Kathleen and Her Grandma
Kathleen was in the playroom, regaling everyone with stories of her grandmother’s adventures in ghosting. She was telling the story of how the Wallace family came into being.
Ray Wallace was a military man. He served in the Army including one year of active duty during the Korean War. Ray served as a driver in the motor pool. He drove a military jeep, transporting generals, captains, and other officers of lesser rank to headquarters or out into the field whenever necessary.
Ray would never travel without a South Korean soldier riding with him. The soldier did not wear a military uniform. Instead, he dressed in civilian clothes. Ray trusted the South Korean soldier to spot any North Korean spies during their journeys and warn them of danger. On all of Ray’s trips, there were never any incidents. Even so, he kept his policy of companion travel throughout his entire time in Korea. As Ray always said, “I want to get back home.”
On one short trip from a field camp to headquarters at the base camp, Ray’s jeep struck an anti-personnel mine. The violent explosion flipped the jeep onto its left side, throwing all three occupants into a roadside ditch. Ray and the Korean soldier were unharmed. The captain riding with them suffered several shrapnel wounds, which Ray quickly patched up. Ray and the soldier then worked together, rocking the damaged jeep back and forth until they finally rolled it upright onto the road.
The following day, back at base camp, Ray learned the captain had died from his wounds.
Ray would serve in the military for more than a decade, spending most of his career stateside in Georgia, with several tours of duty in Germany. Ray often joked, “Germany is great during peacetime, but you can’t get any cold beer. All they have is warm beer. When you ask for cold beer, they look at you like you’ve lost your mind.”
Ray met a wonderful woman named Joanne. Together they had two beautiful little girls. They built a happy little life together, but Joanne eventually became restless and bored. She wanted to leave and see what life could really be. Ray was heartbroken when Joanne left him to raise the two girls by himself.
Ray enlisted the help of his mother, Betty, who was living in Florida at the time. She gladly helped raise the girls. Ray also went to work at his mother’s nursery.
You think he was babysitting kindergarteners? No.
Betty, Ray’s mother, owned the largest flower nursery in Florida. She supplied bouquets for countless weddings, and her beautiful corsages decorated prom dresses throughout the Southeast. If you were married or attended a prom during the 1960s, there was a good chance her flowers were part of your special day.
Ray lived in Florida for a time and was happy raising his daughters there, but he also knew the girls needed a mother.
Ray still had good friends back in Alabama, where he had grown up, and he visited them from time to time whenever he returned home to see his daddy. His friends were the Daniels family. They were good people, although not very Christian.
As Kathleen continued telling the story about her grandmother, everyone kept asking where her grandmother fit into all of this.
Gary asked, “Was she Joanne?”
Lynn asked, “Was she one of the little girls?”
Kathleen smiled and firmly replied, “I’m getting to that part. Just have patience.”
Tommy stood up with a small writing notebook in his hand, took everyone’s drink orders, and told Kathleen to wait until he returned before continuing the story.
When Tommy came back with everyone’s drinks, Lynn looked into her glass and asked, “Why do I see pulp in my orange juice?”
Without saying a word, Tommy promptly returned to the kitchen and carefully strained the orange juice through a paper towel before bringing it back to Lynn.
Kathleen continued.
Her grandmother’s assignment was to help Ray find a good woman. She had been told the woman’s name was Clara, and that she lived in Albertville, Alabama, not far from the Daniels’ home.
Kathleen said her grandmother, Virginia, met Clara and her sister, Marissa, at the local Methodist church where their family attended. Clara came from a rather large family with four brothers and three sisters.
Virginia soon discovered that Clara and Marissa liked to sneak away to the local pool hall whenever they had the chance. The three young women agreed to meet there on Saturday night.
The girls told Virginia, “All the boys will be there.”
Virginia, Kathleen’s grandmother, was thrilled. She had never imagined she would be ghosting at a lively pool hall on a Saturday night. What fun!
Virginia arrived early to quietly scope out the scene, hoping Ray would be there.
He was easy to spot.
Ray stood confidently at the pool table, winning game after game. Around him, some people danced to the music while others played cards. A handful of brave young men waited their turn to challenge him, each hoping to be the one who could finally end his impressive winning streak.
Wendell Ellis was the last man waiting in line.
When it was finally Wendell’s turn, he lost.
