My concept of Heaven

The Bible describes heaven as having streets of pure gold. If allowed to create my own heaven, I would choose the dirt streets of old Perry, Georgia. My hometown was an enchanting place, a paradise on earth.  If I could board a time machine, I would return to Perry during the 1940s, 50s, and 60s.  I was born and raised at 800 Ball Street, two blocks south of the New Perry Hotel. My parents lived on one side of the house, my grandparents on the other. I graduated from Perry High School in 1953 and lived in Perry the first 20 years of my life. 

I came from a poor family, but there was no shortage of love.  Although, while growing up, all I owned was a bicycle and a basketball, I felt like I had everything until later in life when I found out what I didn’t have. My family had no car, so we walked everywhere. My granddaddy purchased his groceries at Mr. J. W. Bloodworth’s store on Carroll Street, a half mile from our house. We walked to town to buy the groceries and then carried them home in large paper bags. There were no TVs in Perry, only radios. There were no computers or I-pads, only hand-cranked adding machines.  No digital scales in grocery or clothing stores. There was no Internet or social media. When World War II ended in 1945, we received the news by word of mouth. There were no smart phones. We had a party line whose number was 241-L. To place a call, you picked up the receiver and told the switchboard operator the number you wished to call. 

On Saturdays, practically everyone converged on downtown Perry to buy groceries, to watch people come and go, and to chat with old friends. Men and boys would line up at the barber shop to get B.W. Bozeman, Mr. Stripling, and Mr. Summers to cut their hair. The old Roxy Theater was open all day Saturday. For 14 cents, you could watch a western, double feature, continued serial, comedy, and world news. Popcorn was a dime and a Coke or candy bar was a nickel. 

Perry was a basketball town and, thanks to Hall of Fame coach, Eric Staples, Perry High School established a basketball dynasty. Coach Staples became the winningest coach in America during his era, 1933-1965. Coach Paul Hartman’s 1966 Perry team captured another state title the year after Coach Staples retired from coaching. Perry was a basketball town whose townspeople had great pride in their basketball teams and followed the games throughout the state. The old gym burned to the ground in1969, the night of Coach Staples’ retirement as Superintendent of Schools. The gym is now located at 101 Pearly Gates Boulevard. Next door in heaven is the old Baptist Church, since torn down, where I met the Lord at age 11.  

Perry had only three policemen. On hot summer nights, you could sleep at night with the front and back doors open, and the windows up. The only air conditioner was a handheld fan. In the 1940 census, Perry was a small town, a close knit community of 1609 people where church life was important. On Sundays, every business closed except a single gas station. In those days, there was no I-75 passing through Perry.  There was no Walmart Shopping Center on Sam Nunn Boulevard–because Sam was still going to school and playing basketball with me–only a lonely, sparsely populated road from downtown Perry to the railroad tracks in Fort Valley where, because I had no car, I hitchhiked to see the love of my life, Beverly Davis, of Fort Valley, to whom I was happily married for 68 years until her passing. 

I often flagged down Mel Tolleson and other Perry boys traveling to the Valley to see their sweethearts. All vehicles from up north traveling to Florida had to pass through the center of downtown Perry, where travelers would often see a wonderful old fellow nicknamed Gun Rod, its janitor, sitting on the steps of the Perry Bank, since burned down. I wish I had more space, but I leave you with what the scripture states about heaven: “God and Jesus will be there”… “We will worship God, and see Him face to face”…“God will wipe all tears from our eyes, and there will be no more death, suffering, crying, or pain.”