People Index

Ball caps

Beer, wine, and liquor

Bill Bowers Cove

Campfires

Cars, trucks, and bikes

Halloween at Marie's

Horseshoe games

Horseshoe tournaments

Hunting and fishing

Lake Nottely

On the road

Peace signs

Pets

Show and tell

Snow days

Sunshine

The early days 1978

Up close

Wheels

_____

Boys

Girls

Men

Women

Couples

Friends

Kids

Teenagers

____

Trout Camp games

Trout Camp kids

Trout Camp parties

Trout Camp by the river

The Big Rock

____

Cape Hatteras

Cedar Mountain

Gary Johnson's Store

Halloween at Ricky's

Pickle Bash

Toga parties

Billy Carver was a friend to many.

He was the life of every party and had a great sense of humor.

Billy and Chasity beside Coopers Creek

Billy was very protective of his daughter Chasity. There was nothing like a bond between father and daughter.

Billy wearing a vest

Billy was a handsome guy. When he was up to something good, his eyes twinkled.

Billy loved Chasity with all of his heart.

Chasity was Billy's baby girl. He would have taken a bullet for that youngster.

Harold, Billy, Judy, Christal, and JC

Four friends and a baby! Harold was Billy's uncle and we used to visit him a lot at his place on Blue Ridge Highway.

Judy was a fun-loving woman. We would hoot and holler until our throats were sore.

JC and Billy were best friends. JC was country through and through - he liked country music, country food, and the country life.

Billy had on a Foster's Package Store t-shirt. See more about Nanny Foster's beer store here.

Billy and Janice

Billy kept everyone laughing with jokes and other antics. He was also the best kisser. You can tell by this picture that sparks were flying.

Billy loved to drink. Sometimes I felt like he loved beer better than me.

While we were together we had some peaceful times and some wild times.

Sometimes we got JC and rode to Nanny Mules. Billy and JC both had part time jobs helping out around Lorraine's package store and property on Hwy. 180. I would take a book and read while they cut up with customers, filled the coolers, mowed, and did other odd jobs.

One of our wildest times was forever ingrained in my memory. We were having a fight and I locked Billy out of the house. He got his shotgun and blew the door open -- destroying the door knob and part of the door frame. With the next shot, he blew everything off the coffee table. As I ran, pieces of shot put holes in my bathrobe. I got to the bedroom, crawled out a window with my purse, a pair of jeans, and a t-shirt while listening to him fumbling around. I guess he was hunting another shell, trying to re-load. I ran to my car, cranked up, and got the hell out of there.

I did not freak out or call the police -- he wasn't actually aiming at me or I would have been dead. Plus this was not my first time dealing with men, alcohol, and guns.

I have had pistols held to my head more than once. I have had my car shot up while driving on Lakewood Freeway in Atlanta. Guns and near death experiences were a part of life when you looked for adventure like I did.

Back to Billy. Billy was a lover not a fighter -- that is for sure. But he was a jealous and stubborn man.

After the shotgun incident, I spent the night with Pam and went right back the next day -- he had sobered up by then. We never had another fight of any kind -- I left within a month or two and moved back to Canton for a while. After a cooling down period, we were able to be friends from then on.

Three friends at a party

Billy had one too many, Darlene was smiling as always, and JC was not sure what to do next.

Billy M, Billy Carver, Sonya, Eddie and Tracy

We were all having a good time. Why did everyone close their eyes?

Gomer, Billy, and Gary G

This was at Christmas in Grace Abernathy's old house on Doc Jones Road near Bunker Hill Store. We rented it for $50 a month.

Billy and JC work on a battery

Something always needed repairing on my old Buick Skylark. Thank goodness for mechanics that new how to rig up parts from coat hangers and scrap metal.

Fix or repair daily

This was second Ford I ever owned. The first was a Mustang Gia but that was before I moved to Union County. This Maverick ran forever but finally gave out when I was on my way to Canton to visit my mom. Nothing worse than breaking down on a road trip -- I never bought another Ford after that.

Donald gets Billy up from a nap

Donald looks shocked by the flash. Billy looks like he is still asleep! I don't know what Donald is up to, but I bet everything was more fun once Billy woke up.

We did everything in our cars. We rode in them, ate in them, made love in them, and slept in them.

Irene's house in Canton

Most of my road trips were to visit my mom in Canton, Georgia. She bought a house there after my dad died to be near her sisters. Billy went with me one summer day and I snapped this photo.

The flowers were wild amaryllis. When Mom divided the bulbs in early spring, I brought a clump of them to the End of the Pavement. We planted them on the hill behind Gwen's trailer where they thrived for many years.

I also gave amaryllis bulbs to Billy's mom (Polly), Barbara (Hambone's wife), and other friends in Union Country. I even planted some in the flowerbed at the North Georgia News but they disappeared when Kenneth built the new building.

People shared those lilies through the years and now I see them blooming every June all over Union County.

In honor of my mom, I call them Irene's Amaryllis. Bright red flowers peeping up beside peonies, gladiolas, and other perennials are a beautiful sight.

Now some of them are even growing at the Union County Library where Ms. Litton and the Garden Club take care of them. They match Al Garnto's brightly-colored sculpture perfectly.