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| Tree photo By Karen Allen |
Mattie and Thurl Megafeld had 18 kids. Folks called them the "Many Megafelders". The first dozen plus five Megafeld kids were pretty much the same, and then along came Jiggy. Jiggy was not amalgamated...he was different. If I had to guess, I would say the Good Lord decided Mattie should have a reward for all her hard labor. Everybody knew that boy was not born "normal", but when my Mama saw him, she proclaimed he was, "as splendid as they come". I think she secretly wanted to adopt him, and for sure, daddy would have said ok just to shut her up. For my part, I wished all the time that I could get adopted by the Megafeld's because they never ran out of cookies. I don't know how Mattie did it. My Mama only had two kids, and my brother ate everything.
Well anyway, Jiggy and I were born 10 days apart, and when I was learning to walk, Jiggy was learning to jig. I know!! It's not supposed to be like that, but he was just such a carefree and blissful child. And THEN...when I was learning to talk...of course, so was he. I knew what a pig, a pie, and a pot was. So did Jiggy. But to him, a pig was a "noisy", a pie was a "squiggly", and a pot was a "jolly". I didn't argue with him, but I think at anybody's house, that pig would have been a "bygone".
We started begging and begging our folks to turn us out and let us roam, and they finally gave in when we were six. As you can imagine, at first I had a really hard time keeping up with Jiggy. Jiggy would jig all over the front pasture, the back pasture, and even the "forty" across the creek. So, I learned to run, and...run I did. I ran so fast sometimes, my heels got left behind. We loved to go exploring, and one day we found, "the tree". It was so delightful, so big, so rare, so mysterious! "Look Jiggy!", I exclaimed, "Look at this big old tree!" Jiggy looked up and exclaimed, "It's a downright!!" "No! It's a tree!", I told him. "It's a downright!", he said. And that is how he got his new last name. Jiggy never cared for "Megafeld", because I guess he always knew he was a "Downright".
Well, we got older like all kids do. Daddy started watching me closer, and told me to be careful around that "Downright" boy. But, Jiggy and I were meeting under the Downright Tree every day by then, and the magic had already begun. Under the huge branches, we planned our life together. Eventually, we got married under our beloved tree, and went on to have some downright beautiful and delightful children who jigged and jigged and jigged.
Well anyway, Jiggy and I were born 10 days apart, and when I was learning to walk, Jiggy was learning to jig. I know!! It's not supposed to be like that, but he was just such a carefree and blissful child. And THEN...when I was learning to talk...of course, so was he. I knew what a pig, a pie, and a pot was. So did Jiggy. But to him, a pig was a "noisy", a pie was a "squiggly", and a pot was a "jolly". I didn't argue with him, but I think at anybody's house, that pig would have been a "bygone".
We started begging and begging our folks to turn us out and let us roam, and they finally gave in when we were six. As you can imagine, at first I had a really hard time keeping up with Jiggy. Jiggy would jig all over the front pasture, the back pasture, and even the "forty" across the creek. So, I learned to run, and...run I did. I ran so fast sometimes, my heels got left behind. We loved to go exploring, and one day we found, "the tree". It was so delightful, so big, so rare, so mysterious! "Look Jiggy!", I exclaimed, "Look at this big old tree!" Jiggy looked up and exclaimed, "It's a downright!!" "No! It's a tree!", I told him. "It's a downright!", he said. And that is how he got his new last name. Jiggy never cared for "Megafeld", because I guess he always knew he was a "Downright".
Well, we got older like all kids do. Daddy started watching me closer, and told me to be careful around that "Downright" boy. But, Jiggy and I were meeting under the Downright Tree every day by then, and the magic had already begun. Under the huge branches, we planned our life together. Eventually, we got married under our beloved tree, and went on to have some downright beautiful and delightful children who jigged and jigged and jigged.
