Monique Weaver and Charles Fulton

[00:08] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Charles Anthony Fulton II. I'm 32 years old on today's date of May 24, 2022, here in storyCorps Atlanta, interviewing Monique Weaver, my mother, to find out about her life and her life with my father.

[00:29] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Hello, everyone. My name is Monique R. Weaver. I am 58 years old, and today's date is May 24, 2020. I am also here in storyCorps Atlanta with my son, Charles Fulton, who is interviewing me.

[00:45] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: All right, so tell me about your life. Start when you were young. Tell me about all the trips you used to take. So where did you start out? I know you started. You were born up north, correct?

[00:56] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: I was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. And we lived. I'm not sure how long we lived there. Cause obviously I was young, so I don't remember when exactly we moved, but I know I see pictures of when we were in Florida, and I think my grandmother lived in Florida. One of my grandmothers.

[01:16] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: What do you believe the ranges were? Were you out of there by five, by ten? When did you hit Florida?

[01:27] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: I don't know. Because, again, I just see pictures, so I don't know. I don't. I don't even know if I existed at that time because I just saw the pictures. Absolutely saw the pictures. But, um, I know from Michigan, we moved down to Tennessee. Well, actually, my mom and dad were married, and they were separated, and my mom took the three of us, and she took us down to Tennessee on a bus.

[01:59] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Oh, wow. Really?

[02:00] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah. Three of us young kids. And then she ended up going back, but then we moved down. After we moved down, then it's just kind of like a process of growing up. I think we moved to college, Dale, because we lived.

[02:20] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: What, so you said she took you all down to Tennessee, and that was to college Dale, correct?

[02:27] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah, we. Some. Somebody she knew was down there. I think Carol, maybe her best friend Carol.

[02:33] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Did she. She said, you said she went back up there. Did she take you all at the time?

[02:37] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We all went back because they worked things out, so we went back.

[02:42] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Do you know how long it was before you finally moved to college, Dale? After that?

[02:48] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Well, I know that we were young, but we lived in Collegedale, and we went to elementary school because we went to aw Spaulding in college, Dale.

[03:00] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: What was that like? What is that?

[03:02] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: It's a Christian. It's a christian elementary school, 7th Adventist elementary school. I remember going to school, and I remember my brother being in second grade, so I would have been in probably like third grade.

[03:18] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Third grade. Okay. So you're just a year older than him.

[03:21] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah. Yeah. Well, we're about 18. We're 18 months apart.

[03:25] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: 18 months. Okay.

[03:26] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah. Yeah. Cause Monica's, like, 18 months older than me, and TJ is 18 months younger. So I was in the middle, but we went to elementary school there. You know, we went to all kinds of. They had, like, I forget what they're called, but they had events and stuff for kids during the summer, and we used to go to those. They had games, they had food.

[03:53] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Was it just, like, one day events or, like.

[03:56] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: No, it was summer. Like summer. Summer camp. Summer camp? Yeah, kind of like a summer camp type of thing. But we just went there daily. It wasn't, you know, where we stayed.

[04:03] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Oh. So it was more like a festival than a camp. Like, it was. Well, like, did you check in and out, or was it just kids?

[04:10] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: No, it was just a day. It was just, like, a day thing where we went. We didn't have to, like, really check in because we didn't stay, but it was just like, you know, mom dropped us off, so she had to sign us in, and then she had to sign us out, type of thing. But, you know, we had all kinds of activities, and that brings back lots of memories of food. One of the reasons I like alfalfa sprouts.

[04:33] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Okay, why is that?

[04:34] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Because the sandwiches they made, they made with alfalfa sprouts. I love alfalfa sprouts. And they took, like, the vegetarian hot dogs, and they made sandwich spread. And my mom used to do that, too. And to grind that up in, like, an old meat grinder that you had to, like, actually literally grind, not food processor.

[04:54] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: She ground up the hot dogs.

[04:55] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: She ground up the hot dogs, and she added all her little stuff to it.

[05:00] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: What did you do with those weird vegan hot dogs? You said she turned them into a spread.

