wellborn my hometown

ALLENE B. CARVER   April 1 1943 to December 29,2007

"To lifelong friends Marilyn and Larry Norris, she was a camping companion who loved to sit around campfires and reminisce of younger days. She insisted on cooking a full course meal even when just camping.

To first cousin Thelda, she was a fishing companion. Thelda said they would load Brenda up in that lil old gold Courier pickup truck, put Brenda in the middle and pack lots of snacks and head to the fishin' hole.  They were honorary fisher-women who got into privately owned fishing holes that just ordinary fishermen couldn't get into.  (I don't think anyone would want to tell either of them that they couldn' t do something.)

To nephews she was a cool female who loved to take them fishing (like Jacob).  She'd fish like a pro! To Justin, she was his babysitter and strawberry picking buddy.  Donna Sue, shed she'd go by to pick him up after work and he'd be sitting in the middle of Aunt Allenes counter covered in bright read strawberry juice!  "Shoot, (or something close to that) It'll wash out!", she would say.  

Dennis who has inherited her ability to entertain with his antics, wit and slang,   said he'd miss her reminding him how good that Sex Appeal Cologne smelt on him.  She danced with him once at the Shriners Club and noticed his cologne and complemented him.  She was gonna buy Hubert some of that! And she did...but she said "Shoot (or something like that) it don't smell like that on Hubert, just on you!"

To Doug, Michelle and their family, she and Uncle Hubert, both, were always there for them. They went thru some hard times in  the past and they would help.  They paid for Michelle to go to bus driving school and they could always depend on them for Sunday night dinner. It became tradition to have pizza with Aunt Allene and Uncle Hubert brining it out from Pizza Hut.

Personally, I remember their generosity too. I was in PomPoms in high school in the late 70's and our band was invited to march in Gimbles parade in Pennsylvania and on national TV.  We had to raise lots of money.  Daddy and Mama were struggling to raise us four kids on a self employed income and without asking for it I got a $50 check from Uncle Hubert and Aunt Allene.  That is like $250 toady.  I thanked them and they just asked me to quit shaking it long enough to wave at the camera when I marched by and make them proud!"  I guess I did for about two whole seconds anyway.

To all us nieces, Aunt Allene was our personal Paul Dean.  She inspired us to cook with big pots, no little pots in her kitchen.  She also love to bake--that was her specialty.  And if your cake was too dry, she wouldn't hesitate to tell you!  We'll all miss her coconut cakes, her coconut cream pies and her chocolate, mile high meringue pies.  We'll miss her at family reunions, she loved them and never missed if she could help it.  But she will live on thru her recipes and we certainly won't watch another Paul Dean show without thinking of her.  I  know Lynda, Melodie, and Traci have inherited her baking skills.  To Kim she was THE Rock that never moved.  She was strong and Kim will miss her most of all for Aunt Allene's strength.

She'd encourage Kim to "straighten up or hold on" in spite of the pain of losing someone you love, as she had herself.

To her double niece Cindy, she was her only equal; a co-cook and co-baker, the only person who would not get corrected by her while stirring up a meal.  They also shared a love of decorating for the holidays.  Aunt Allene was also a fishing buddy but in this category they were not equal.  Cindy said her aunt would best her many times.  Once she remembers her Aunt insisted they go to Indian Pond to fish.  Allene would not stand in one spot but had to fish around the whole pond mostly because she was too impatient and wanted to catch the first fish.  One time she convinced Cindy that they would bite off the end of that long log and urged her to walk out on it knowing Cindy hated that dark water.  Sure 'nough Cindy took one step too far and fell in only to come up sputtering "I told you I dont like that dark water".  Aunt Allene is probably still laughing over it.

To sister-in-law Betty, who was the first in-law, she was the "baby girl who got by with a lot from Grandma Katie".    Betty, (my mother) was raised by strict disciplinarian and you did not put them off when they instructed you to move.  One day Mama remembers Grandma Katie telling Aunt Allene to go feed the chickens.  An hour later Grandma asked "Allene did you feed those chickens?" "Not yet, but I am going to" would be the reply.  The day would be almost dark and Grandma would ask again about the chickens being fed.  "No I didnt get to it"  Then Grandma would cave in and say "Well, I guess I will get out there and feed them chickens..." Allene had dodged another chore.   Mama and Grandma had her hands full raising seven kids and caring for an   invalid mother. No one would have energy left at the end of a day to take on Allene's argument or temper tantrums.

Aunt Martha Rae recalls once when Aunt Allene brought the girls for an overnight.  The kids had played hard all day together and they fed them and gave icecream at least twice that day but denied themselves some.  So after bathing them all & getting them all settled in bed which was about midnight, the Moms decided to treat themselves to some ice cream in peace.  They had no longer settled into recliners with their bowls heaped with ice cream when they heard all five kids, Dale, Tracie, Kim, Gaylene and Brenda running down the hall saying "We want ice cream too!"  It turned into a Midnight Ice Cream Party for everyone.  The kids had heard the plan and sabotaged it on purpose . It made a good memory of everyone.

