Two summers ago, my 86 year old Aunt and I drove over 7000 miles digging for our Sharp roots. I am from Texas and she lives in Arkansas. I picked her up in my new Chrysler, and we worked our way to PA and back in 5 weeks. We, of course, stopped for several days in Wayne County to research our brances there. We went to the libararies, Court House, cemeteries and where ever else we felt we could find something. I shall never forget one expedition to a cemetery. We are use to rattlers here in Texas and Aunt has cottonmouths and other deadly snakes in the woods and ponds on her property. None the less, we were strolling along in the Wells Cemetery looking and I was taking pictures of our kin's tombstones with my digital camera. She moves slower a little more unsteady than I. Then I saw him and he saw me. A snake that I had no idea of the kind or type. I screamed and jumped up on the nearest headstone. SNAKE!! I cried. Aunt moved like a bolt of lighting and struck him down in one blow with
her walking cane. Right at the back of his head and he was dead. I felt like a little child as she coxed me down telling me the snake was dead. I am 62, and still I was so relieved that the beloved Aunt of my childhood had taken care of her precious Niece one again. We loved Wayne County and would love to go back,,,,but the mantle of time and age is covering my Aunt with an even slower pace and dimming eyes. How I hate that time reaches us all, ready or not and takes from us the ones we love best. Just today when she called me we spoke about the snake incident and how I had dishonored one of our SHARP ancestors by jumping on his tombstone. How I will one day miss her and will once again tramp through a cemetery to visit with her when she leaves me!

Ira Sharp Dennis (aka Tootie-female with male name)