[05:05] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Sandwich spread. Yeah. Yeah, she made them, like, a sandwich spread.

[05:10] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: All right.

[05:11] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: It was good. Absolutely. We liked it.

[05:13] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Yeah, definitely. I just never heard that one.

[05:16] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah, yeah. But, you know, just the freedom of being a kid. I mean, you don't realize the freedom that you have until you become an adult.

[05:28] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Oh, yeah, absolutely.

[05:30] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: But we also lived at a place out off from Talent Road. It was a trailer. Don't remember exactly how old I was, but we were. I was old enough to. We were old enough to try and help dad with the car.

[05:46] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: So that talent road was still in college jail.

[05:49] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: It still is, yeah. Yeah. I don't know that the trailer still is, because I haven't been by there.

[05:53] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: But but I admit that's where you were.

[05:55] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah, that was one of the places that we lived in college, Dell.

[05:59] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Okay.

[06:00] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: And we. One day, I remember dad was changing the oil, grandpa was changing the oil on the car, and TJ and I were racing back to the house to get a quart of oil. And I tripped over the dog and I ended up with a scar is probably then. It was probably like maybe a five or six inch scar. Of course, much bigger now, but from. Because I ended up falling on chipped gravel and cutting my hip open.

[06:35] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Your hip?

[06:36] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah, it's like a scar on my hip. And also living out there, there was a trail that I remember we used to go up. It'd be on the weekends usually, but we go in our pajamas, we go up. We'd walk up this hill and there was like an old mining area up there. Non existent, but we used to walk up there and we find bullet shells. What was left over the shells up there, and we collect those. And.

[07:09] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Ever do anything with them or.

[07:12] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: We just. We just. We just collected them as you do as children. It just caused. Because it was different. It was fun. We used to go up there with the neighbors kids or actually the landlord's kids. We used to go up there.

[07:25] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: So did you have a strong relationship with them or.

[07:28] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Not really. It was mainly just because they were the landlord. Dad and mom got along with them, so it's all right. Also, we were talking earlier about it. That was also where we were talking about the fear of heights. And at that point in time I had no fear. And there was a heat. Two very tall trees, and they had two by fours nailed like 20ft off the ground. It was like on the front and on the back, so the trees weren't real big around, but so it was close enough that you could, when you set your foot on it, you know, you touch front and back and then way out, say probably about 15ft out or so, there was a huge tree and they had a big cow rope tied around it with huge knots on the end of it. And it was long enough and they tied a string to it and you pull it up. When you crawled up the two by fours to get up to the two by fours at the top, then you just grabbed a hold of the rope and you hung on and you jumped off and swung.

[08:37] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: So it wasn't near water?

[08:40] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: No, it was just.

[08:41] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Yeah, a really tall tree. Planks and some rope.

[08:45] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yep.

[08:46] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Oh, wow.

[08:47] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah. That's what I tell you. I was like. I loved it. I did it all the time. But, you know, it's like, now I'm just like, whoa. But, um, it was, again, goes back to, like, the freedom of being a child. And you just don't realize, you know, absolutely not. What else? We lived in another place in college, Dell, which no longer exists. There are apartments there now, right there across from the police department. And you walk up. Actually, there was a bridge we could walk under and actually literally go to the police department where mom and dad used to work.

[09:29] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Oh, wow.

[09:30] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah. It's like we walk across a road, and then we come down to the brush and walk across. And then, you know, we were right at the police department, so we didn't have to drive if we don't want to. Well, we didn't drive anyway at that point. But there was also kudzu vine that was, like, straight up on a hill.

[09:48] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Oh, yeah, there's kudzu everywhere.

[09:50] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah. So we climbed up the kudzu, the vine, to the top of the hill just for something to do as kids, so. But that was always cool.

[10:01] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Yeah. That's awesome. You got out. Always got sun in nature.

[10:04] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Always. Always. I love the outdoors.

[10:12] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Yeah, I know. You stayed in the water longer than me this morning. We were out of the Chattahoochee, hanging out in the 50 degree river.

