Historical Evidence of My Grandpa:

I received an email today from my Uncle Steve. My Aunt Kathy is on a sojourn to Georgia where she was born and where my Granny and Grandpa lived for several years as my Grandpa started his ministry. He had gone to school at Mercer University in Macon and preached at Bowdon Baptist Church in Bowden, Georgia. Aunt Kathy is following his footsteps and seeing the places that were so meaningful in Grandpa's life. I am certainly envious, but very very joyful at the thought of my dear Aunt having these experiences.

Uncle Steve found in his research about Bowdon Baptist a mention in a biography of a Georgian philanthropist of my Grandfather. The things I know about Grandpa are from others. Their memories, their knowledge. And on some level this is wonderful. I am grateful for fond memories of a man who is so dear to my family, especially to my Momma and my Aunt. But I've often found the process of someone saying "He was a great man," to be a bit hollow. What does "great" mean? It can mean many things to many different people. And so, while I often feel gratitude that my grandpa impacted lives so positively, I feel angry and sad that he didn't get the chance to do the same in mine. At least, not that I can remember. But, and this is important, as I age I can see the beauty in the investigation of my Grandpa's life, personality, and experiences. I am an historian (and my Momma says some of my interest is surely to come from Grandpa) and in my heart I am continuously researching the history of my Grandfather.

Back to the original point: Uncle Steve sent me a wonderful anecdote in this biography of Lamar Rich Plunkett. As an historian it was a lovely bit of oral history and evidence. As a granddaughter, well I can't quite state what it meant/means. I can only smile with the stream of a few tears down my cheek and think simultaneously that I'm so lucky people loved him enough to remember and so jealous that I didn't get to see it in person. I am glad, however, that I continue to love this man who I never really knew, simply because he was my Grandfather. And really, at the end of the day, that's all he ever needs to be. It's enough.

I leave you with the entry from A Gift for Giving: The Story of Lamar Rich Plunkett by James C. Bryant (Mercer University Press, 1993), p. 218:

"Lamar loves his church and seldom misses a service. He has been a friend to all his pastors, but naturally he was closer to some than others. He served on a pulpit committee that found Ed Straney, one of his favorite pastors. "Straney was a Kentuckian, educated at Southern Baptist Seminary, and a brilliant preacher," Lamar said. "He also had a mind of his own and wouldn't compromise."

One day at a deacons meeting someone pressed the board to liven up the services with popular gospel music. They discussed the matter for a while, and when it seemed as though the proposal might succeed, the preacher spoke up. "You may vote to have undignified church music if you want to, " Pastor Straney said, "but I won't preach after it!"

L. Edward Straney, a 1945 graduate of Mercer University, was pastor of the Bowdon church from 1951 until 1953 prior to moving to Columbus, Georgia. In 1983 he was a pastor in Jeffersontown, Kentucky."

In 1983 he became my Grandpa, too.

Love,
Elizabeth