Candy in the Sand: Life's Bittersweet Journey: A Genealogical Saga of My Ancestors

A loud boom exploded into the early dawn's quiet calm. It was Thursday morning, September 25, 1941, in Winnsboro, South Carolina. Daylight was just beginning to peek through the window shades of the Holmes family farmhouse. Inside, all six children were sleeping soundly, except one, Thelma, who was so frightened by the boom sound, she lay cowering under her bed quilt, holding closely her baby brother, Donald. Thelma's mother, Gladys, was standing outside at the pigpen and jumped when she heard the loud boom sound. She took off running towards the house. "Lord, Jesus," Gladys prayed as she ran, "please don't let nothing else bad happen, please." Seems her family was being hit by one calamity after another. Gladys entered the house calling out to her husband Will, asking if everything was all right. Not waiting for an answer, she proceeded to the kitchen to check the pot-bellied cook stove. Seeing that it was fine, she continued down the hall to the children's bedrooms to check on them. All were sleeping soundly except Thelma, who raised her head from under the quilt holding baby Donald, when she heard her mother come in the room. "Daddy gave you the baby?" Gladys asked her daughter. Thelma shook her head yes. At that moment, a horrible thought crossed Gladys' mind that maybe Will had been hopping around in their bedroom without his crutches, as he often did, and had fallen into the heavy chifferobe, knocking it over on himself. She flew into the bedroom, her heart racing something fierce, but the chifferobe was still standing upright in the corner and Will was not there. It couldn't have been more than ten minutes ago, long enough for her to get down to the pig pen, that she left her husband sitting on the edge of the bed, holding their six month old son. Gladys found herself standing outside the door to the back bedroom, the last one at the end of the hall. Gladys turned the doorknob and let the door swing open. She took a quick look inside and was about to pull the door shut when she saw something unusual. The room was still somewhat dark and she squinted trying to get a better look. What was that in the middle of the floor? Was it a pile of clothes or what? No, it was a person. Who was lying in the middle of the floor? What was going on? Then Gladys saw the crutches sprawled out across the floor. Gladys started into the room but her shoes sunk into a puddle of blood.Since the room was still somewhat dark, she hadn't noticed the blood before. She stopped in her tracks, too petrified to go any further. Her eyes focused on the ghastly scene in front of her. Will's body lay only inches away from her, covered in blood. He had fallen over a wooden kitchen chair and a shotgun lay by his body. Why was the shotgun there? Gladys tried to fathom the scene in front of her but nothing was making sense. She did not want to believe what she thought had happened. She eased closer to him to see if he was still breathing. That%u2019s when she saw that part of his face was missing. There was blood pouring out of a gaping hole where his face and head used to be. Gladys ran screaming from the room. Thelma lay terrified listening to her mama's loud screams. She was trembling under the bed quilt, covering her ears with her two long braids, as her mother screamed uncontrollably. She did not know what was happening, but it sounded scary.