[10:22] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: I love it. Well, I do. I do. I also remember now, this is back in Michigan, but I was younger, and I remember we come home from church. The house we lived in had a bay window. It's a big, huge glass window. Like, it's, like, where it comes, like, out at just that angle.

[10:46] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Is it one of those, like, half ovals you always see in sunrooms?

[10:51] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Kind of, but it's more got, like, the stop sign angles on it. And the sun would come in that window a lot. And when we come home from church on Sabbath, the sun hit that spot. So inevitably, after lunch, I would take a nap on the floor in the sun.

[11:13] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Would you have for lunch just, like, whatever was cooked that week, or did you make something special after Sabbath?

[11:19] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Well, mom usually was. I was young at the time, so I didn't really, I guess, have much of an interest with that, except for it's just what was my mom cooked, so. But that was one of those things where you were raised. It's like you ate what was there or you didn't eat, so. But, um.

[11:40] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Yeah, so you said you liked hanging out in front of the bay window. Oh, where did you go from college, Dale? What other kind of places do you remember? I guess. What living spaces do you remember?

[11:58] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Well, your dad and I, when we first got married, he actually picked our first place.

[12:05] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: And when was that?

[12:07] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: We got married in 86, but he actually went and had picked out the place by himself. I didn't even see it until after we got married. We moved in, so it was pretty cool. It was a little hole in the wall place, and it had, like, a wood stove type looking heater. It wasn't that. It was an electric heater, but it was, like, huge, square. Like, it looked like a wood stove, but it wasn't a wood stove. It was just electric heater. But, yeah, it was a simple little place, but it was pretty cool.

[12:38] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Where was that?

[12:39] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: In Dalton.

[12:40] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Down in Dalton?

[12:40] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah. I couldn't tell you where now, but here. But he, uh. He picked it out by himself. I was. I was impressed.

[12:50] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: So what else do you remember about it? Like you said, it was out in Dalton, had the wood stove.

[12:55] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Um. It's. I don't know. It was cozy. I mean, just for two of us, it was. It was pretty cool. I don't remember how long we lived there.

[13:04] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: No.

[13:06] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: No, I don't.

[13:07] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: It must not have been too long, you think?

[13:09] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: I. Probably not.

[13:10] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Okay.

[13:12] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Cause I know at some point after we got married, I mean, I know we were living in Dalton, and then we moved down to Florida, and we were down there for a while.

[13:25] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: When was that? Why was that?

[13:30] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Just trying to think why we moved. I don't know. I think it was because dad just wanted to move down, you know, because he likes the warmer weather for a while. And we moved down there, and we stayed with grandpa and grandma for a while. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know if we ever really got a place down there. I think we stayed down there because it doesn't seem like we were down there very long, but him and I worked. Your dad worked at a company. It was called Punta Gorda tables, which I don't think exists anymore. But then there was some issue he had with them. I don't remember what it was now, but he quit, and they wanted him to come back. And he says, I'm not going to come back unless you hire her, which is me. And so we ended up both going and working there. And I did the powder coating, the electrostatic painting on the bases, and dad did the laminate work on the tops of the tables and the sides.

[14:33] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: So what was that? Like you said you did powder coating and electro.

[14:37] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: It's called electrostatic painting. It's powder coating. I liked it. I really enjoyed it.

[14:44] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: What is it?

[14:45] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Basically, it's the electrostatic painting is basically it takes an electrical charge and it attaches it to the metal base. Then you put it in a kiln, an oven and let it cook and it solidifies it to the metal. So there's not really a chance of it coming off unless you just beat the crap out of it. So. But that's the tables, you know, that's like the table we have in the kitchen. Dad and I made that. And the one grand, the one that grandpa has. Grandpa has one also, so. But we made both of those tables and we brought them back when we came back.

[15:22] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: What's the one? Do you have leg like again?

[15:25] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: It is probably like two and a half feet wide, maybe by 4ft long. Brown bases. And it has just like hard to describe the base, but it has. The post has two posts on the bottom to make it solid.

