I have tried to understand my fascination and reasons for wanting to uncover information about the Hillbillies. I’m not sure why I cared at all. In my life’s journey, this experience was a tiny blurb. Most would consider it completely insignificant. Yet apparently it meant something to me. Regardless of any deeper meaning, even on a superficial level, it was a fun and challenging to try to track down these three men that we met all those many years ago. In the process I learned a lot about life and love.
I do hold a strong belief that love is central and pivotal in life. We are created by Love and are restless until we return to Love. We are always and forever looking for this love. When we see Love in someone’s eyes , we are in essence gazing into the eyes of the Divine. Even if this love is young, immature and imperfect, there is still a glimpse of a more complete and perfect Love contained in its gaze. We become who we become because of the people who love us and the people who refuse to love us.
This Hillbilly search introduced Bob and me to a lovely woman willing to welcome us, total strangers, into her home. She was willing to take time out of her own busy life to share what she knew about the Decker Family. Without words, she made it crystal clear that not everyone who lives in what I might categorize as the “backwoods” can or should be defined by the highly judgmental term “Hillbilly”.
As a matter of fact, in many ways this particular woman and her family have a far superior lifestyle in their absolutely gorgeous countryside. At one point while I was reflecting, I remembered an essay written by my own maternal Grandmother, Margaret Coleman O’Donnell, when she was about 16 years old, where she expounds - at great lengths - on the benefits of living in the country as opposed to being a city dweller. I guess you could say that I myself come from Hillbilly Stock.
In this search for our long ago country heart throbs, I also learned that my husband is willing to go to great lengths to entertain me and satisfy a curiosity of mine. It was so sweet of him especially since it involved an old romance of mine. He went so far as to reenact a kiss between Lyle Decker and me that took place under the porch at Scott’s Casino in the summer of 1961. Although -
come to think of it - I think the kiss was over before I explained to Bob why I had grabbed him and kissed him at that exact spot at that moment. He has never exhibited much jealousy and I have always found his self assurance very attractive. He is the one man I knew would survive in this world without me!
I was happy to learn that all three of the Decker Brothers married and had children.
Sharon, Dorothy and I must have
“ warmed them up” because they didn’t wait very long to marry and start reproducing. They obviously got over us City girls pretty quickly, not that I expected otherwise. In order to wet your appetite for another blog entry I will mention I have connected and been in touch with Golden Decker. A lot of my unanswered questions have been answered and I will share them with you. Since Sharon and I typically take a nostalgia trip to the country every Spring and we visit all the pertinent cemeteries to “see” our family members who have been laid to rest there, we are now planning to stop in on Stanley Decker who is buried in the Afton, NY and my guy, Lyle Decker, who is buried in DeLancey, NY.
Hopefully possibly we’ll have a cup of coffee or a beer with Golden and come next July maybe we’ll even be invited to the annual Decker Reunion.
