Columbus County is my home.  I guess in a way, it always has been.  Some people surely wondered if I would come back.  But you have to jump out and live.  Life is funny that way.  You are either on the bus, or not.  There is no middle ground.  At least that is the way it was for me in 1953.

I had just graduated from high school and I wanted to see the world.  My family went with me down to the bus station in Chadbourn, North Carolina and bought a ticket to the biggest city I'd ever seen.  I was going to school at Charlotte Beauty College.

Charlotte, like today, was growing fast.  People from all over were moving to the area and it was an exciting time.  My first professional job was at a small salon named Bon Ton at 127 1/2 West Trade Street.  The thrill of being downtown at such a time was unbelievable.  And I knew quickly, that this is where I wanted to be.  I worked at the Bon Ton for 25 years.  For 15 years I worked two jobs as I couldn't turn down the chance to work in the Salon at Iveys.

In 1965 there was no place as plush as Iveys Department Store, nor any better place to work.  The entire first floor was all red carpet as was the service.  Iveys had valet parking.  It even had  porters on staff.  The upscale in-store resturant was named the Tulip Terrace.  It was all just elegant.  The resturant was named after Mr. Ivey's tulip garden on his Charlotte estate.  All during the lunch service, professional live models would walk through the resturant decked in the latest Iveys style while you enjoyed your lunch.  Everyone knew, it was the place to be!

Years ago, Charlotte started the Summer Theater at Ovens Auditorium and some of the actors and opera stars joined my clientele in the Salon;  Roberta Peters, Joan Fontaine and Gretchen Wilder just to name a few.  Joan would write to me from New York City when she wasn't in town.

The store windows were dressed with the largest drapery imaginable.  And if you were an employee, you knew it first hand.  Every Saturday evening, all the drapes would be lowered on the windows in the store and then reopened first thing Monday morning.  Mr. Ivey was a devout Christian and wanted everyone to know that the store was closed on Sunday.  After his death, the drapes were no longer pulled.

For 30 years, through those windows I saw Charlotte, and the world, change.  I remember when Daddy Grace, the minister of the House of Prayer, would come to town.  There were big parades down Tryon and people would walk along the route with washtubs collecting money.  I remember Daddy Grace's long hair and long fingernails.  Small buildings were pushed aside to make room for progress. I remember seeing Ava Gabor coming into the cosmetics' department.  At that counter was the first time that we met.

In 2003, 50 years later, I went to the Charlotte bus station and bought a ticket back home, to Chadbourn.  Things haven't changed much here in Columbus County in 50 years.  I live across the street from the house were I grew up.  Now, I'm enjoying a more simple life.

When I think back on that day in 1953, I'm glad I didn't miss the bus. Some people believe that all these times are gone and many of those people have past.  But not so, they all still live here, within me.