[15:45] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Two big t's.

[15:47] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah, basically on the bottom, on the feet needs to be really screwed down better because when you move the table, the feet move. But the fact that they've been around that long and dad and I were married for 20 years and that was, let's see, 86. I don't know, I can't count that fastenitive. But anyway, that's how old the tables are and they're still in use, so that's.

[16:20] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: And you said you were married in 86. Do you remember what day?

[16:25] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was the 24th.

[16:28] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Okay, so today's date.

[16:29] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: So, yeah, I'm pretty sure it was today's date because. And the reason I remember is because dad and I. Dad could never remember exactly which date because Mike's birthday is on the 26th and ours is. Our anniversary is on the 24th. Was on the 24th.

[16:46] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: And Mike is dad's brother.

[16:49] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yes, his younger brother.

[16:51] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Yeah, he lives out this way.

[16:52] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah, but he. Yeah, absolutely.

[16:58] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: What else do you remember about the wedding? Like, what was your wedding with dad like?

[17:03] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: It was simple. I mean, from the time I met him till the time we got married was like five months.

[17:11] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: I remember you telling me about it.

[17:12] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: It was very short.

[17:15] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Why was that?

[17:18] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Well, when I was living at grandpa and grandma's in college jail. My dad does not remember this now because I asked him. But at that time I was fixing to turn 22 and my dad came to me and told me. He said my sister and I were still living at home and we fought a lot and he came to me and told me, he said, you are the one that has to move out because you are the most independent. I'm like, great. That's wonderful, because I was in no way, shape, or form ready to move out. But shortly after that, dad and I, you know, we had gone out. We had gone to mom, papa bees. I guess it's a date. It was a date. We went to mama papa bees and to play rook, which I didn't know how to play, so I just sat on a bar stool.

[18:16] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: I still don't know how.

[18:18] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: I don't, either. I just sat on a bar stool and watched everybody play. And Papa bee was making drinks for people that wanted to drink. And so I was having some drinks, and. And I was mixing the wrong things. I didn't know that at the time. Yeah. So I just sat there, and then when it was over, I just continued to sit on the stool because I knew that I was in no shape to stand up. And then. So we ended up going home. I remember getting in the car. I don't remember the trip home.

[18:50] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Oh, yeah.

[18:51] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah. And he dropped me off. I think somewhere in the process, he asked me to marry him. Of course he did. And then when I called him back, I think it was the next day, after I had it together, he said, well, that was a joke. And I was like, some joke. And, of course, then we got married, and we were married for 20 years. Um. But, uh. Oh, yeah. The fun part of all that was is I was. I don't throw up very often from drinking, but my mom was holding my hair and laughing at me.

[19:38] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Oh, sure.

[19:39] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: While I was throwing up, so that was cool. Yay.

[19:43] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Just drinking. Yeah. You were drinking. Cause you were nervous. We've all been there.

[19:47] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Well, I was just having a good time. I was having my own good time. Cause I wasn't playing cards, so. But, yeah. And then my wedding dress was only $500. Actually, the one. The second wedding was my second marriage. The wedding dress was only $500, too. But it was a much prettier dress than the first one. But the first one for the time period was. It was nice, too. It got burned up in the trailer fire, so. Yeah, it got. It was in a garment bag, and it burnt, like, halfway up the bottom of the dress, so.

[20:24] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: So when. Tell me about the trailer fire again.

[20:27] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: The trailer fire. Cassandra was just turned a little over a year old.

[20:33] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Really?

[20:33] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah. Cause you were ten.

[20:35] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Yep.

