Memories of Mother (Era Hollady Robinson)

Era was fast speaking and high tempered but always ready to laugh and have some fun.

When she moved to the country, some of the Robison kin gossiped about Era’s permanent-waved short hair. They also disapproved of her short dresses and cosmetics. Grandma Polly took time to help her learn to make up a feather bed, churn butter, milk the cow and feed pigs. Grandma also taught Era to cook. As a child at home she was never allowed to work in the kitchen.

As time went on Era learned to make her own clothes. She did it to save money so Fred could dress nice for his job.

Era was always involved in the school functions with her children. She and the girls, Mary Elizabeth and Freddie, put on many programs to entertain at Cliffside School auditorium. She was class mother in 1940 when the girls graduated from school.

She taught Sunday school for many years. She also played the organ and piano for church services at Cliffside Church. Later on she played the organ for High Shoals Church for 12 years before her health prevented her from continuing.

Her greatest joy was gathering the children around the piano in the front room. She instructed each one, teaching them to sing parts in harmony. She and the girls would sing trios at every church around the area. There were even a few times when Fred and the boys would pull the old upright piano out on the porch. They would borrow folding chairs from the local funeral home and invite everyone they knew to come for a concert. They didn’t need a microphone. You could hear their voices ring up and down the road to Cliffside.

Era had the gift of being content no matter what the circumstances. Things did not matter so much to her; people did. She spent her life laying up treasure in heaven. At the same time she and Fred left a legacy that they could not have imagined.