Trudy Cathy White - A Quiet Strength: The Life and Legacy of Jeannette M. Cathy

A Quiet Strength

The Life and Legacy of Jeannette M. Cathy

2020 Trudy Cathy White

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Published by Forefront Books.

Cover Design by Bruce Gore, Gore Studio Inc.

Interior Design by Bill Kersey, KerseyGraphics

Jacket design by Bruce Gore | Gore Studio, Inc.

Jacket front images Courtesy of The Author and Shutterstock

ISBN: 978-1-948677-35-6

ISBN: 978-1-948677-36-3 (eBook)

Authors Note: Even though my mother was an open and friendly person, she was surprisingly private. If youd have met her, youd have seen that she would much rather talk about you than about herself. That warmth and others-first mentality was part of her charm. However, it also made her reluctant to talk about herself very often. So when she did, people listened. One such occasion was a speech she delivered to a group of ladies at a Christian womens retreat in 2007. Here, I want to present the text of that presentation using my mothers own notes. I can think of no better opening for this memoir of her life than to let my mother introduce herself.

H ow in the world did I come to this moment, being asked to speak to all of you today? At eighty-five years old, Im honored and amazed at what the Lord would have me do. It has been an interesting journey all my life.

I first believed in God when I was very young, and that faith has always been my anchor. In faith, I found that Ive been able to do far more than I ever imagined. Over the years, the Lord has taught me two powerful little words that have led me into more opportunities, joys, and challenges than I ever expected. These two words are always with meeven now as I stand here with you. Those two powerful words are you can.

I have a little book titled You Can that is a collection of essays, ideas, and thoughts about success in any endeavor by great thinkers like Henry David Thoreau, Napoleon Hill, Benjamin Franklin, Winston Churchill, and others going all the way back to William Shakespeare. These stories give me inspiration and strength. I have attempted many things in my life when I felt it was something God wanted me to do, and I discovered I could do them when I heard the Lord whisper, You can.

Lets say these two great words out loud: YOU CAN. I think we can do anything we set our minds to as long as we keep telling ourselves you can. I know thats been true in my life.

I will share my life story because, well, I know it best. I was born on December 23, 1922, and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. My mother and father had a short life together. He left when I was just three months old. I lived with my mother and grandparents in the same house for many years, and I knew they all loved me. It was during this time that I first went to church and found out that I had a heavenly Father who loved me, too, and I believed in Him.

The Great Depression hit and Grandfather was out of work. Mother took in sewing and spent most of her time making costumes for little girls at dancing schools. A teacher at one of the schools offered to teach me tap dancing, acrobatics, and ballet. Mother loved to make costumes for my performances. I also learned to sing. At three years old, I sang at the Lowes Grand Theatre in Atlanta and was the youngest performer. Most of the time when I tried to curtsywith one foot behind the other and with my short legsI ended up sitting right down on the stage!

Our neighborhood had a few small theaters, and they had amateur nights on Fridays and Saturdays. People would performsinging, dancing, and playing instruments. Then, all the performers were brought out and lined up and someone would hold their hand over each one as the audience clapped for their favorite. I was so small and must have entertained them so much that I won the five- or ten-dollar prizes almost every time I entered!

A contest for performers from all over Atlanta had many competing for an entire week. Each night, the audience voted on the best entertainer and that person was given a gold medal. I performed on Friday and won for that night. Then, all the winners from Monday to Friday were brought on stage and the audience selected me as winner for the whole week. At just six years old, I won a silver loving cup trophy and was crowned the best dancer in Atlanta!

My mother and I later moved to West End in Atlanta and attended West End Baptist Church where we were baptized together. One day while Mother was ironing, I talked with her about my singing both at churches and on the public stage every weekend. I told her I felt it wasnt right for me to sing for the devil on Fridays and Saturdays and then sing for the Lord on Sundays. She told me it was up to me to make that choice and whatever I decided would be all right with her. I knew she loved to make beautiful costumes for me, but my decision was made and that was the end of my dancing and singing in theaters.

At that time, I was often asked to sing solos in Sunday School assemblies and churches. When people would ask me to sing at their church, they would come pick me up and take me home. On one occasion, a young woman had me sing for her business club that met at a downtown church. Afterward, she gave me a little book that I still have to this day, and she signed it Esther Cathy. Esther was one of six children and her large family, the Cathys, lived just two houses down from us.

Later, Esthers sister Agnes (who married a young preacher studying at Mercer College) asked Mother if they could take me with them one summer to several small churches where her husband, Dock Edwards, served as pastor. I was the guest soloist for one week of revival services at each of his churches, and I was so short that I had to stand in a chair behind the podium to sing! The churches were so small and poor that they sometimes paid Dock with bags of sweet potatoes, watermelons, eggs, and even chickens. I remember watching them strap the chicken cages to the running boards on the side of his car just to get them home.

Each week when we returned home from one of the revivals, we had to stop by the Cathys boarding house to drop off the produce for Mrs. Cathy, Agness mother. She used it to feed her residents. On one of those early visits to the Cathy home, I remember seeing two little boys running on the porch. I later found out the boys were Truett and his brother Ben, the youngest of the Cathy clan. Truett and I went to the same grammar school and junior high, but he was one year ahead of me, so I really didnt get to know him. Hes since told me that he sometimes spoke to me back then, but I dont remember much about him in those days.

After graduating from an all-girl high schoolthats right, no boysI secured a job in the accounting department of the government and worked in Atlanta. A lady I worked with invited me to go to Ridgecrest Baptist Assembly in Asheville, North Carolina, one summer. We spent several summers there, using our vacation time from work. While at Ridgecrest that first summer, I felt that my heavenly Father wanted me to prepare for some kind of Christian service for Him. I mentioned this to my churchs ladies class (a very large group at West End Baptist Church), and they said they would pay my way to New Orleans Baptist Seminary.