[20:37] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: But we were. We had been out visiting the neighbors, which is, like, right next door, and I decided it was time for her to go home and lay down, take a nap. So, in most old trailers, the gap on the door is, like, at the top. But ours was at the top or. No, it was at the bottom, not at the top. And we had gone in, and I was trying to get stuff ready for her nap. And she was old enough to reach up and touched the. It was a. It was a gas stove. Oh, yeah. And so she. She had turned the burner on, and wandering through, I had caught it. I turned it off, and so I moved everything off the stove, or I thought I moved everything off the stove. That would create any problem. And her and I went and laid down, and I closed the door, which I don't normally do, but I closed the door, and then I don't think it was like, ten minutes later, somebody was banging on the door. And of course I was livid. Cause I just got Cassandra to sleep and. Cause she needed to sleep. But I got up and I opened the door, and I got hit in the face by. Caught a white hot smoke. So I just turned around, I picked up Cassandra. I didn't even put my own shoes on. I grabbed her baby blanket and grabbed her, and I just went out front. I didn't even have my car keys. I couldn't move my car. They were in the living room where the fire was. But I'm thankful to this day because it was. What is her name?

[22:46] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: The neighbor?

[22:48] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Well, it was a neighbor, but she ended up, I think if it's the same girl that I remember, she ended up dating TJ.

[22:55] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Oh, really?

[22:55] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah, because that's who I was visiting was theme.

[22:59] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Uh, not Melanie? No, no, the other one with the bunch of children.

[23:04] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah.

[23:05] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Okay.

[23:05] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah. But, um, they're the ones that came over and pounded on the door and woke us up. Because if they hadn't, um. I mean, I still have the pictures somewhere, but it was gutted front to back.

[23:21] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Oh, yeah, it was.

[23:22] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: So. And then, you know, I called dad and was like, I told him what was going on, and, I mean, there was no sense of taking you out of school. Cause, like, it's not affecting you specifically at that time.

[23:35] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Yeah, I remember you picking me up at the end of the day, telling me the house burnt down. I'm just like, all right, yeah, cool, cool.

[23:42] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: And you. I've got a picture of you sitting out on the wall in between in the two trailers, but just stood out there and watched it burn. Because apparently I found out later from the landlord that they were having problems with the fire hydrant. So. Yeah, so there was no way they could really put it out because they couldn't get the thing working right. So. But the landlord let us stay in one of the other trailers my mom drove up, her and her husband at the time had gotten, had words about it. And she's like, well, you're not gonna stop me. This is my child. And so she drove up.

[24:31] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Not Fred.

[24:32] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah, it was Fred. It was Fred. But they'd gotten into it and she's like, you're not gonna stop me. And so she got in her car and drove up here. And I have pictures of her I in the trailer that he let us stay in. And then shortly after that is when Wayne and Edwina, dad, aunt and uncle, they were realtors. And so they ended up getting him the house that we're moving into now.

[25:05] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Tell us about that fantastic house. Tell me about the times we've then. All the times it's flooded.

[25:15] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Well, I'll tell you about the worst one. The worst one is the most fun because the city had come in and raised the house years ago, but it was five, like 5ft off the ground because I've actually walked up next to it and measured because I'm five'four. And so it's like five foot off the ground. The night that it actually flooded, I came up there, actually, because I thought, hey, this would be a safer place to be because it floods at my apartments too. So, like, not. So we went up there. It was you and me and Cassandra, dad, the cats and Andrea, I believe.

[25:54] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Yep.

[25:55] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: And then I ended up calling at one point, you know. Cause dad was just gonna ride it out. Dad wasn't gonna call anybody. And so I called the fire department and I told them where we were at. And I think it was like, it seems like it was like two or three in the morning or something like that.

[26:13] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: It was real early.

[26:14] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: It was real early before they could finally come get us. And then they had the boats that they tied off to the top porch and we had to crawl over the top rail in order to get it, get into the boat. And then they had to take two trips because they couldn't put all of us in one boat. So you and Andrea and Cassandra went in the first one and dad and I went in the second one.

[26:36] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Yeah. I remember spending, I think, at least three days at Shane's house with Andy.

[26:41] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah. And I think dad and Cassandra and I went to Mama Bee's, so. But, you know, at least we had a place to go.

[26:50] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Yeah, absolutely.

[26:51] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: That was. And I measured the water line for where it stopped and it was less than a foot for coming in the floorboards of the house. So. Yeah. Yeah. Exciting times.

[27:08] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: I mean, there's also the. We also got fish in the fence when we first moved in.

