Pencil, pastel, and drybrush.  2025
  “Going My Way” (Portrait of Melba Ann Collins McCorkle Lumberton, NC; 1929-2025.)
Along with her husband, Tom Rankin, Jill McCorkle was memorably kind and welcoming when Herve and I, knowing next to no one, moved to Hillsborough. This small portrait will, of course, be a gift to Jill (who wrote her mother’s obituary tribute six or so weeks ago).
Jill’s parents (quite like mine) met as children, and they began dating when Miss Melba turned 16. Aside from their sojourn in Texas during his military service, they passed their entire lives in Lumberton.
Reading Jill’s lovely tribute to her mother, I couldn’t help thinking of this song (a longtime favorite of mine): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wKqDYe_7ck
“Rita was sixteen years, hazel eyes and chestnut hair
She made the Woolworth counter shine
And Eddie was a sweet romancer, and a darn good dancer
And they’d waltz the aisles of the five and dime
And they’d sing
Dance a little closer to me, dance a little closer now
Dance a little closer tonight
Dance a little closer to me, ’cause it’s closing time
And love’s on sale tonight at this five and dime
Eddie played the steel guitar
And his mama cried ’cause he played in the bars
And kept young Rita out late at night
So they married up in Abilene, lost a child in Tennessee
Still that love survived
‘Cause they’d sing
Dance a little closer to me, dance a little closer now
Dance a little closer tonight
Dance a little closer to me, ’cause it’s closing time
And love’s on sale tonight at this five and dime
One of the boys in Eddie’s band took a shine to Rita’s hand
So Eddie ran off with the bass man’s wife
Oh, but he was back by June, singin’ a different tune
And sportin’ Miss Rita back by his side
And he sang
Dance a little closer to me, dance a little closer now
Dance a little closer tonight
Dance a little closer to me, ’cause it’s closing time
And love’s on sale tonight at this five and dime
Eddie traveled with the barroom bands
‘Til arthritis took his hands
Now he sells insurance on the side
Rita’s got a house to keep
Dimestore novels and a love so sweet
They dance to the radio late at night
And they sing
Dance a little closer to me, dance a little closer now
Dance a little closer tonight
Dance a little closer to me, ’cause it’s closing time
And love’s on sale tonight at this five and dime
‘Cause Rita was sixteen years, with hazel eyes and chestnut hair
She really made the Woolworth counter shine
Eddie was a sweet romancer, and a darn good dancer
And they’d waltz the aisles of the five and dime
And they’d waltz the aisles of the five and dime
And they’d waltz the aisles of the five and dime…..”