Not willing to quit, Wendell challenged Ray to a double-or-nothing game. They had been playing for one dollar per game. Double or nothing meant that if Ray won again, Wendell would owe him two dollars.
Ray won.
Wendell immediately offered another double-or-nothing game. This time, the loss would become four dollars.
Ray won again.
The games continued. Wendell’s debt climbed to eight dollars, then sixteen, then thirty-two, then sixty-four, and finally one hundred twenty-eight dollars.
When the stakes reached that amount, Ray laughed and said he wanted to quit and collect his money.
Wendell handed Ray one hundred dollars and said, “You’ll have to come by the Daniels’ place to get the other twenty-eight dollars.”
Ray smiled and replied, “That’s okay. I will meet you there later.
Ray and Wendell decided to stay at the pool hall for a while before heading over to the Daniels’ house.
As they looked around the room, they noticed two very pretty young women sitting quietly together in the corner.
Tommy grinned and told Kathleen, “You ought to call this story The Trials and Errors of a War Hero.“
Everyone burst into laughter.
Kathleen continued with her story.
Ray asked Marissa to dance while Wendell entertained Clara. Before the evening ended, Marissa slipped Ray her address on a small piece of paper and told him to stop by the Pope house the next day. Ray told Wendell he would meet him at the Daniel place, where he was good friends with the family. Wendell stayed for a few more minutes before the girls left. They had to be home by a certain time.
As Wendell sat alone in the lively pool hall, my grandmother, Kathleen continued, walked over and sat right down beside him. She was a real looker, beautiful with a warm smile. Wendell perked up immediately.
Virginia smiled and said, “Cool your heels. I’m taken,” as she held out her wedding ring. “I’m here to give you some advice. Why did you let Ray dance with your girl?”
Wendell replied, “She ain’t my girl.”
Virginia quickly retorted, “Oh, yes she is. Why do you think she hangs out at the Daniel house every time you go over there? You need to call her before someone else steals her away. She has a big crush on you.”
Wendell said, “I don’t have her number.”
Virginia answered, “Her last name is Pope. Her daddy’s name is J.D. Pope. His number is in the phone book. Look it up.”
Wendell borrowed the telephone and the thick phone book from the pool hall. When he called the Pope house, one of Marissa’s brothers answered. It was Earl.
“It’s your dime,” Earl said. “Spill it.”
Wendell politely replied, “May I speak to Marissa, please?”
Earl asked, “Who are you?”
“I’m Wendell. I met her at the pool hall.”
Franklin overheard part of the conversation and quickly picked up another phone. He introduced himself and firmly assured Wendell that his sister did not go to pool halls.
Ulis, one of the more serious brothers, then took the phone. Wendell again explained that he had met Marissa and Clara at the pool hall. Ulis handed the phone to Junior and immediately went to question his two sisters about the news, which, in his mind, had better not be true.
Junior told Wendell, “Hang on. I’ll get Marissa.”
Wendell and Marissa enjoyed a wonderful conversation and agreed to go on a date the following afternoon.
When Wendell hung up the phone, he looked around the busy pool hall for Virginia, but she had completely disappeared.
The next day, Ray arrived at the Pope house carrying a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers. Earl answered the front door and jokingly asked, “Are them flowers for me?” as he reached toward the bouquet.
Ray smiled and replied, “No, they’re for Marissa.”
Franklin stepped to the door and offered to put the flowers in water.
Ray answered, “No, they’re fine right here.”
Marissa watched nervously through the front window and hurried to get Clara.
“I want you to meet Ray at the door and pretend you’re me,” Marissa whispered.
Clara laughed and said, “No. I’ll just be myself, and we’ll see what happens.”
Marissa smiled and said, “Ray is real cute, but I love Wendell. He’s a real wild child.”
Clara stepped onto the front porch, gently closed the door behind her, and shooed away her curious brothers.
“Hi, I’m Clara,” she said. “You danced with my sister last night, but she has a boyfriend. I don’t have a boyfriend.”
Ray politely bent into a small bow and said, “My lady,” as he handed Clara the colorful bouquet.
Clara accepted the flowers and breathed in their sweet fragrance.
Ray asked, “Are you hungry?”
“Yes, I am,” she replied with a grin. “Very hungry.”
Ray took Clara to the only restaurant in town, located along the highway just south of Albertville.