[27:12] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Oh, yeah, the carp. The huge carp that was in the back fence because the carp was coming in. And then there was another fish. It was a smaller fish, but it was still a significant fish. But he had apparently come in, but then decided he wanted to go back the other way, and he got stuck. So. Yeah, that now is a jungle.

[27:31] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: So it's something we're going to have to slowly prune away now that you're moving into the house.

[27:37] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah, yeah. Talking to Glenn, he actually has a weed eater that has an attachment that has blades that he. At some point, I think he's planning on coming in and helping to take down some of these trees that are back there. It's gonna be a process.

[27:56] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Oh, absolutely. Yeah.

[27:57] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: In some ways, I kind of like it because when it rains, it's kind of cool to have the trees there, but I don't really like all of it. I'd rather have the yard for Emmy. And besides that, it brings more animal life up closer to the house, like raccoons and possums.

[28:17] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Look, man, all I gotta do is take care of the trash problem, and they'll be okay. We'll just have pet raccoons.

[28:24] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Pet raccoons, anything.

[28:26] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: We just need to work on the back fence. That's.

[28:33] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah. But, um, the house holds a lot of memories.

[28:38] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Oh, yeah, absolutely. I'm glad you're getting it because father passed away, you know, just last year due to Covid. We, uh, we lost him, unfortunately. So now after I moved down here, you're moving into his house to take care of that. Like, it'll be nice. You won't have to pay rent. You'll have an actual home and a house and somewhere you love. What all. What are some of your plans with the house?

[29:20] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Do you have to give me a second?

[29:21] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Yeah, that's the whole point. I keep. I'm asking hard questions to get this out of you. Where do you intend to put dad in the house?

[29:35] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: I've been thinking about that, and I'm not totally sure. Cause I have my gray bookcase, and I don't want to be bought him on the top shelf because my snowflake goes on the top shelf. But there's a lot of it will depend on the space, but that is definitely going to be. I thought sometimes about putting him in my room because I'm not saying nobody else cares, but I feel like.

[30:08] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Like kind of the Spanish have alters to their deceased, and it would be nice if people just paid more respect. Like, you know, your daughter is only 22 right now. She doesn't know how to respect anything she's lost.

[30:23] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah.

[30:23] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Yeah.

[30:24] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: But I thought about putting him in my room just because I feel like, kind of like you said, it's like. Like periodically, I stopped and talked to him.

[30:39] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: He was your best friend. Even after you two got divorced.

[31:04] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: I miss him.

[31:06] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: I miss him, too.

[31:24] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: But, yeah, I just want him to have a respectful place.

[31:35] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Look, I appreciate that. I appreciate you doing that to him. I know he would hate it. And that's all the more reason to do it, because the man rode in the backseat without a seatbelt. Like, you could place him on the bottom shelf and he'd be happy.

[31:48] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Absolutely. And that's exactly why he sat in the backseat, because he didn't want to wear a seatbelt.

[31:53] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Nope.

[31:54] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: If I sit in the back seat, I don't have to wear a seatbelt. That was his favorite place to be, and that's why.

[32:03] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: He wanted to relax. He was still a country boy at heart. He wanted to do. He wanted. No rules at all.

[32:10] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: No, no, no. But, yeah, back to the wedding. We didn't finish the wedding, but the wedding was very simple. I actually made the decorations myself.

[32:25] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Oh, really?

[32:26] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yeah. I mean, it was. It was simple. I took baskets, and you had, like, the floral stuff that you stick in there, and then you just stick, like, fake flowers in. So that's what I did. And one side, I think, was. I think I had a mixture of pink and blue. I'd have to look at it. And Uncle Ed was his best Mandev, and TJ was in it also. And my maid of honor was my best friend at the time. Tony. Her name was Tony Edwards. That's actually how I originally met dad, because dad and I. She invited me to go with her. And dad's psychologist or psychiatrist at the time, suggested he get out and go do things, and suggested that place. And so that's how we met, was at a singles volleyball group.

[33:17] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Yep.

