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.

Family Reunion: Making Memories

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

We’ve recently had my husband’s two sisters and their husbands visiting. Sue, the younger of the two, and her husband Bill live in Athens, Greece, and we don’t see them very often. Kay and her husband Randy live in Birmingham and they’ve come several times since we’ve lived in North Carolina. It’s been five years since the three siblings were together.

One thing families always seem to do is reminisce about the olden days. We are no exception.  They talked about people and places they all remember from their childhoods. I’ve heard these stories so often after almost forty-five years of being married to the baby of the family, that I know many of the people and places, too. And it doesn’t hurt that my husband’s mother grew up in my hometown. We graduated from Andalusia High School, twenty-eight years apart.

The Greatest of the Great, A Golden Reunion

by Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

Two weeks ago, I attended my fiftieth high school reunion. Like everyone else there, I wondered where on earth the years had gone. It had been fifty years since I had seen some of my classmates. Others, I’ve seen fairly recently. Facebook and Instagram have proven valuable instruments in keeping us connected to one another.

The festivities began on Thursday and concluded with a breakfast on Sunday morning at the Andalusia Country Club. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend all of the events, but I did make it for the Saturday evening gathering at Springdale, an old estate in Andalusia, purchased by the city, and now used for purposes such as our class reunion.