The Air I Breathe

by Joyce Paul
I love you, Pop, and you are dearer to me than the air that I breathe. I have so many wonderful memories of being with you but I think the most precious ones of those that I have experienced since Mom went to home to be with the Lord. You have shared so many things with me about your childhood and young adult years, your school years, purchasing your first car with Uncle Lando, your encounters with racism, and my favorite story is when you met and married my mother.

Thank you, Pop, for making that commitment and staying with my mother for almost 60 years. Thanks for having me, YOUR FAVORITE CHILD. Now, I will get out of there and let the granddaughters continue their debate on Who's Who.

P.S. Yo, Pop… I still love you very much but I must include the time that Big and I were arguing at seven in the morning. She wanted to wear my skirt and blouse, but when she tried it on, she changed her mind and wanted to wear what I had on. When I wouldn't take it off, we got into a heated argument and you got out of bed and whipped me. Those three licks scared my life. That is one of the few times in my life that I was innocent.

Joyce Beverly Paul is the seventh child born to Robert and Sarah. She has one child, Kory Drayton. Joyce is a graduate of Bethune Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Florida. She studied further at Princeton University in New Jersey. She is currently a high school math teacher in Dekalb County, Georgia.


Joyce Paul’s Best Carrot Cake

2 c all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 large eggs
2 c sugar
¾ cup vegetable oil
¾ cup buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 c grated carrots
1 8 oz can crushed pineapple (drained)
1 3 ½ oz can of flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
Golden raisins handful mixed in cake batter

Line three 9” cake pans with wax paper. Lightly grease and flour wax paper. Set pans aside. Stir together first four (4) ingredients. Beat eggs and next four (4) ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add flour mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Fold in carrots and next three (3) ingredients. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Drizzle buttermilk glaze evenly over layers. Cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove the pans and cool completely on wire racks. Spread cream cheese frosting between layers and on sides of cake.

(*First four ingredients in sifter three (3) times—do all cakes this way)

Buttermilk Glaze

1 cup sugar
½ tsp baking soda
½ cup buttermilk
½ cup butter or margarine
1 tbsp light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
Bring first five (5) ingredients to a boil in large Dutch oven over medium heat. Boil, stirring often for four (4) minutes. Remove from heat then stir in vanilla.

Frosting

¾ c butter softened
1 8 oz package cream cheese softened
1 3 oz package cream cheese softened
3 cups powdered sifted sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Beat first three (3) ingredients at medium speed until creamy. Add powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.