[SONIC GAIL]

This is an excerpt from a Biography of my mother that I have been working on. It is called "What's Become of Retta Gail." She was a great Bluegrass musician who passed of cancer at 42. Let me know what yall think!

II

Retta & Ronnie

Way down in the soggy woods of North Florida Retta somehow stumbled into her destiny. Something about the sun and the sea had captured hold of her heart and she eventually acquired an apartment in Jacksonville, after finding employment at a local Denny’s on Lane Ave. About this same time a certain awkward young mechanic by the name of Ronald Louis Carr returned to his home in Jacksonville following a long stint in the Bahamas while working for the Navy. One particular evening, after a week on a diet consisting strictly of alcohol, Ronnie, as he was known by his friends, stumbled into this particular Denny’s on Lane Ave. Now everyone knows that the best medicine for a hangover is a heaping stack of syrup drenched buttery pancakes with lots of coffee. Ronnie had kept this ritual for quite sometime now and was acquainted with the manager of the restaurant. On this night the occurrence, thought to be a myth by many, we so tenderly call “Love at First Sight” showed it’s elusive face. Ronnie found himself Enamored by this beauty….blonde hair…blue eyes…yet not your average stereotype. Her soft honey curls were pulled up into “mickey mouse ears” and those blue eyes shone as precious gems do in the light. He knew at the moment that he wanted this woman.
This is a stubborn man we are speaking of…a man that does not take “No” for an answer, so he went for it…and went for it….. and continued to go for it. Then one fateful day, Retta was in need of a place to live, and Ronnie just so happened to own a three bedroom home. Ronnie offered to rent a room to her at a more than reasonable sum. At this point in the story they had become quite good friends, so Retta agreed and the wheels of fate were set into motion. As it happens so often with coed roommates one thing led to another and Ronnie & Retta were now officially an item.
First comes love and next comes marriage. On the twenty first day of May in nineteen seventy seven a modest wedding was planned to be held for the two at a local catholic church, Most Holy Redeemer. Retta spent days putting her sewing skills to use by constructing her own wedding dress and veil. Skillfully she pieced together crisp white eyelet and baby pink ribbon into an angelic gown. Waves of toile took the form of a flowing veil and were accented with tiny pink rosettes at the crown. She even baked and decorated her own cake. It was three layers with fluffy pure white icing and a mini bride and groom perched on the top.

She even persuaded cowboy Ronnie out of his Levis and into a suit and a tie. He kept on the boots though, the two were inseparable.
they began the long, treacherous journey through this cruel world together, through trials and tribulations, through sickness and health till death did they part. This is when I came into the picture. First comes love then comes marriage then comes the baby in the baby carriage. Yes, I was the first born to Retta and Ronnie. They named me Kristin Gail Carr.
After purchasing a 1978 single wide mobile home we moved into a trailer park up in Brunswick, Georgia. My daddy had a job up there that seemed promising. This was a rough year for Retta & Ronnie. They say the first year of marriage is the toughest, and neither momma nor daddy was happy in this new atmosphere. Daddy was a workaholic and mamma was home alone with a baby, no friends, and no relatives. These circumstances can either lead to destruction or strength. They chose the latter and realized that something had to give if they wanted their love to stand the test. So following a short miserable stint in Brunswick we all returned to the Sunshine State, Retta, Ronnie, Kristy and the 1978 mobile home. Finally our family settled down on a four acre plot of land in the swampy unknown city of Bryceville, FL. Retta thought she’d climbed the stairway to heaven.