Let Me Tell You a Story

By Rebecca Jo Slayden-McMahan

Storytelling has been an art and form of entertainment for many cultures for thousands of years. Every family has their special stories. In this way culture is created and passed down to future generations. The stories in this collection represent five generations of our family. Our family would sit around a dinner table or a campfire and tell and retell these stories from the past. Our family loved the sharing of humor through this special communication. In this way we also shared each other’s lives. My family has asked that I record these so that they will be passed on to future generations so that they might enjoy them as well. All of the stories elicit laughter because of the humor. The stories are organized around themes. The one thing that is constant about the stories is that they are all “true stories”.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Jun 21, 2024
• ISBN: 9781647503406

Rebecca Jo Slayden-McMahan

Rebecca Jo Slayden-McMahan is a writer and teacher. She had a teaching career in Clarksville, Montgomery County and at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. She was born in 1950 and grew up in Clarksville, Tennessee about fifty miles north of Nashville, Tennessee. Rebecca is of German, English, and Irish lineage. Over the years, she developed a very special appreciation for everyday communication with her immediate family and frequent interactions with extended family. Her family was a large one as her paternal grandfather had thirteen siblings. During dinners, campfires, gatherings and special family events the interactions with family included the telling and retelling of the humorous yet true stories in this book. The stories belong to the family, and it is her desire to pass them down to future generations. In 1968, Rebecca attended Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education and Biology in 1971. She earned a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Austin Peay State University in 1972. After graduation, she taught middle school science for six years. In 1979, Rebecca took a position at Austin Peay State University in the College of Education. At this time, she began a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction and Leadership at Vanderbilt University. Rebecca graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1984 with a Doctor of Education degree. During the three-year period of working on her doctorate, she also taught full-time for Austin Peay State University. Also, during that three-year period, she had two sons who were born fifteen months apart. Rebecca counts them as her greatest achievements. She spent 35 years as a professor of teacher education in the College of Education at Austin Peay State University and served as Chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning in the College of Education for eight years. In 2016, Rebecca retired and now works from home in Anderson, South Carolina teaching graduate research for Austin Peay State University online. Her two sons live in Anderson. Her property is ten minutes from Lake Hartwell’s Portman Marina, where she moors her 33.5’ Hunter sailboat, “Lickety Split” which is Coast Guard-documented. She carries Coast Guard numbers. She has recently joined the Coast Guard Auxiliary at the Portman Marina Flotilla in Anderson, South Carolina. It is her hope that you become acquainted with the “family” and laugh along with them as you read this work!

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About the Author

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Rebecca Jo Slayden-McMahan is a writer and teacher. She had a teaching career in Clarksville, Montgomery County and at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. She was born in 1950 and grew up in Clarksville, Tennessee about fifty miles north of Nashville, Tennessee. Rebecca is of German, English, and Irish lineage. Over the years, she developed a very special appreciation for everyday communication with her immediate family and frequent interactions with extended family. Her family was a large one as her paternal grandfather had thirteen siblings. During dinners, campfires, gatherings and special family events the interactions with family included the telling and retelling of the humorous yet true stories in this book. The stories belong to the family, and it is her desire to pass them down to future generations. In 1968, Rebecca attended Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education and Biology in 1971. She earned a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Austin Peay State University in 1972. After graduation, she taught middle school science for six years. In 1979, Rebecca took a position at Austin Peay State University in the College of Education. At this time, she began a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction and Leadership at Vanderbilt University. Rebecca graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1984 with a Doctor of Education degree. During the three-year period of working on her doctorate, she also taught full-time for Austin Peay State University. Also, during that three-year period, she had two sons who were born fifteen months apart. Rebecca counts them as her greatest achievements. She spent 35 years as a professor of teacher education in the College of Education at Austin Peay State University and served as Chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning in the College of Education for eight years. In 2016, Rebecca retired and now works from home in Anderson, South Carolina teaching graduate research for Austin Peay State University online. Her two sons live in Anderson. Her property is ten minutes from Lake Hartwell’s Portman Marina, where she moors her 33.5’ Hunter sailboat, Lickety Split which is Coast Guard-documented. She carries Coast Guard numbers. She has recently joined the Coast Guard Auxiliary at the Portman Marina Flotilla in Anderson, South Carolina. It is her hope that you become acquainted with the family and laugh along with them as you read this work!

Dedication

This work is dedicated to the past five generations of my family as well as the present and future generations.

Copyright Information ©

Rebecca Jo Slayden-McMahan 2024

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

All of the events in this memoir are true to the best of the author’s memory. The views expressed in this memoir are solely those of the author.

Ordering Information

Quantity sales: Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address below.

Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data

Slayden-McMahan, Rebecca Jo

Let Me Tell You a Story

ISBN 9781647503383 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781647503390 (Hardback)

ISBN 9781647503406 (ePub e-book)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023924467

www.austinmacauley.com/us

First Published 2024

Austin Macauley Publishers LLC

40 Wall Street, 33rd Floor, Suite 3302

New York, NY 10005

USA

[e-mail]

[phone]

Acknowledgment

I would like to acknowledge five generations of my family that lived their lives in real life situations and always managed to find the humor in life.

Theme: Building Things

River Boat…Adventure Bound

A True Story About a Burning Desire to Sail the Waters

I have always had a fascination and passion for being in a boat on the water. I think that this started with my Mother reading Margaret Wise’s The Sailor Dog to me when I was about four years old. It was my favorite book. I literally memorized not only the words but the pictures. I decided that I would someday have a boat and go to sea, myself.

