My Life in a Nutshell

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

Even though it is an entire year before my forthcoming book, Grave Consequences, A Charlotte Graves Southern Mystery, will be available, I realize that most of you don’t know me well, if at all. I thought I’d tell you a bit about me.

I began and lived most of my life in South Alabama. It’s no wonder that I grew up to write Southern fiction. As a genealogist, albeit an amateur, the South and all her glories are in my blood—indeed, my DNA. There is no way to remove myself from my roots and my heritage.

Sissy

My big sister, Bobbie Ann, was the delight of my life. Bless her, she spent countless hours entertaining me. Sis is seven years my senior, and I became her live baby doll. My earliest memories of her are me sitting in her lap in the little rocking chair we had at the time. She was feeding me a bottle and she looked into my face and said, I’m your Sissy. From that day until I was a junior in high school, I called her Sissy. You may have noticed that I’ve returned to that name for this precious lady.

My childhood was spent in the care of Sissy and our Granny since Mama worked outside our home from my infancy. Summers were spent playing with cousins, some who lived out in the country. It was only about seven miles from our home on the edge of the city, but to a child, it may have been a thousand miles. More cousins came from other states, which may as well have been another country. Because Granny lived with us, our home was the gathering place for Mama’s side of the family.

You know the story of Sissy and me singing in church together. We had no clue that our mother’s daddy had been a leader of Sacred Harp sings. This knowledge came to us just two years ago. No wonder Sis and I love music so much. 

Moving

Our beloved Granny died when I was not quite nine years old. At that time, Daddy took a new job as manager of Baxter’s Shoes in Andalusia, Alabama, about an hour and a half from Dothan. Life as we had known it changed dramatically. Though we saw cousins, with Granny gone, it was with less frequency. Sis entered the eleventh grade and I entered the fourth. Mama and Daddy worked together in the shoe store.

We joined First Methodist Church, and I attended East Three Notch Elementary right across the street. I loved my teachers and classmates and we all soon settled into a new rhythm of life. My sister dated a bit, but not a lot. She graduated at the end of my fifth-grade year, and she went away to school at nearby Troy University, though I think it was a college in those days. She married my beloved brother-in-law at the end of her Freshman year. My second mother, the one I loved so dearly, was no longer my almost-constant companion. My young heart was broken. 

High School and College

But life goes on. My high school years were spent in choral activities. While I was a member of mixed chorus and girls’ glee club, it wasn’t until Charles Hinson came to Andalusia at the beginning of my junior year that I was ever in an ensemble. At that point, my life truly did revolve around music, almost exclusively. During those two years, my family took Mr. Hinson and his lovely wife, Marie, under their wings. Mama loved on them as if they were hers. Of course, he was my teacher, so I had utmost respect for him and Marie. It wasn’t until I had graduated that they became Charles and Marie to me. We keep in touch to this day.

When it came time for college, I chose Birmingham-Southern College, a Methodist in Birmingham. It was there that I became a far-better musician than I ever expected. It was hard, but so worth it. Concert Choir was always a joy. I made dear friends who still mean the world to me. I lament the recent loss of one of my roommates. Rest in Peace, dear Kathryn.

The Love of my Life

My senior year, just before we left for choir tour, I met the love-of-my-life, Jim. We went out every night for a week, and at the end of that week, we just knew. Mama always said I would know, and I did. We became engaged a week after our first date, but we didn’t get married until seventeen months from that very day.

We are now married for forty-six years. We've had our share of heartache. We've said final goodbyes to our parents. But we've also been blessed. We are the proud parents of four amazing, loving, talented sons, in-laws of our precious Daughter-of-our-Hearts, and grandparents to the two most-perfect young ladies God ever created.

Jim and I embarked on this writing journey back in 2011 when we went to live with our son and his sweet wife in order to care for those two little girls. What joy those precious girls brought into our lives. I began writing little stories for our grands. I realized I wasn’t bad.

Dreams Do Come True

When we returned to Florida, Jim encouraged me to continue my writing. That decision led to my first Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference back in 2014. And that led to answered prayers, open doors, a book contract, and to some of the best, most supportive, praying, friends I could have ever hoped for.

This has been an amazing life . . . thus far. I can’t wait to see what God has for my future.

Have you written down the highlights of your life for future generations? This is just the basics, but you can do this for your children and grands and even far-away generations. Let us know if you’ve done this so that we may applaud you.

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For more stories about my formative years and the people closest to me, read my older blog posts. I hope you enjoy learning a bit about those I love the most.