After coming back to my hometown in 2012, I would pass many people that I hadn’t seen in a long time. Some I knew and others didn’t look so familiar.

There was one person I would see and I never had the chance to talk with her until I noticed she was going to the same church as me.  Her frame was petite, her hair perfectly placed, wide stretchy waste belts with flashy sequins, vintage looking jewelry and rose-colored glasses that made me think of John Lennon.

I had the pleasure of parking beside this primary green colored car at the post office and out hopped this woman with red lipstick and clothes that matched her car in bright colors. This being the first time of me talking to her I asked her about her car and she said she drove up to the lot, the green color stuck out among all the rest and told the sales guy, “That’s my car, I’m going to take it home.”

Cassie Brogdon lives on 801 South and some know her as the Christmas Lady or her bingo friends call her Miss Cooleemee.

If you went to school in Davie County, you probably remember her husband, Foyle Brogdon, he taught math.  Cassie said he taught for 45 years and only missed one day.  Her late husband passed away in the year 2010.

This eccentric woman was admired from afar and probably still is today. Over the years some thought she was a little snooty for some reason, but the minute she started talking to them their view of her quickly changed.

She’s different, she’s definitely comfortable in her own skin and walks to her own drum beat. She was born in 1938 and she feels like she is 35; and it shows.     

She invited me into her home of menagerie and I was tickled to death to finally get to know this woman up close and personal. The minute I walked in my eyes were darting everywhere to try and take it all in. I’ve never seen so many saw blades that had been painted; all scenes and they were painted well. Looked very professional. Big, medium, small, they were all over the house and she painted every one.

The enclosed front porch is quite long and half of it is designated to her cat. The small television was on playing cartoons, “This is for my cat, she likes to watch TV, and this is her room. It was neat, clean and full of things all over the walls that were meticulously placed, trinkets around that were easily spotted on the table because there was so much order.

Very welcomingly Cassie strolled through each room of her home and talked about special things.

She stepped into her “Dream Room” and you could tell that was her favorite. It is decorated for Christmas all through the year. That is where she and her family share gifts and celebrate the season. She turned on the tree and Santa started walking down the ladder and she lit the peacock and her face lit up, too.  She was like a little girl in a candy store. She exuded joy and happiness.

She said one day 200 people came to home and took pictures of her Christmas extravaganza she displays. She received an anonymous blue ribbon in the mail and a letter from a woman named Betty that expressed her liking of her display each year.       

She loves jewelry and she has lots of it. Not one little drawer of it mind you, there was designated places for each piece.

Her “cheap rings” as she calls them, gleamed the color aqua and big “honker rings” I like to call them, had a giraffe’s head on one, rhinestones on another and colored designed shapes to create a large flower on top.

Anything with animal print speaks to her and almost calls her out in a shop to say, “take me home.”

We had fun in her closet that had boots with studs, flashy cowboy boots, animal print shoes, some with feathers like she was wearing and some look as shiny as fresh liquid silver.

I got a kick out of her wigs. They were on the top of the shelf and I noticed each one had been given a name: so funny, but what fun.

The family knows when there is a celebration for birthdays, including her own, Tuesdays and Saturdays are reserved for her bingo playing time. If it can’t be schedule before she heads out early in the day, they will have to pick another day.

Cassie met her husband during the war and he brought her to Cooleemee all the way from New Foundland Canada. He took her to the downtown of Cooleemee and to the drug store. He told her, “This is it.”

She said,” You’re kidding me? Where do you go to have some fun and do things?”

“We have to go out of town.”

She was a nurse in Canada, but came here and worked at Lawrence’s, now called U-Stop-N-Grill. When Lawrence Driver passed away, she went to C’s and worked almost 20 years.

Cassie was number five of her parents 12 children and most of her siblings are still living in Canada.

She and her daughter, Toni Moore, drove up last October and stayed a month visiting.    

All her siblings, except she and one of her brothers, play an instrument. Rows of houses where her siblings live are on one side of the street and the other half live right across the street in another row. Gathering together playing and singing beings back memories of days gone by.

Cassie is the epitome of living in the moment. Her friends at the bingo place can’t for the door to open and see her walk in. They walk up to her and give her hugs.

When her friends tell her how beautiful she is, she responds with, “Look at you, I’m no prettier than you.”

There is something to be said for people who know who they are.

I imagine, no I don’t imagine, I know. Cassie will always see the world through small-framed rose-colored glasses whether she is wearing them or not.

Feel free to contact me at www.cooleemeenews@gmail.com,or call me at 336.250.1133. I would love to hear from you.