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The True Citizen, Wednesday, April 6, 2022 — Page 5
Ronda Rich
Lively
Continued from 4
It was on a sunny October
Saturday afternoon.
There in the cafe of Nash
ville’s Country Music Hall of
Fame, I dined with my dear
friend and mentor, Don Light.
He was on the Hall of Fame’s
board and had invited me for
a special tour around the new,
fancy museum downtown.
This was years ago after it had
moved from its decades-long
residence on Music Row.
I don’t remember the ex
hibits that day - other than a
fancy Cadillac once owned by
Webb Pierce —as Don Light
(I always called him by both
names) escorted me, enlisting
an archivist to provide histori
cal detail. But this I remember
vividly:
In the cafe, I was delight
ing in the most perfect sand
wich I’d ever tasted - pimento
cheese, fried green tomatoes,
and crisp bacon - while a
fiddler stood near our table,
playing a Merle Haggard bal
lad. Then he segued way into
a mournful playing of Elvis’
American Trilogy, as arranged
by the masterful songwriter,
Mickey Newbury.
A man cautiously approached
our table. He stopped three feet
away.
“I’m sorry to bother you,”
he began then, smiling, asked,
“Are you who I think you are?”
A sinking feeling of embar
rassment filtered over me.
“Oh no,” I groaned inwardly.
I dreaded the next awkward
moment for us both. Don, soft
spoken and gentle always, set
down his coffee cup and looked
curiously from the stranger to
me. I’m sure he dreaded the
embarrassment, too.
“I’m not anyone,” I replied
bashfully. “I’m not a country
music singer.”
He shook his head. “But are
you...” he paused. “Ronda
Rich?”
Don Light and I were speech
less. Finally, I found my voice.
“Yes, I am.”
The man smiled broader, re
laxed his shoulders and moved
closer. “I thought so. I’m a big
fan of yours. I read your col
umn every week in the Athens
Banner Herald.”
His name was Robert Hale
and, in the albeit too brief time I
knew him, he became a friend.
He made a difference in my
life and increased my depth of
AS THE FIDDLE PLAYED
knowledge.
A few days after that meet
ing in Nashville - a city that is
hours away from our different
hometowns — he emailed
me. As a hobby, he explained,
he had taken up ancestorial
research of his families. This
was years before websites such
as ancestry.com made it easy.
Robert’s great-great grand
father had battled in the Civil
War and, additionally, he was
descended from men who
had fought in the Revolution
against the British.
“Let me look up your an
cestors. As a favor. I’d like to
do it in return for the reading
pleasure you’ve given me.”
This led to many excited
telephone calls including one
in which he announced, with
laughter, that my sister and I
share a great-great grandfather
with her husband.
“Y’all are actually cousins!”
He roared.
Robert dug diligently until
he had proven that 14 of my
Appalachian ancestors had
fought in the War of Indepen
dence and 11 relatives -their
great-grandsons and great-
nephews - had fought in the
Civil War. Dozens, like my
daddy and uncles, fought for
America in later international
wars.
Through Robert, my life
looked different. I begin an
understanding for the suffer
ing of my people, going all the
way back to their homeland
in Northern Ireland’s County
Antrim.
I shall be forever grateful.
Robert began to complain of
not feeling well. Two weeks
later, he announced sadly, “I
have cancer.”
We cried together then
prayed. He did not last long.
His family, knowing our friend
ship, invited me to the funeral.
I dressed in black, drove the
lengthy distance to the church
then sat alone.
I have a folder with all his
emails and research. It led me
to travel to Northern Ireland
and consult historians about
my ancestors and see the land
from which I sprung.
It’s remarkable. Whenever I
read his notes or think back to
our Nashville meeting, I hear a
fiddle. I think it’s playing The
American Trilogy.
Ronda Rich is the bestsell
ing author of What Southern
Women Know About Faith. Visit
www.rondarich.com to sign up
for her free weekly newsletter.
large, very old tree had fallen,
this one straight into the worst
part of the swamp.
I’ll probably have to fight
off water moccasins if I want
to salvage any of the wood, but
I’m going to try.
Some things are worth pre
serving.
Don Lively is a freelance
writer and author of several
books of Southern Humor. He
lives in Shell Bluff. Email Don
at Livelycolo@aol.com.
Continued from 4
However, Americans have brothers and sisters in the same
said we are exceptional and neighborhoods, families, and
can do what others cannot or be buried in the same cemeter-
will not. The challenge of the ies as Christ would have it?”
Age is “Can we live together as
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