Aunt Martha also recalls Aunt Allene's uncanny ability to cut to the chase.  She did not put on airs. She was not an intellect and if you thought you were, you'd get sized up by her.  She said one night Dwight and Glenda Stansel were over for dinner and Aunt Allene cleaned the quail the guys had shot and was cooking it.  Dwight commenced to tell them all about this new piece of equipment that Goldkist had to remove feathers from chickens.  He described it in a scientific and intellectual  manner until Aunt Allene burst out "Awe shoot (or something like that) that aint nothin' but an old chicken plucker!"  Dwight laughed and thanked her for making it plain and simple.  She was good at that and he was good at the intellectual part. Personally I think the reason he got elected by us country folks to represent us in State government  was because he got trained by people like Allene and he must have learned alot because he got elected to two terms.

Donna Sue recounts that Aunt Barbara would tell her about Aunt Allene. Aunt Barbara lived in the day a proper lady would dress in fine clothes. Howard's little sister Allene made a contrast because she went barefoot everywhere even in the hallways of Wellborn School.  She was also the little sister who didn't appreciate the gift of a fine cashmere sweater given as a generous Christmas gift.  Donna Sue said Aunt Barbara told how she walked into the kitchen a grandma's where Aunt Allene was making biscuits only to find Allene wiping flour off her hands down the front of the new cashmere sweater!

Brother Punk will miss her happy go lucky self.  There was just no one quite like her.  To her late brothers Stafford, Howard, Willard and Joe, she might have been the youngest sister of the bunch but she was the leader of the pack for feistiness.  She could do it all and better than them.  But right now they are not complaining because she is probably in the kitchen with Grandma stirring up something good for them all to eat!'To Aunt Colleen, she was the little sister who did not have to do NOTHING!  Aunt Colleen and cousin Bobby were the ones who got stuck in the kitchen on Sundays til 3 or 4 o'clock washing all the pots and cleaning up after Grandma who'd cook for anybody and everybody that stopped by that Sunday.  But she later learned to cook and then she could do it better than Colleen often demanding to take over the spoon and stir it her way or pat out the biscuits "her" way which of course was the only way.

Do you think she had something to prove?  Do you think that when God designed her biological makeup that he knew she'd need a fightin' spirit, a tenacity to hold on when others would have given up the fight?  Do you think HE knew that she would defy the odds and live way beyond what any doctor would have predicted?  I think so!

To me Aunt Allene was much like a hummingbird that she and especially Uncle Hubert often admired together.  She, like the hummingbird, defies the typical biological makeup of birds.  Hummingbirds are only 3.5 "from the tip o the tail to the tip of the bill"  30%of their body weight is made up of flight muscles.  Proportionately, tho their brain is 4.2% of their body weight making them the bird with the largest brain in the bird kingdom.  Yet they weigh only 3-4 grams (a nickel is 5 grams) Their heart beats 1260 per minute. They are territorial and aggressive. They can fly 25-30 mph.  What fascinates me most is that they are the only bird who can fly backward, up and down, sideways or  hover in sheer space.  To hover hummingbirds move their wings in a figure eight, much like a swimmer treading water.  They can even go short distances upside down.  Their ability to hover tho is why Aunt Allene reminds me of the hummingbird...the ability to hover on this earth.  She survived the odds of a liver transplant and survived a long time on dialysis.  BY CRANKS, no one was gonna tell her when it would be over!  She defied them all.  She went fishing anyway. She went camping. She went to Biloxi.  She went to the mountains and she was determined to get in the kitchen and show you how to do it right!  which of course was HER WAY.  Up until last Friday she was territorial and aggressive like the hummingbird.  Last Friday she raised the white flag and she told Gaylene that she was not gonna pull out of this one.  She was just tired of just hovering.  She wanted to fly away.  She didn't want to enjoy food anymore.  She just wanted to rest....

To her third daughter, Lisa, and second son-in-law Jimmy, she was like a second Mom.  They'll miss her honesty, her wisdom in gardening and cooking and every other subject you brought up.  Lisa remembers that she didn't like to be disturbed either when watching her Lifetime and Food Networks.  She remembers her love of Popeyes Fried Chicken and Clam Chowder and her great dislike of hospital food.  She'd plan her own menu, which of course meant some one of us would have to sneak it in for her. And she was determined to smoke even when it meant getting locked out.  Boy, was she mad that night.  She went out for a smoke but this time the door swung shut with her outside where she could only watch those nurses sit in there doing nothing but their homework. " BY CRANKS they don't even miss me", I can hear her now.  She did eventually get discovered by a nurse who also came out for a smoke.

To Brenda, she was a mother who did not give up on her,   who refused to allow a daughter to be raised in any home other than  her own.  She dedicated her life to caring for Brenda as long as she possibly could.  When I asked Brenda what she would miss about her mama, the answer was "GOOD MOMMY".  That sums it up. She was a good Mother, She was not one to show affection but she loved to nurture others thru good food and good fellowship.

To Dearl her most patient and supportive son-in-law who shared his wife with her and Brenda as it centered around their needs, I am sure she would say a great big THANK YOU  And she'd smile a big pretty smile, the kind that often made her eyes twinkle.

To Gaylene, she would say;"I know I was your worst patient. I could be ornery...ALOT and I'd test you.  But you passed the test and with flying colors.  I didn't show you affection but I believe you knew I love you.  I could not have searched the world over for a more dedicated daughter.  YOU WERE MY HERO!  So go on a cruise and go to Savannah without me.  You deserve a much needed vacation.  I gotta go now. The biscuits are done.  See you at that great feast one day soon.

"BY CRANKS<>