Born and bred

Ive known Lil for nearly 10 years, since we worked together at AT&T in Jacksonville.

Hey Lil

Yes, dearheart.

When that guy asked you today 'Miss Lillie, where were you born, where were you from..' do you get that a lot?

Yes. quite a lot.
They ask me, I tell them I was born here and then they say "I know such and such" and "this person this and this person that"..

Weird. To me there is no question - youre a born and bred Southerner. Dont even need to ask.
Am I being naive?

Yes, youre being naive.
The other day I was at the doctors office and I went to the ladies room, you know.. and this woman started asking me that.
Then she said "My daughter-in-law is chinese too. She doesnt like me. I dont like her."

Why did she say she didnt like her?

I dont know. But after she said she didnt like her daughter-in-law, she said "I dont like you either."

Seriously?

Yeah.

Whoa.
Heh. No wonder her daughter-in-law doesnt care for her.
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The other day, Lillie showed me some old family pictures and I saw a picture of a man in WWII operational flight jacket and boots, dated 1943, with another picture of him draped in 50-caliber belts standing in front of a B-24 painted in european theater camoflauge.

Who is that?

My father.

Whoa! Your father was a gunner on a B-24???

I guess so. I dunno. I never talked to him about it. That was before I was born.

I didnt know that they had asians flying with regular crews over Europe..

By regular, I meant 'white, non-segregated'.

Europe, eh. Yeah, I guess he did have a lot of souvenirs from Europe. He was over there a long time.

Wow. An asian man from the Deep South, flying in the Army Air Corps over Europe. How did *that* happen?

I dont know. I guess our family knew a bunch of important people in Jacksonville. (Im paraphrasing much here..) When his family lived in Tallahassee, he used to tell me stories of how as a kid he played marbles with the governer of Florida on his desk.
But I didnt know he was fighting in Europe.

Wow. I could call people to interview him.. could write a book on his life story. Didnt you notice those dark lines by his nose and mouth? Thats frostbite from his facemask from when he hadda fly to 30,000 feet regularly.

I guess. Didnt think it was that big a deal.

To me, her life and family is a big deal.
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Ed: Hey Joe. Thanks for introducing me to Lillie.. you can tell she is a really good person. She has a good heart.
Joe: Yep. I would do anything for that woman.
Ed: Yep. She is a good person.

Damned skippy.