in some sort of business of my own. I always figured if I
was working for someone else I had to produce and make money for
them, if not I wouldn't be around long, so why not turn that
effort into making money for myself.
Garry R. Mason, son
Sharon Parker Mason daughter-in-law
I really didn't consider that job because I didn't have anyone to
stay with Garry. He had an emergency appendectomy soon after his
dad came back from the service. I worked till the first of May
so Pop could have some time off and be with Garry. Also, I got
pregnant in August after Fred got home in April. What a
surprise! I loved the surprise after I got over the shock.
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© Deborah A. Ayers
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