Meet Sibyl Parker

It was sunny and warm outside for February. Ashlee Davis, a classmate from Flippin, and I pulled up in the driveway of Sibyl Parker's home. The air had a sort of fresh, country scent to it. The yard looked like a wide, open prairie with lush, green, grass. We walked up to the house. It was an average sized house. The paint looked fairly new, and it was apparent that the house had been well-kept. There was shrubbery and trees surrounding the house with a small garden just to the side of it.

As we approached the house, we heard a voice eagerly say, "Ya'll girls go head and come on in." A man's head peered out from behind a screen door. We then walked up the concrete steps, past two cats that lazily sat in what appeared to be each of their own chairs. The screen door led us into the kitchen of the house. It smelled like a typical grandmother's house. (The kind of smell that automatically makes a person hungry.) Inside the kitchen, we met Sibyl Parker and Vernon Parker, Sibyl's husband. Both seemed to have a very warm and caring presence about them. They wanted us to feel welcome and comfortable.

Vernon seemed excited to see us. Although he was probably in his 70's, he had a boyish youth about him. He was a tall man with flowing brown hair that had gray shimmers throughout the locks. The shimmers matched the twinkle in his eye behind his wire framed glasses. He had an outgoing personality that made us feel very welcome.

Sibyl, on the other hand, had a quiet, calm voice. She seemed in no hurry for anything. She had an average-size build and stood at about 5 feet tall. Her hair was snow white and well groomed to perfection. You could tell she was a pretty lady. She had few wrinkles for her age. She was wearing hardly any make-up, but her glasses seemed to add to her character. She was wearing a red and blue flannel shirt with a navy blue turtleneck under it. Her dark jeans matched her turtleneck. Although she said she looked awful, her ensemble looked neat and put together.

We walked into the living room to begin the interview. The room looked clean and spacious. There was a large couch and a few recliners nestled around the room. Antique objects such as an old record player, old diaries, and black and white photographs lay on desks and tables around the room. On the mantel of the fireplace was a large black and white picture of Sibyl's mother surrounded by an elaborate, gold, frame. The room was well lighted by the huge window in the center of the room. You could hear the sounds of traffic zooming up and down the highway outside the house.

Sibyl seemed very nervous about the interview. When she noticed that we had brought a camera, she said, "If I had knew you were gonna take pictures, I would have cleaned up. I look awful." But Ashlee Davis and I convinced her that she looked fine and not to worry about it.

As we started the interview, she began to get nervous and said that she probably wouldn't be very interesting and she really didn't know what to say. Again, Ashlee and I convinced her not to worry about the interview. As the questions were being asked to her, she rocked her blue rocking chair back and forth with the tips of her feet. She tugged at her shirt tail, and still, halfway through the interview, she nervously twirled the beige rug below her with her feet. As she reminisced about some of the questions that were asked, she smiled and every now and then gave a soft chuckle.