A Daughter's Memories of Jack and Annie

Memories of Our Mother and Dad Hayes
by Anne Hayes Meese (Jack and Annie's eldest child)

Ours was the kind of growing up that all children surely dream about. Surely as a family we had our ups and downs, but that is life, and of course I can only speak for myself. But as parents, Mother and Dad gave me something special, and somehow I always knew what a lucky gal I was.

Dad was tall, handsome, unusually bright and always good company - but a rascal at heart. He was one of the four boys who survived in that family and though none of them had much education, they were smart and eager to get ahead. Dad used to entertain me for hours telling me about the tricks the brothers used to play on each other and about his exciting experiences when he lied about his age and at sixteen fought in the war in the far east. He was what he called a first gunner and he was always proud of the fact that he was a crack shot. He got into a
typhoon in the China Sea and loved telling about being chased across the rice paddies by the opposing forces. As a child, I drank it all in and must have been the perfect audience for his wild tales - real or make believe.

He loved to hunt and fish, played a great game of poker. He was a gambler at heart and played the market when he could. I will never in my life forget the tension in our home when he got a corner on the wheat market. The phone rang day and night and we all talked in hushed tones, not having the slightest idea of what worried Dad so.

But, he was always sweet and thoughtful to us and certainly to Mother, was superintendent of the Sunday School at one time, potentate in the Shriners, on the team that did all the dynamiting when Atlanta had a terrible fire so many years ago. I can remember seeing Mother sitting at the window so terribly worried about him - and he was no doubt having the time of his life!

Mother, on the other hand, was quiet, gentle, not very out-spoken about things, but ran our family and the house as a smooth operation. She was president of the big Ladies Sunday School class at St. Mark, always volunteering on worthwhile neighborhood projects, was wise in her counsel to us children and always understanding. The front bedroom became a center where all my crowd gathered and learned to dance, the family dining room table became a ping-pong table on rainy days and she adored family games. Pick-up-sticks, dominoes, etc. were always available, and later on we had a full-sized badminton court and portable ping-pong outdoor table for the back yard, where all the young people gathered on Saturdays for tournaments.

We never seemed to own our own home for years after leaving the apartment in West End, but years later, when I was about nine, we moved into a beautiful big, red brick house and life became almost glamorous to me as a young girl. We had a cook in the kitchen and she and her husband lived in the apartment over the two car garage. That was during the first World War and by that time Dad had a flourishing men's tore in downtown Atlanta and a big store out at Camp Gordon, the military base just outside Atlanta. Obviously he was doing great and our family lifestyle reflected it.

The Metropolitan Opera then came to Atlanta for the first week in May and what a joy and exciting time that was. Mother and Dad, dressed to the nines, would be driven to the opera (box seats I want you to know) by our cook's husband in proper chauffeur attire, and when Dad was too busy to get away for the matinees I was allowed to go with Mother. I think my love of
good music is partly because of that.

We had great big rooms in that house and I can still remember the excitement when our folks sent out invitations for a dance. All the rugs were rolled up, furniture moved, etc. and I can still remember the sheer excitement of sitting at the top of the stairs and almost feeling like a part of the beautifully dressed people below - having the time of their lives dancing to a record player in the music room. Mother and Dad dearly loved to dance and watching them twirl around the floor, Mother in a beautiful long dress, was pure magic. I was allowed to sit at the top of the stairs and see it all through the banisters - only if I kept quiet as a mouse.

I could go on and on, about our move to Florida, Dad losing practically everything he had when the depression hit. But somehow life went on in our big family and I'm sure that in looking back,
none of us would have had it any different We loved growing up together and it was a very special time in our lives.