This is one of my paternal grandmother's father's brothers, Cleveland (on the right), with his uncle Frank Crawford (on the left). Cleveland played piano for silent movies and traveled around the country, until he came home one day to find his wife telling him he was not welcome.
The Rieves family was musical. My great-grandfather could play the fiddle, and did for dances in which they pushed the scant furniture back to the wall and danced right there at home, or out in the barn. Granny said he would throw his fiddle in a pillowcase over his shoulder and go play or preach for anyone (race did not matter) who wanted to hear him. Maybe that is why I want to learn to play a stringed instrument, especially a fiddle, before I go. Just maybe when we all get to heaven I could have a jam session with the Rieves boys, playing the old hymns and telling the old, old story once again. And wouldn't that be heaven?
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