My Mother's Memoir

In the summer of 1999, shortly after my mother passed away, the following was found in her personal papers, written in her own hand on spiral bound notebook paper. I would tell you the exact day she died but I cannot remember. I have blocked it out. (I'm sorry Mama, but that day does not live in my "memory place")

Mama, here is your story.

Lake Tot-A-Wayne

This is the tale of a dream that began long ago. The dream of a little red-hair, freckle faced girl everyone called Tot. She was a bright child and loved nature. She loved flowers, birds and most of all creeks and rocks. About every other day her mother would send her to her Aunt's house to get fresh milk.

Tot would walk down and over hills, across a branch and creek, through the fields and some woods. she would get very tired and when she walked along the path she would stop to rest at the top of a small rise before she got to her Aunt's house.

She would look down into this beautiful green meadow that had a creek running by it and think to herself, "Oh how I wish I had a little house in that meadow with lots of flowers and a small lake with lots of rocks around it."
She would dream a while and then she would go on to get the fresh milk.
This routine went on for some time.

As things go, the little red-hair, freckle-faced girl grew up to be a young woman and she put her dreams away in her memory place.
She married and had lots of children. They grew up and she became quite sick.
She was very sick and Life wasn't very good for her but she made the most of what she had. Yet, there were times when her memory would recall the little green valley.
But as these things go, the valley belonged to other people and she just put it aside.

She was getting old by now, but near the little green valley lived a young man named Wayne. He also had a dream. He wanted a log cabin and a lake. He was lucky because he lived on one side of the little green valley and he built his log cabin and was very happy living in it with his wife and boys. Still he would look out over the valley and visualize the lake, dreaming how it would look. But the little valley belonged to someone else who had no plans to let it go.

Now here is where Fate steps in.
One day the now old lady (by the way, she still has red hair) heard that the little valley was for sale. She told her husband that she wanted it and he replied "You can have it, but take me to see it". So she did.
Alas, the old man could not see any green valley with creeks running near it.
All he could see was overgrown brush and bramble head-high.
But the old lady knew it was there, she could see it inside of her.

The next day she bought the place and the young man came over to see her and told her of his dream of a lake. In fact, it was the same dream she had stored away in her memory place.
They soon started planning, thinking and working very hard.
It wasn't long until a big machine came into the little valley and began making their lake. Soon, the skeptics came and laughed and said "It can't be done". But the old lady and the young man knew it could.
Nature came along too, it rained and rained for many days.
Mud was everywhere. It was a mess. The skeptics laughed.

One day amidst all this, a tiny duck came out and swam in the mud hole.
It gave hope and the sun came out and the big machine finished the little lake and after lots and lots of hard work, the little lake was finished. People came with fish to put in it.

Flowers were blooming all over the little green valley and the old lady and the young man just smiled...dreams do come true, because Lake Tot-A-Wayne is real.
This is a true story, tell it however you want, but always remember...

Dreams don't die, Only the Dreamers do.
By- Dolly 'Tot' Garrett.