Loretta Lynn_ Coal Miner's Daughter - Loretta Lynn [62]
When I started traveling, Betty was already in grade school. She didn’t want to move to Nashville and she still talks in a Washington accent rather than a Southern accent. Sometimes she talks about moving back there, although she and her husband are doing real good in Tennessee.
I’d say the moving bothered her a lot. When I’d come home from the road, I’d tell her to do one thing and she would do the opposite. She might tell you moving didn’t bother her. But deep down inside, it did. When I was needed, I wasn’t there. I came home from the road one time and Betty said she was getting married. She wasn’t much older than I was when I got married. We tried to talk her out of it but she said, “You got married before you were fourteen.” So what could we say? We knew she was gonna do it anyway, so what was the sense in arguing? It was just like me telling my Mommy I was getting married. What could she do?
Betty was still young when she had two babies. Then she didn’t have any more. The first baby was called Loretta Lynn, but everybody calls her Lynn now. The second is named Audrey. I treasure those two beautiful girls who made me a grandmother when I was twenty-nine.
Betty was in a pretty bad way after having the babies. She was supposed to take these shots, but sometimes she didn’t have any money. I’d wake up in the middle of the night, dreaming about spanking Betty, and that would be a sign that Betty was sick. I’d call Gloria, the housekeeper, and she’d tell me Betty wasn’t looking good. Or I’d call Betty and say, “You better go get a shot, and I’ll pay the fifteen dollars.” Other times I’d wake up dreaming about Betty Sue smiling, and I’d know she was all right.
Me and Betty Sue are really close, but we can get into it sometimes. She still likes to do opposite things, just to be mean. She’s smart. People who visit my house always enjoy meeting Betty because she’s so smart. She’s got dark hair and a nice smile, and she’s real pretty. But if I’m around—watch out! We can get into it pretty good.
It’s all right for me to say these things because they’re my kids. But if somebody else criticizes my kids, they’d better be careful. See, I know my kids’ good points, too, and I ain’t bashful about telling ’em.
Betty Sue is talented. She’s a decorator and she’s written three or four songs under the name of “Tracey Lee” that I’ve recorded. She’s happily married to Paul Markworth, a real smart boy from up in Milwaukee who’s been real good for Betty because he’s considerate. He has a business in land management near Waverly, and she helps him. They’re making good money, and it looks like a good future.
Jack Benny is my first son. He’s real small, like Doolittle, and he even walks like Doo—with that cowboy shuffle, like he just got off a horse. In fact, Jack used to be a jockey when he was younger. He raced at a few tracks in Tennessee and even down South where they’ve got legal betting. But he’s just a little too big now to be a jockey. He still rides in the rodeos around home—he even rides the bulls, which scares the daylights out of me.
Jack is kind of quiet. When he’s got problems, his face gets kind of worked up, like Doolittle, but he don’t talk about things very easy. When I see Jack is upset, it just tears me up inside, like I want to put my arms around him and comfort him. Of all my kids, he’s the one I feel most sentimental about.
When Jack and his wife broke up, I just started bawling, because I love Pat like a sister. I wouldn’t take sides because I love ’em both. Pat is from a nice family right over in Waverly. Jack got married before he got out of high school and then he joined the army for four years because his brother went into the marines, and Jack didn’t want Ernest Ray to get anything on him. Jack