Dedicated in memory of my mother Mary Louise Bullock Adams, 1921-1993
She was a sharecropper’s daughter one of eleven from Viola, one of nineteen all told She was singing Walter’s daughter the one who left the legacy…. so bold
Her papa was a frugal man who taught his children how to work the land he paid them five cents every 100 pounds of cotton and Mary could fly down those rows without stopping
Or so it would appear to her sisters and brothers that were near all the children would race to finish so they could make extra money, maybe another penny but Mary could pick cotton faster than anybody around by days end she would have picked 200 pounds
She was a sharecropper’s daughter strong, bold and courageous She was singing Walter’s daughter the one who left the legacy…to the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generations for it took courage to leave the home she knew to change her circumstances, and have dreams to pursue
She came to live with her brother Sam, up north in hopes that her dreams would show forth that’s where he lived, so she journeyed there you might say she was somewhat of a pioneer
Like our ancestors before her, she opened a way for her family to followed her up from south to stay where she brought a house for them to live a single colored women… who a mortgage the bank did give and she was only a young woman at the time wouldn’t you say that even today that’s hard to find
She was a sharecropper’s daughter A pretty woman finely shaped She was singing Water’s Daughter the one who left the legacy….no one can debate
She met her husband at a Baptist church on the hill a Georgia boy, come to the big city to live She sung in the choir and he was a deacon that’s how it was when our ancestors came north alone the first thing they did was to find a church home
She worked all day long in the factory stitching but she came home and got right in the kitchen cooking and cleaning, sewing late into the night just to make sure her family was taken care of right
The house hustled and bustled with doings and laughter and it seemed nothing else mattered except to feel the comfort and safety sitting on a stack of pillows between her knees getting my hair combed and straightened this memory to me is as sweet as you please
She was a sharecropper’s daughter now she’s gone on to glory She was singing Walter’s daughter the one who left the legacy…..to tell the story
She died as she lived with dignity and strength enjoying her children and the prayers everybody sent perseverance and courage were her constant companions The Lord gave me a beautiful mother, a champion of champions
She ran her race, she did her best and now the Lord has given her rest but her legacy of love lives on very much in her children and in the lives of the people she touched I see my mother every day when I look in the mirror…. I see her face
She was a sharecropper’s daughter singing Walter was her papa and the legacy they left…. is…unstoppable
