Left to right: Kathy, Paul, Lisa, Gladys, and Marty.
They were good neighbors for twenty-seven years, and I wanted to record some stories that involve them.
1) Paul was the first black deputy sheriff in Champaign County (the jail is now named after him.) Several years after Sarah graduated from Seminary, he told me a story about her. He said that one of his officers had seen Sarah speeding very early in the morning a couple of times and had mentioned to Paul that his neighbor was speeding and going someplace daily at an unusual hour. (He must've run the license plate to know we were neighbors.) Paul told the officer that he knew where Sarah was heading - Seminary! He then told his officer to leave her be - that she was heading to church every morning and that was a good thing for a teenager to do!
2) Marty (as you can see) was really into body building. He was enormous, but he could also be a teddy bear. One time I had come home from running errands and heard noises coming from the basement. I was afraid to take the kids into the house, so I walked across the street, hoping to find Paul at home and ask him to check it out. He was gone, so Marty came over instead. I opened the front door, and Duffy, our Springer Spaniel, immediately began barking at him. Marty leaped off the front porch SO FAST, afraid of the dog! I still smile at the memory of the huge body builder intimidated by a forty-two pound dog.
3) Gladys was a teacher at Leal Elementary, and she cared deeply about kids. One day she got a beautiful new car, and parked it in her driveway (probably so it wouldn't get side-swiped on the street.) Jessica was learning to ride a bike and was out practicing on the sidewalk. She got the bike going and hit the part of the sidewalk that went downhill.... and in front of the Popes' home. Jessica couldn't find the brakes to stop and smacked into the side of Gladys' brand new car. She ran home crying, with Gladys hot on her heels. But Gladys wasn't mad. Not at all. She was worried about Jessica. "I just wanted to make sure she wasn't getting in trouble for hitting my car. The car is fine. Is she okay?" Gladys kept repeating. I have always been grateful to Gladys for her care and concern that afternoon.
4) Popes took in foster children for a while as their own grew up and left home. Once a white brother and sister were placed with them. Gladys told me with a laugh that the foster children found that a bit disconcerting. The teenage girl had finally blurted out, "But... but... you're BLACK!" and Gladys had retorted, "I sure am!" and gone about her business.
Paul has been gone about fifteen years now, maybe longer. Gladys retired in the mid 1990s and continued working with under-privileged children. I am not in touch with Lisa or Marty, but Kathy and I are connected via Facebook, and I am able to keep up with the rest of the family that way.
Sometime soon I will write about our neighbor, Maxine Belle. My family will love THAT trip down memory lane!
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