Lucy Adams Part 2

They're Singing Our Song!



Lucy had an older sister who was quite talented and inspired Lucy. Lucy says: "This evening dress I was wearing for the Junaluska queen contest, was my sister's "hand-me-down" wedding dress. They dyed it soft blue for me to have this picture taken in. The flowers are red, so it was lovely."

Lucy tells us, "My sister was into dance and singing and dramatics. She became Miss South Carolina and went to the Miss America Contest in Atlantic City in 1945. I was in the 5th grade.She won the first Talent Award ever given.Dramatics and singing won her that, and she traveled with the Miss America Troupe."


But it wasn't necessarily only her sister's influence whose acting/speaking/singing bug bit Lucy,too. Lucy's dad was in show business first.

Lucy says,"I heard his stories all the time and was fascinated. William Morris booking agency was his manager in Atlanta, Ga. for a short career with a trained horse. Prince Maxwell was his horse, and he had him do tricks on the stage.The night his preacher dad sneaked in and saw the show (his son was supposed to be playing little school programs in towns etc. NOT big shows on stage) was the end of his career.The first act that he had Prince perform, was to pretend that he was going to church.

Dad said to Prince,'What is the first thing you would do if you were in church, Prince?'

Then Prince knelt down and put his head to the floor. 'Well you would pray, that's great Prince!'"

In part one of Lucy Adams we learned how Lucy got her name, how she developed into the beautiful and precocious young woman who later went on to speak and write about hymns and God's love in her life. At nineteen she met the love of her life--Woody Adams--and her life became a life-long duet of praises.

I love a great love story, don't you?

Lucy tells her love story on her web site. This is excerpted from there:

"In June 1953, I joyfully entered the chapel at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina, where the youth group was having the first Sunday afternoon meeting of the summer. I stopped abruptly. Turning to my friend Betty Anne, I mumbled angrily, 'Oh, no, not Woody Adams again!' There he was, sitting down in front. She knew exactly what I meant. Last summer, I had dated a boy named Bill, until his friend Woody Adams showed up. Woody had been the perfect excuse for Bill to forget me and 'join the boys.' I had continued to pursue Bill: I baked homemade cookies and took them to the place he worked. When he was 'too busy' to see me, I left the cookies at the desk.
I walked in all of our old familiar places, hoping to see him.

One quiet afternoon as I walked by the lake I saw a boy sitting on top of the double-decker sightseeing boat. Thrilled to find Bill alone, I hurried toward him. But when I reached the boat, I saw that it wasn't Bill at all, but his friend, Woody Adams. His broad smile startled me. 'Do you know where Bill is?' I asked. I walked away at his negative reply.For the remaining weeks of that summer, I never changed my mind about Woody Adams - he was a pest. Now here he was again. I sat at the back of the chapel with Betty Anne, determined to avoid him.

A week later there was a talent show with youth from different work areas around the lake. After some crazy skits, dances and music, everyone was better acquainted. There was only one person who was getting my attention, however -Woody Adams, master of ceremonies. As I watched him M.C. the program, my feelings about him changed. The 'pest' began to look very interesting.

The final song did it: Cupid's arrow found me with a thunk! As Woody sang the closing song, Too Young his rich baritone found a home in my heart. When it was over and everyone was leaving, my one objective was to say something to Woody. Something nice. I spent the entire program planning my exit sentence, 'Woody, I sure am glad I like you this summer,' I called out. Then I left.

The very next morning while I was working, Woody joined me. 'Lucy,' he said, 'you mean you didn't like me last summer?'

We began to talk. Hours moved into days and we were still talking. I liked his honesty, kindness, understanding, and lots of other qualities. His hair, bleached by the sun, was very light against his dark tan. I liked that, too. Suddenly all the other boys seemed uninteresting. Bill was but a memory.

I had made a prior date with a boy named Ray, however, and I felt I needed to keep it. We went to the local hangout and danced to the jukebox. Woody was there, too. He came over and asked to dance with me. The song that was playing was 'Too Young.' We were in our own world. We whispered about dancing right out the screen door into the dark of the night. But at the end of the dance, Woody returned me to Ray.

When Ray walked me back to my hotel, I told him I'd not see him anymore.

"I've met the boy I'm going to marry,' I said. 'His name is Woody.'


___________________________

Through the years, we have shared our love story in word and song. Woody opens it by singing 'Too Young.' On the last line I join him in harmony as we sing, 'We were not too young at all.'"
Lucy says the story has been in newspapers for Valentine's Day, as well as the numerous times they've told the story in song and words. Lucy plays the autoharp.


Her recent book 52 HYMN STORY DEVOTIONS was published by Abingdon Press. Her husband, Woody, is a retired pastor(still fills in!) in the United Methodist Church. They moved to Lake Junaluska,North Carolina,after his retirement, where they now live.Not only was Lucy's grandfather a pastor, but so was her father-in-law and her husband. Ministry was Lucy's life and continues to be,even in "retirement" (she's as busy now as ever!)

But in the last post I said I'd tell you how Lucy and I are connected. Lucy and Woody were asked to pastor the Waynesboro Methodist Church, Tennessee in 1959.They had two sons at the time,aged 3 and 1, and a beautiful boxer dog named Rusty. Lucy was only 25 years old and Woody was 26. Lucy taught high school Sunday school. And she remembered some Warrens--my Uncle Pat. Uncle Pat(his nickname) was my grandfather's brother. I lived in Waynesboro around the same time as Lucy. I've told the story on this blog about my mother being in a TB hospital in Indiana, and how I came to live with my grandparents in Waynesboro, Tennessee for several years while my mother battled for her life, and my dad worked in Indiana. Several years later I went back to live with my parents in Indiana--but we returned a lot to visit Waynesboro.

I love Waynesboro. Generations of my people have lived there, are buried there, and still do live there. I was there at the same time as Lucy, and her boys are about my age. But we have never met in person. We met online in a Christian writers group called Christian Writers Fellowship International.I feel as if I've known her my whole life.She's around the same age my parents would've been had they lived.

Lucy has many stories to tell and she's telling them, as well as her hymn stories around the country.You can catch her at www.crosswalk.com and all of these stories are listed on Lucy's homepage. And you can also hear her on the radio:

She has a telephone interview from her home in NC to Seattle, WA on the first Thursday of each month from 7-9 Mt. time,( but usually is on about 8:30Mt Time/11:30 Eastern time ) Catch her on KCIS - AM 630 on the Living Christian Show. You can click on www.kcisradio.com and then click "Listen In."Check the web site for schedule changes and broadcasts.

Lucy wrote a little "poem" for her birthday this year: "Good ole' Lucy sings for glee.It's April 24th and she's 73!" (And I promise you that Lucy said it was ok for me to share that!)

May the Lord bless us with Lucy's songs for many,many,many more years.

If you have a favorite old hymn, leave a comment here mentioning it, and you could win a copy of Lucy's book, 52 Hymn Story Devotions. (Leave me your email address but use the words "At Server Dot Com" so it won't be picked up by meanies.)I will not divulge your information you send to me, nor use it in any way except to send you Lucy's book. Deadline for contest comments is July 23, 2007.

(By the way, my favorite old hymn is "Be Thou My Vision" followed closely by "How Great Thou Art.")