Life's Lost Love

I lost my daddy before I was even born. He was in his bedroom with his friend, Nat Wilson. They were cleaning his guns so that they could go huntin' for some squirrell, when it went off.
At least that was the story my mother told me as a child. We don't really know what happened. As I got older I started to think that maybe his friend did it. He did marry my momma before she even had me. I even ended up having his last name not my daddy's.
My momma was six months pregnant with me at the time, Nat had my momma married to him by the time she was eight months gone.
Momma never got over my father's death. Even though she married ole' Nat she never stopped loving my daddy. She even changed my name back to Cooper, on the anniversary of my father's death.
Come to find out Nat was a mean ole' nasty man. He drank more money than he made. Momma would clean house for uppity white folks and do laundry for the coal miners. We were dirt poor, but that didn't stop them from making eight more kids after me. Fourteen of us in all.
One day while I was about ten, my momma said to me "Boots" don't get no drunk for no husband make sure he work and got money and will support you and your children.
That's the only advice my momma ever gave me.

Davy, WestVirginia 1953

"Bootsie get over here and help me with these clothes." yelled Susie Wilson as a big gust of wind tried to snatch the sheet she was hanging out of her hands.
"Coming Momma," Bootsie yells as she runs pulling on her gloves to come to her mother's aide.
"Thank ya chile," I didn't think I'd get those sheets up there with all this wind and snow," said, Susie "It looks like it's going to be a bad one tonight. Make sure Jim goes and get some more coal for tonght."
"Yes Momma, we might be needing to go get some wood from ole' man Johnson before it get to bad." I replied
"Go fetch a dime and go get some wood you, jo, and tess better get that wood and hurry back.