Poems and Songs and Memories

Phyllis Neal Grashel's spent her early childhood in a big two-story farmhouse where the matriach, Granny Neal, had a room with a fireplace on her side of a hallway, Phyllis and her parents lived on the other side. and Aunt Dole and Uncle Courtland lived upstairs. That's the way families were then - they took care of the elders, and often three generations lived in one house. Playing in the woods with cousins, feeding chickens and farm animals, and attending church were all part of life in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Religion and education played a major role in the family, but, Phyllis was denied access to college because she was "a girl." Determination prevailed; Phyllis did get her degree, with honors, at age 48.