For a while, Ray and Clara carried on a long-distance relationship while he worked at his mother’s successful nursery. Every Friday, he drove to Albertville and stayed until Sunday. Whenever he visited, he stayed with the welcoming Daniel family.
Clara attended business college in Birmingham, Alabama. After earning her two-year degree, she accepted a job with the airplane manufacturer Lockheed in Marietta, thanks in large part to the help of her brother, Ulis, who already worked there.
Ulis lived in a small Marietta house and gladly welcomed his sister to stay with him until she could afford a place of her own.
When Ray heard the exciting news about Clara’s new career, he told his mother, Betty, that he was moving to Georgia.
Ray found a job selling cars at a large automobile dealership. His primary responsibility was selling the used cars customers traded in while purchasing new ones.
Clara was thrilled that Ray was moving to Georgia.
As the months passed, Clara saved a considerable amount of money while living with her brother. Whenever she could, she also helped Ray with the girls.
Ray eventually became frustrated with his job. The dealership refused to let him sell new cars. He could only sell older used models.
One day, Ray told his boss that he didn’t want to lie to customers anymore.
His rather mean and nasty boss replied, “If you ain’t lying, they ain’t buying. And you are dying. If you don’t want to lie, get off my yard.”
Without another word, Ray walked away.
Soon afterward, Ray began a new career selling hardware for the largest hardware store in Cobb County.
As soon as he had a steady job, he rented an apartment at Marietta Place. At the time, it was the newest apartment community around, and everyone wanted to live there.
Ray and Clara were married and raised the two girls, who were eight and nine years old at the time, in Marietta. The happy couple would also welcome two baby boys into their growing family.
Not long afterward, Ray’s mother, Betty, sold her famous floral nursery in Florida for millions of dollars and moved to Georgia to be closer to her growing family.
The four children—Tiffany, Kayla, Ryan, and Alex—and their parents, Ray and Clara, enjoyed a wonderful life together in Marietta, with Granny Betty living nearby and spending as much time with them as she could.
Granny Betty was very liberal with her newfound wealth. Tiffany was saved early in her life and enjoyed making and selling her beautiful, handmade jewelry. When the internet became widely available, she opened an online store and eventually became very wealthy.
Kayla met Jesus after her tumultuous teenage years and decided to open a highly successful kindergarten school. She loved children and wanted to care for as many as she could. She would live a wonderful life and enjoy the wealth that came with her success.
Ryan worked on the scorching rooftops of Cobb County schools. He was saved and met Jesus on the roof during one of the hottest days of the year. The very next day, he started searching the internet for ways to coat a flat roof with some type of spray-on sealant. He eventually invented and patented a durable spray-on coating that would be used on every school and college in the state of Georgia.
When area businesses began signing up for the application, Ryan became very rich. He started selling stock in a rapidly growing company that eventually expanded to all fifty states. Ryan became the first billionaire in the family.
Alex did okay in his own right. He was saved by Jesus when he was ten years old. As a young man, he always dreamed of owning hundreds of payphones. In his mind, he thought of them as snack machines that you didn’t have to keep filling up. You just collected the quarters. What a dream!
Of course, when Alex learned about the new cell phones people were acquiring, he decided the payphone business was no longer feasible. So he went in a completely different direction and quickly bought several old vending routes from other disenchanted vendors.
Alex’s routes grew rapidly, so he started buying new drink and snack machines and placing them in local businesses himself. The business eventually grew to thousands of locations, supported by a full crew of hardworking franchise vendors. Alex would build his business into a statewide juggernaut.
As the profits came rolling in, the company went public, leaving Alex as president, with many competent managers running the day-to-day operations. The successful management team eventually decided to expand the business into all forty-eight contiguous states and, later, into Alaska and Hawaii.
Ryan, Alex’s older brother, would always kid him about not being a billionaire. He jokingly called him a “milly-on-air” at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners when the entire family gathered together to celebrate.
As Kathleen was finishing her story about her grandma, Virginia, Lynn stood up and decided to give everyone her opinion, which was exceedingly rare for her to do.
“So, your grandma was Holy Ghosting when she made sure Ray met Clara. She sent Wendell Ellis off with Marissa. That’s why I love being a Holy Ghost. We do our little assignments and never really have to know what God’s real plan is. We just do what we’re told, and great things happen.”
Tommy chimed in, “Great things.”
Rachel smiled and added, “Fabulous things.”
Holy Ghosts 