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Anthony Bratcher II
Mrs. Raymond
UWRT 1104
17 July 2016

Just Casual Talk

This past weekend I had the pleasure of seeing my great grandmother and figured this
was the perfect weekend to ask her about our past and where I come from. She is a very
elaborate person and always has a lot of stories to tell about herself. Yesterday I decided to ride
over to her house, since I was home.
Mary Eubanks was born of Marvin Alfred Caviness and Dinah Ann Caviness in
Asheboro, North Carolina. She asked that her age not be disclosed due to heritage beliefs. Her
father and mother never finished school because they worked on the family farm. Although her
mother did most of the house work, she still helped Marvin as much as possible. Her mother and
father were both mixed with Native American and another race unknown. Growing up she had
six siblings. She is the youngest and only surviving child left of the family. Her siblings names
are Beatrice, Henry, Emmett, Bertha, and Elbert. Her father also helped to take care of her two
cousins. She spoke on how when they were growing up they played horseshoes, went horseback
riding on mules, made tire swings, played hide and seek, and played hopscotch. Her favorite pass
time was playing marbles. She seemed very passionate about the subject of marbles. They were
raised in a four-bedroom house with a kitchen, dining room, living room, and front porch.

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Around this time, they moved to Ulah, North Carolina. She could remember waking up most
days and shucking corn and picking wheat in order to make corn mill and flour for the night. Her
mother would take these ingredients and many more and would store them up for the winter. She
never thought of her family as poor because they always had everything that they needed in order
to survive. Mary grew up in a strong Christian household. They went to church every Sunday no
matter what condition you were in. She reflected on times when she went to school and she only
went to one classroom from grades first through sixth. My Great grandma graduated from
Asheboro high school. She planned on attending Bennett college but her father would not allow
her to leave the home. This was one of her only regrets in life. During her educational career she
never was attacked racially.
As she grew up she got married to her first husband, Henry Caviness, and had four
daughters by him. Aquinittia, Almaka, Sherly, and Colether. Colether died before I was born.
Over all she has twelve grandchildren, eleven great grandchildren, and one great great
grandchild. She spoke of how hard it was to handle them because she was a single mom who
took all four children. She later got married to my again to Eubanks and was with him until he
passed. She also regretted getting married at such a young age.
She sits back now and has a different look on life. She sits and wonders of ways that she
and her family can reconnect because she feels the family is becoming distant. She says that her
view of the world is also different because there wasnt a ton of murders and killings. She says
that she wishes life could go back to simple times and that people would learn to love each other
the way that she loves everyone.
This conversation was hard at times and there were tears shed, but it gives me as the
younger generation a new light on what we as people should appreciate and that we shouldnt

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take the things we have and the people we have for granted. It made me appreciate her more as a
woman and that no matter the struggle, remember where you come from.