Her story began in the Great Smoky Mountains, where a family of 14 lived without modern comforts. With no electricity or running water, life was hard, but they managed by relying on each other and their strong faith. The parents, who married as teenagers, raised their twelve kids in a small, two-room wooden house.

where a family of 14 lived without modern comforts. With no electricity or running water, life was hard, but they managed by relying on each other and their strong faith. The parents, who married as teenagers, raised their twelve children in a small, two-room wooden house.

By their mid-thirties, they had six boys and six girls, making for a lively, noisy household. In this busy home, filled with music and shared chores, the kids learned to make the most of what they had. But how did they handle daily life and stay positive despite the tough times?

She learned to be strong and creative from a young age. As the fourth of twelve kids, she grew up in a simple log cabin on the edge of Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains. The family’s home had no electricity or plumbing, and when she was born, her dad paid the doctor with a sack of cornmeal.

“I’ve always joked that I’ve been raking in the dough ever since,” she said. Life in their small two-room cabin was crowded and loud. The twelve siblings shared beds, with newspapers on the walls to keep out the cold. Their mom sewed their clothes from scraps, and store-bought toys were a luxury they couldn’t afford. So, the kids made up games and played outside.