Tales From La Salle

About the Book

Through the words of poems and prose about life, love, children, friends, and family, one learns the stature of a woman who liked to make words rhyme. Never formally trained as a poet, but with the admiration and encouragement of family and friends, Jessie Hopkins used words to display her own sense of love, faith, devotion to others, and awe of life. Her simple gifts, like “Lord Help Me Climb My Mountain,” bring forth quiet wisdom. The poems in this book have been collected and bound in celebration of Jessie Hopkins’ life and in remembrance of the love that she and her husband Charles Hopkins shared.

Use these poems to inspire you, if you enjoy a life of simple pleasures,
and see them as a challenge to write your own remembered treasures.

About the Author

Jessie Marie Crockett Hopkins was born in her parent’s home on La Salle Avenue in Hampton, Virginia on June 23, 1917. She was the daughter of Leonard Fulton Crockett and Esther Tennis Crockett. Jessie married Charles “Dick” Hopkins on June 15, 1946 and lived on La Salle and raised their two children, Charles and Esther. She devoted herself to being a wife, mother, grandmother, homemaker, and teacher. Her family was her life. Jessie and Charles passed away in 2006 after celebrating sixty years of marriage. Jessie’s daughter, Esther, married Kenneth Barnes and they have three sons, Brad, Ben, and Brian. Jessie’s son, Charles, continues to live in the home on La Salle Avenue.