Well, the opportunity for me to acquire the boat of my dreams occurred when my dad stored a large pile of lumber in the garage. I asked him if I could use some of the lumber to Build a boat. He gave me nails and I had my own hammer. In retrospect, he had no idea that I was going to nail together something that would take an hour to disassemble.

The Sailor Dog Author of Book: Margaret Wise Brown Pictures

by Garth Williams

I built a fine boat…I built a raft. Before I started the building project, I asked my dad if a raft that I built with the wood could actually float. We have the Cumberland River just below our neighborhood. He said that a wood raft would definitely float. I just assumed that he would transport me and the raft to the river once the building was complete. When he got home from work that night, he was amazed. I had a raft that was about six feet by four feet. I even had a flag on my raft. He and Mother explained that the river was much too wide and deep and that I would be in danger there. I was alright with the conclusion and even happy that for at least a while I had had my own boat. I would continue to dream and come up with a better and more sea-worthy vessel. After all, I was only five years old at the time.

"Treehouse Manor…

Two Generations of Treehouses"

A True Story About Those Who Desire to Live in the Trees

1

My father, Charles W. Slayden, was a builder by trade in the early years of his life. He builds forts and treehouses as a child. In the far back corner of our yard, he built my sister and I a treehouse as well. The treehouse was twelve feet square built between four sweet gum trees. It was about fifteen feet off the ground. It had windows and screens as well as electricity. We had cots and a small ice box. We were just far enough from the house to feel like we were in another world but in all actuality a part of the backyard. The treehouse had stairs. This was a wonderful playhouse in rain or shine. The boys in the neighborhood built a treehouse fort in an oak tree about fifty yards from our treehouse. It was just a rough structure with a platform secured to the branches of the tree. As you would expect issues arose and we went to war with the boys. Our ammunition was a rather large collection of hedge apples. The war lasted only three days. At the end of the war, we called a truce and sealed the deal by trading baseball cards and comic books. One day I decided that I would replicate an exciting acrobatic event that I had seen on television. I rationalized that if Tarzan could swing from tree to tree in the jungle by vines then I should be able to do the same on a large rope. I fastened the rope in a tree above the treehouse and climbed onto the rail. My sister said, ‘You are going to get killed and I am going to go get Mom!’ I swung out but ended up sliding straight down the rope and landing in a big pile of brush under the treehouse. Obviously I did not get killed but that ended my Tarzan Era.

When the boys were six and seven years old, my dad built them a treehouse on our property. Above you see my dad and Chris, Jon and Paul. Paul is my sister’s son. On the right, you see my mom and the boys spending the night in the completed treehouse. Many hotdogs and S’mores were cooked over campfires in front of the treehouse.

This was their kingdom and they spent limitless days there during rain and shine. They decorated the treehouse with their swords and guns in preparation for protection and potential invasions. I guess the adage here is that ‘The family that plays together stays together.’

"Cinder Block Castle…

a Kingdom and Playground"

A True Story About a Magical Play Area

Children have many toys including building components and art and craft materials that have to be housed and stored in boxes. It seems that the boys went through a period when they were fascinated by Knights and Castles, and I took that theme and planned a play and storage area in the basement. I brought two hundred cinder blocks into the basement to create the walls around the moat and used cardboard barrels to fashion the towers. Between the towers was a proper drawbridge that lowered and raised on a large rope. Inside the castle area I set up learning centers for the boys with all of their building blocks, materials, toy, puzzles, play dough, art materials and books. When I came to visit I had to announce myself and enter through the castle door behind the drawbridge. My father made shields with Sir Chris and Sir Jon painted on them. The boys also had wooden swords. The imagination of a child is a wonderful thing to be treasured, encouraged and nurtured. This was a wonderful world of play.

"Basement Pirate Ship…

Childhood Pirates"

A True Story About the Childhood Pirates

2

Our family always went to Destin, Florida for vacation every year. This started when my sister and I were in high school. After we married and had children, the vacation spot and adventure continued. We camped on the beach. At this time, you might be on the beach all day and see only ten other people. When the boys were four and five years old, they were very much in a Pirate Mode having been to Disney World and taken the pirates ride numerous times. We played pirate on the beach and then brought the fantasy home with us from the beach. The old wooden floor piece out of a wrecked ship you see in the top left picture. We brought that home. The pirate ship in the center of the page has that wooden floor piece incorporated into the deck of the ship. The ship I built in our basement was all wooden complete with mast and skull and cross bone sail. The inside of the ship had small tables and hammock bunks. I wired the ship with brass antique ship lights so that the boys could climb down the companion way ladder to the cabin below where they could play, eat and sleep. The first night after I finished the ship I asked if the boys would like to spend the night in the pirate ship. We climbed aboard, the boys in their pirate pajamas and me in my nightgown. I had a pallet between the two hammocks and had to straddle the mast with one leg on one side and the other leg on the other side. We had our pirate good night stories and turned off the lights. I heard my youngest son, Jon, say in a very small voice: ‘Mom do you think pirate ships have ghosts?’ I assured him no, but we decided to disembark the ship and spend the night upstairs. A child’s fantasy fuels the imagination. This was the Pirate Developmental Stage.

Big Foot…in Tennessee

A True Story About Creating a Sasquatch

3

I have always been fascinated with the Bigfoot or Sasquatch and truly hope that the creature exists. I have read several books about the creature and listened to reports. It thrills me to think that such a creature might exist, just waiting to be discovered. I decided not to wait any longer for a potential discovery and decided to create my own creature. The artistic nature in me as an elementary teacher took over and I drew up plans for making the beast. The above photos