[33:19] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: So best choice. Best choice you could have made. Otherwise I wouldn't have had my best friend.

[33:30] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: What kind of. What kind of. How did you play volleyball? I know. I know how he did. We're gonna talk about him. His trophy.

[33:40] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: I think it was middle school or high school that I played volleyball in school. I love volleyball. It's one of my favorite sports. My hands wouldn't tell you that now, but maybe that's why they tell me that, because of that. But I played volleyball in high school. And then I really hadn't played a whole lot since then. Then Tony invited me to go with her to the singles volleyball group, and that's where I met dad. And we started dating shortly after that. And we have an award, which I don't think I told you. The little plaque that goes on front of the most on the floor award. I found it sitting up there on top of the bookcase.

[34:28] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Okay, good.

[34:29] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: So I'm gonna. I'm gonna glue it back on. I forgot where exactly I set it, but I set them both together, so I'll find it.

[34:35] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: So what is that award?

[34:37] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: That is because he dove so much to get the balls. The volleyballs on the floor that were close to the floor. So they gave him that award. Yeah, that's one of the days when he was active, but, um, trying to think. One of the great times. This shows you the heart he had when we moved up from Florida, when I left Glenn and moved up, he let us move up. I asked him, told him what was going on, and he said yes. He said, and then I have pictures of him with Cassandra. But, you know, he was willing to take in me again after leaving and then Cassandra and raise Cassandra as a son. And I think we don't thank people enough, and I'm thankful that he was there for me and for her.

[36:01] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: All alive.

[36:03] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: He worked hard for all of us.

[36:05] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Yes, he did. He didn't know how to show us that he worked hard.

[36:10] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yep. He showed us because he worked from the time that he was 16 years old, which none of us were in his life at that time. But he started working at 16 years old, and he worked till he was 58, maybe. So he's worked majority of his life. And when he didn't want to go back, he just wanted to chill. I get it. I totally get it. I raised kids most of my life, so, you know, when the guys I was with said, hey, you don't have to. You can raise the kids. That's what I did. But now I have to work, so. But that's okay, too.

[36:50] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Eventually. Your daughter will figure it out.

[36:53] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Yep. But I love what I do for my family, so.

[36:58] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Good.

[36:58] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: That's.

[36:59] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: We love having you.

[37:00] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: That's what's most important.

[37:08] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Anything else you want to get out in the time we have?

[37:15] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: I'm thankful you're in my life.

[37:17] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: I'm thankful to have you, too, mom.

[37:20] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: And I'm glad you did this.

[37:23] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: I'm glad you were able to come down.

[37:26] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Surprise, surprise.

[37:29] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: That's one big thing I learned from dad. Gotta make it a surprise. Gotta make it fun.

[37:34] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: That's what I always did to my mom. I just listened to my mom and whatever she wanted, if I could do it, that's what I did.

[37:41] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Yeah. But thank you so much for coming out today. I'm glad you were able to get off work. I'm glad you were able to come see me.

[37:51] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Oh, thank you for inviting me. I've had an amazing time. Of course.

[37:55] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: I love you. Thank you so much for having me.

[37:56] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Not just now, but the last 24 hours, so to speak.

[38:01] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Jumping in the river, hanging out with me. I know I'm the older I. Child, I'm the good one right now.

[38:09] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Do I love you. But I wouldn't change a thing.

[38:12] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: No, I love you, too.

[39:10] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Time goes by too fast.

[39:11] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Yes, it does.

[39:17] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Cause again, I could sit and talk for a lot longer.

[39:20] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Well, there's always you and I coming next time. But I'm glad you were able to do this. I'm glad it taught you how to open up.

[39:31] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: I know how to open up. I just don't allow yourself to that. And I just don't open up to anybody.

[39:41] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: Nope. I wonder where I got that from.

[39:44] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: I did that with one person and they used it against me, so. So you have to be careful.

[40:00] CHARLES ANTHONY FULTON II: What is the name of your father?

[40:03] MONIQUE R. WEAVER: Oh, Charles Fulton, senior.