Nonie

"Nonie Baskin" of Hoot Owl Hollow
Sketch by my boy: talented artist Ben Glassco

"Suddenly two men in shining white clothes stood beside them....the men said, 'Why are you looking in the place of the dead for someone who is alive? Jesus isn't here! He has been raised from the dead.'" (Luke 24:4-6)

Saturday's voice message:

"Jill Watson Glassco. Oh, God, please, God, let Jill still be alive. Jill if you're still alive, please call me. If Jill isn't alive and you're a descendent who loved her, please call me. This is Nonie Webb. I'm 91 and a historian of Marion County, Tennessee, and I have a wonderful story to tell you. Oh, please, please God. Good bye."

Back in 2011 while writing The Schoolhouse, I made a bird-dog hunt for missing details to Grandmother's story sketched across a 14-page letter she wrote in 1955. A helpful lady at the Jasper History Museum said, "You need to talk to Nonie Webb. She knows everything about Marion County."

Over the following year, I met twice with Nonie - a delightfully charming little lady with more zeal for life than whiskers on an alley cat. I was so enchanted with her wit and wisdom that I named a character after her in Hoot Owl Hollow. 

Now that I know she's still alive and kickin' (and so am I), I'm headed back to Marion County this week and taking a dear friend along to get our socks blessed off by a couple of hours with Nonie and her amazing stories.

On an early Sunday morning two thousand years ago, women walked to the burial cave of Jesus to properly prepare His dead body, but, instead, discovered an empty tomb and the Good News that Jesus is alive!

Want your socks blessed off, beloved? Spend time with Jesus and  be refreshed in His amazing story - His story past, present, and yet to unfold!