My Grandpa Glover

I grew up hearing stories about my grandpa Glover in his younger and wilder days. It has been well established that grandpa was indeed a drinking man. There were times in those days that the family needed to stay out of his way when he was on one of his drunken binges. He would take his shotgun and shoot anything that was in his way.

Once when his sister came for a visit, the family was telling her about his wild ventures. Well my aunt just leaned back in her chair and said "y'all all know that Luther would never hurt any of you." About that time the family tom cat came to rest under my aunt's chair, and grandpa picked up his gun and just blew him completely away. My aunt jumped and yelled, "Luther are you crazy?" and ran out the door towards home. She never doubted them ever again.

Another time that my mom told me about was he was shooting off his gun and she ran and hid in a tree with the roosting hens. Grandpa started shooting the chickens down around her, but the law was called and they took him off to jail. While he was in jail grandma had Leslie Pratt help her hide the guns, and they hid them under the house.

When grandpa got home old Leslie Pratt knew just where to find the guns. Poor old grandma couldn't win for losing. Folks always called Leslie Pratt Pee Wee. He kept grandpa supplied with whiskey most of the time. They said that he was a likable man, but he sure was a thorn in grandma's side. Once she caught him stealing chickens out of the hen house. Grandma got her gun and started shooting, and Pee Wee started running. He tried to jump a barbed wire fence and got his pants caught on the fence, and grandma said that he kept running and she kept firing the gun until he was out of sight.

There was a time when grandpa had been drunk for weeks. The crops were suffering, and being the family's livelihood, mama and her sister Opeline decided that they would have to do some plowing. At the end of the day both girls came home dead tired and hungry. Grandpa being a bit smartly, walked outside and began finding any and everything wrong. One of the girls grabbed a plowline, tied him to a porch post, and beat the daylights out of him.

Once a neighbor by the name of Mrs. Knighten came to visit the family. She noticed that grandpa, who was sitting beside the fire place, was as drunk as a skunk. Being a good Christian woman she started to witness to him. Grandpa had a jug of whiskey sitting beside the hearth. Mrs. Knighten said, "Mr. Glover I have enough faith that if I prayed for that jug of whiskey to break, it would break." Grandpa mumbled some insult to her, and she started praying. Grandma said that you could hear her all over the house. After she had prayed for a while that whiskey jug broke and spilled whiskey all over the floor. Grandpa was dumbfounded, but he stayed sober for quite a while after that.

Even though I have told some of the bad side of my grandpa, I really did love him, and he loved all of us. He was a good person, but at times he just let the whiskey take control. But once he made up is mind to quit drinking he quit for good. I can honestly say that I never saw grandpa drunk or even drinking. I guess grandma's good Christian persuasion got to him.

After grandpa died, my grandma worried about him and caused my Mom to worry also. Grandma belonged to the Church of Christ, and they believed that you have to be baptized to go to heaven. One night after my Mom had pulled her shift at the Cullman hospital, she went to bed. She said that she hadn't went to sleep and was thinking about grandpa going to heaven. Mom said that she had a vision while lying there. She said it was as if she was walking up on the porch of where grandma and grandpa lived and there was grandpa sitting in his chair on the porch. He said to her, "Hey sis what's wrong? You look like you have lost your best friend." Mama said, "Daddy I am worried about you." "Oh don't worry about me sis, I am happier than I have ever been." Mama said that there was a glow on his face that made her never worry about him again.

L.W Glover and Azallia Hunter married December 30, 1917, in Winston Co., AL. They had seven children and raised five. And I am proud to say that I am their first grandchild.

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