Effie, the first of the 12 children (8 girls and 4 boys) born to George and Eva Stancil, saw the light of day on Jan. 21, 1908, and we celebrated our birthdays together as long as we could.

Effie, when she was old enough, was given the responsibility of caring for me while my mother worked in the house, yard, garden or in the fields as a farmer's wife. During these years, I loved Effie next to my mother. When too young to keep up, she and my older brother Emmette carried my on their backs, Indian style.

Effie was a good student and we younger siblings enjoyed hearing the stories she read from her school books. Two of our favorites were "A Visit from St. Nicholas" and the "Twelve Months."

The "Twelve Months" told of a little girl named Kate who was abused by her stepmother and she was forced to go into the forest in a snowstorm to gather berries for her stepsisters to eat. Deep in the woods, she saw a fire with twelve old men sitting in a circle about it. They were kind and friendly to Kate as she warmed by their fire. She told them of her mission. Old January gave his staff to June, and told him to go to his work. As June stirred the fire, the berries appeared and Kate filled her bucket and returned home.

When Kate told her stepsister how she came to get many beautiful berries so quickly, she was jealous. Against her mother's will, she went into the forest to pick better berries, vanished, never to return.

Effie was born with black hair and blue eyes. She had a sweet disposition. She was obedient to our parents and when they were away, she had the responsibility to we younger children.

Effie liked to sew and was the seamstress for the family. She enjoyed all needlework.

Our family attended church and Sunday school regularly, and Effie united with the church when she was a young teenager.

A farmer's wife, as our Mother was, Effie learned farm tasks peculiar to women in our area. She specialized in tying tobacco on the sticks and worked on the first tobacco harvester on the farm.

Effie smiled often and wore a pleasant expression on her face. She made friends easily and I never knew of an enemy. Effie was a kind, loving, caring and affectionate wife and mother to her children.

I never knew my Mother or Effie to lose their temper. God seemed ever very close to these two and truly His presence kept their lives as free from sin as is humanly possible in this world.