Brookwood Road - The Promise
In August 1973, I was 14 years old.
For a handful of years, as a hobby, I had been writing little short stories, mostly about Old West characters because I loved and still love anything having to do with the Old West. Bonanza is my favorite television show. Teachers learned of this hobby and asked me on many occasions to read my stories to my class. I had this reputation as being a young creative writer.
Also, I had submitted simple news stories to my hometown newspaper, The Forsyth County News, during junior high school in Cumming, GA. The newspaper had actually paid me for some stories, and so as early as 12 years old I was paid to write.
That summer of 1973, I had attended summer school at Forsyth County High School, where I took a typing class. All of these experiences set the table for August 1973, when I told my daddy that I was going to one day write a book for him and for our family.
In August 1973, through a series of events, our family decided to move from our family farm on Brookwood Road in the Big Creek community of south Forsyth County, GA. This home was the only home I had ever known, and my daddy said it was the only home he could really remember. His parents had moved the family to the farm when he was five years old. Together, they created a bustling hog farm operation that fueled Vaughan Sausage Company, which processed and packaged pork products for distribution throughout north Georgia.
Moving from Brookwood Road 10 miles north to a subdivision in Cumming - the county seat - was a huge deal. We were leaving "home," and my daddy was leaving the hog farming operation for a new career in residential heating and air conditioning. He had been attending and had completed a series of courses at Lanier Technical College.
The move was completed in a single day that August - the weekend before school started and for me the start of high school. By the end of the day, electricity had been turned on at the new house and turned off at the old one. My daddy, my brother Tim, and I made one last trip to the old house just to lock things up, and in retrospect, I think to say goodbye.
Standing in the dark of my parent's bedroom, I promised my daddy that one day I would write a book and that I would call it "Memories of a Home." His response was simple, "I think that would be nice." My plan was to write a book that would highlight the stories of my early childhood, growing up among family on that hog farm, and to highlight the love we all shared with one another.
The promise that I made to my daddy took 40 years to write, but I never forgot it. Dozens of times I started to write it, but it wasn't until January 2014 that I sat down with a serious drive to get it done. www.brookwoodroad.com
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| My daddy, Doug Vaughan, and me. I was about one. |
Also, I had submitted simple news stories to my hometown newspaper, The Forsyth County News, during junior high school in Cumming, GA. The newspaper had actually paid me for some stories, and so as early as 12 years old I was paid to write.
That summer of 1973, I had attended summer school at Forsyth County High School, where I took a typing class. All of these experiences set the table for August 1973, when I told my daddy that I was going to one day write a book for him and for our family.
In August 1973, through a series of events, our family decided to move from our family farm on Brookwood Road in the Big Creek community of south Forsyth County, GA. This home was the only home I had ever known, and my daddy said it was the only home he could really remember. His parents had moved the family to the farm when he was five years old. Together, they created a bustling hog farm operation that fueled Vaughan Sausage Company, which processed and packaged pork products for distribution throughout north Georgia.
Moving from Brookwood Road 10 miles north to a subdivision in Cumming - the county seat - was a huge deal. We were leaving "home," and my daddy was leaving the hog farming operation for a new career in residential heating and air conditioning. He had been attending and had completed a series of courses at Lanier Technical College.
The move was completed in a single day that August - the weekend before school started and for me the start of high school. By the end of the day, electricity had been turned on at the new house and turned off at the old one. My daddy, my brother Tim, and I made one last trip to the old house just to lock things up, and in retrospect, I think to say goodbye.
Standing in the dark of my parent's bedroom, I promised my daddy that one day I would write a book and that I would call it "Memories of a Home." His response was simple, "I think that would be nice." My plan was to write a book that would highlight the stories of my early childhood, growing up among family on that hog farm, and to highlight the love we all shared with one another.
The promise that I made to my daddy took 40 years to write, but I never forgot it. Dozens of times I started to write it, but it wasn't until January 2014 that I sat down with a serious drive to get it done. www.brookwoodroad.com
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