By Alan Hodge
When asked about her secret
to a long and happy life, 90 year
old Julia Roberts of Kings
Mountain has a simple answer -
"Just trust in the Lord."
A professional midwife for
much of her working career,
Roberts helped bring 167 new
lives into the world over a 34
year span.
"I never lost a baby or a
mother the whole time,"
Roberts points out with justifi-
able pride.
Roberts’ life has seen many
ups and downs during its
lengthy span. She recalled early
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Julia Roberts finally gets
all the rest she deserves
days on the family farm near
Waco when she would take a
break from the fields and deliv-
er biscuits to her grandmother.
Sundays were a time when the
black community in early Waco
gathered at a spring for singing
and fellowship. Children
learned to work at an early age.
"When I was ten years old I
used to take the scraps of cloth
when the women made quilts
and cut them into little stars,"
Roberts said. "After a while I
got enough stars to make my
first quilt at age twelve."
Life was simple on the farm,
but when change came, Roberts
was ready.
"My daddy got a model T
Ford in 1919," Roberts said. "I
drove that car as far as Shelby
at 20 miles an hour. The road
wasn't nothing but a path full of
holes, and you had to pull over
to let another car go by."
When she turned 21, Roberts
went up North to Philadelphia
and worked as a housekeeper.
There, she married and had the
first three of her nine children.
After her first husband passed
away, Roberts married again in
1936. Six of her children are still
living.
Always interested in helping
others, Roberts went to school
and became a licensed midwife
as well as a practical nurse.
"I was a midwife in Gaston
County for 14 years, and one in
Cleveland County for nearly 20
years." Roberts recalled. "I also
spent 15 years as a nurse."
With so many years spent de-
livering and raising children,
Roberts has strong opinions of
how they should be trained.
"It says in the Bible to not
spare the rod, and I believe itt
She affirmed. "I made my chil-
dren stay close by me, they did-
n't show out in stores and other
places."
As the years went by, Roberts
became involved in the Kings
Mountain Senior Center. She
not only worked there for 10
years, but also played in the
band.
"I beat the drum and played
the flute," Roberts said. We!
Biaveley with that band to
astonia, Charlotte, and evento”
the mountains."
For her 90th birthday this
year, Roberts got special recog-
nition.
"The governor of North
Carolina, Senator Jesse Helms,
and the mayor of Kings
Mountain all sent me letters on
my birthday." Roberts remem-
bered. "It was real nice of them."
What does Roberts do to fill
her days now that she's not offi-
cially working?
"[ rest is what I do," she said.
"After working as a nurse all
those years I need some sleep
because nurses don't get much."
If anyone deserves a little rest
and relaxation, it's Julia Roberts.
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December 17, 1998
CHRISTMAS VISIT- Teachers and students from Twelve Oaks Academy in Shelby visited Billy
Bridges Monday. Pictured, are left to right; Ginny Bush, Betty Upton, Carolyn Black, and Fabienne
Vernon. Billy sits up front taking it all in.
Classmates sing for Billy
By Alan Hodge
The:sounds of Christmas car-
ols filled the home of seven,
year old Billy Bridges Monday.
Billy, who has Ellis Van Crevelle
syndrome and is limited to
where he can go, was all ears as
tunesi like’ “Frosty ‘the
Snowman," "We Wish You a
Merry Christmas," and O Come
All Ye Faithful" were crooned
especially in his honor.
Billy's grandmother Helen
Barnette was lavish in her
praise for the singing visitors.
"It's things like this that keep
Billy going," Barnette said.
After the songfest, Barnette
explained some of Billy's medi-
cal problems to everyone pre-
sent. The list was mind bog-
gling. In addition to having a
reduced chest cavity, Billy also
has ‘pelvic problems, must be
fed intravenously, and is on
oxygen 24 hours a day. Even
though he's under the care of 14
different doctors, Billy is a fight-
er.
In spite of all his difficulties,
he's still a seven year old boy,"
said Barnette. "Billy is the kind
of child who doesn't meet a
stranger."
Billy's outgoing personality
has won him countless friends.
Last Christmas, 200 carolers
stopped by his house on
Bentley Road near Shelby to
give him a dose of Yuletide
spirit.
As icing on the Christmas
cake, the Twelve Oaks
Academy students, parent
Ginny Bush, and teachers Bettie
Upton and Carolyn Black pre-
sented Billy with a Jumbo Jet
Transformer and card signed by
the entire ensemble.
"Now all I need is a truck and
a computer,” Billy said when
asked what he wanted Santa to
drop down his chimney.
Though the students and fac-
ulty of Twelve Oaks Academy
had come to put some cheer in-
to Billy, it was obvious that
when the songs had ended that
the spiritual exchange had been
mutual.
PINK LADIES LINEUP- The Kings Mountain Hospital Auxiliary gathered December.5 to light their
"Tree of Love." Auxiliary officers are- left to right: Frances Alexander, Peggy Baird, Edie Lovell,
Sybil Hallman, Jessie Collins.
STEWART
From 5B
Dorthea Robinson of Gastonia,
and sons Paul and Robert. In
addition, Stewart can claim 16
grandchildren, 29 great grand-
children, and 2 great great
grandchildren as well as many
nieces and nephews.
For someone who has seen
the coming of the technological
age, Stewart retains the sense of
community and knowledge of
the value of hard work to this
day.
“I was always glad to help the
neighbors when they were sick
or needed a midwife," Stewart
remembered. "I liked to work
the garden too. Hard work,
that's my secret to long life."
A resident these days at
Courtland Terrace in Gastonia,
Essie Stewart is looking for-
ward to the millenium.
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