October 1, 1934 was a great day in Redwood, Mississippi!  My parents, Mary & Henry Johnson, welcomed their firstborn!  ME!  I am Frank Carl Johnson, Sr.  Most of you know me as Carl.  As time passed, I was joined by ten siblings, Evelyn, Era, Hazel, Clifford, Donna Faye, Juanita, twins Norman & Donald, Angela, and Ricky.  (Mother, Daddy, Juanita, Donna Faye, Clifford, and Evelyn are awaiting my arrival.)

My family later moved to Memphis, Tennessee and while growing up I could hardly wait for school years to end so that I could go back to Redwood, MS to spend summers with my beloved Grandmother "Big Momma" and Grandfather "Big Daddy".  Big Momma always had sweet watermelon, delicious tea cakes, and other great treats for me throughout the summer.  Soon my sister Evelyn, cousins Ralph & Kenny, and others also spent summers with me there.  Oh, what times we had!  I also spent time with other family members in Vicksburg & Satartia, Mississippi during the summers.  There isn't enough time or space here for me to share the stories of my adventures and escapades, but just know that there were many.  I cherished those times and often reminisced about them with family and friends at family reunions in later years.

I loved sports and was quite athletic.  I played football in high school and went on to play football at Wiley College.  While attending Wiley, a "beauty" by the name of Pauline (Paula) Mathus caught my eye, stole my heart, and we later became husband and wife.

One of my adventures was my military career with the US Army where I served as a paratrooper.  Yes, I jumped out of perfectly good airplanes!  I received an Honorable Discharge from the Army.

Paula and I were blessed with two children, Janice and Frank, Jr.  After setting our home base in Chicago, Illinois as the kids got older, I loved taking them on road trips to Memphis and Mississippi to meet extended family and see where I spent my youth.  Once the formal family reunions began, I was the "photographer" for many of them.  When there were family gatherings, my slideshows were often the "main event."

Although my football career ended after leaving Wiley College, I was still athletic and developed a love for the sport of tennis.  On weekends, I made my rounds to many of the parks around Chicago, meeting other tennis players, and not to toot my own horn…  I was pretty good! – I even did a little instructing.

Once I retired from the US Postal Service, I was able to get into another of my passions, gardening. Each year, family members and friends eagerly looked forward to tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and good ole collard greens from "Carl's Garden".  They also were excited to receive Paula's famous green tomato relish, which was made, of course, with my tomatoes!

I loved my family and enjoyed sending them surprise packages of clothing, jewelry, school supplies, newspaper articles, and many other items.  I enjoyed keeping up with current events and shared those with my family as well.

After becoming "Granddad", one of my greatest joys was spoiling my grands and great grands with homemade graham cracker ice cream sandwiches, and other assorted snacks.  I played the "slots" with them, surprised them with rolls of quarters and care packages.  It gave me great pleasure to brag about my "sharp" grandchildren - they are on the ball!

In case you haven't figured it out by now, I'm also a social guy and I never meet a stranger.  One of my favorite past times was meeting the other seniors at Mac's (McDonald's) to solve the world's problems and keep them informed on current events!

I think I had a well-lived life!  Well, I'm a little tired now so enough about me. I'm going to join Paula and the others who have been waiting patiently for me.

I hope to be remembered and thought of often by my children, Jan and Frankie (Tanya – "Greedy Girl"), grandchildren, Dante, Tiffany, Kendra & Monique, my great-grands, Justin, Andrew, MacKenzie, and Majid (King) as well as my siblings, brothers and sisters in law, nieces, nephews, my many cousins, and a host of friends

See Y'all Later! – "The Storyteller"