One of my favorite parts of gathering heirloom origin stories is the additional history I gain through my research. I sit down with someone, thinking I am aware of the story they will share, yet often I leave the session, phone call, or email feeling slightly surprised. It is similar to meeting a new friend. This feeling is especially true when I hear stories about my grandparents. Seeing that I only knew them for a fraction of their lives, hearing about their younger years is similar to working on a giant puzzle. A missing piece of my family history puzzle snaps into place with each new detail revealed.
This new-found-friend feeling applies not only to my own family but also to my husband’s family. With them, everything is still fresh and new. Even after twenty-one years, I know very little, especially about my husband’s grandparents, so I eagerly pounce on any story that comes my way. The story of Pop’s shadow box is a prime example.
Pop
Thomas Ransom Hunnicut, my husband’s grandfather, or Pop as he is known to his family, spent his life making people better. He lived most of his life in Fort Valley, Georgia, where he was known to many as the Peppermint man because of the many peppermints he would hand out all over town.
The town so greatly loved him that, in the summer of July 2004, a Peach County newspaper featured Pop in an article that commended him for his contributions to Fort Valley’s citizens. Within the first sentence, the writer commented on Pop’s endearing personality. I find “endearing” the most fitting word to describe him.
Here lies the problem. I love clothes, I always have. I attribute this to my sweet Mimi, who also carried an intense adoration of clothing. My dad still tells how she took him shopping for more baby clothes the night before my birth to make sure no Labor Day sales slipped past them.