This story aired previously on March 24, 2010
You know the ladies of The Love Kitchen. Their giving spirit, their sweet nature, their devotion to God. But when they take off the aprons, twins Helen and Ellen are all of those things and more.
Every Sunday, it's the same routine: church and then a family lunch at Shoney's, a gathering they never miss.
And it always starts out the same, with Ellen in the driver's seat.
"My sister can't drive a nail, so I've been chauffeuring her all her life. My daddy taught me how to drive," said Ellen Turner.
Their family is a joyous bunch and it's these smiles that have carried Helen and Ellen throughout their lives, lives that began 82 years ago in Abbeville, South Carolina.
"We were sharecroppers, and we worked in the field," Helen Ashe said.
"We grew our own food. Helen and I knew how to garden. We had our own chickens, milked the cow, Mama churned the butter," said Ellen Turner.
"We worked at a house and the man, the owner of the house, had a construction company, and he worked, but his wife didn't work. So, we would go down there, and we would wash dishes," said Helen.
And they had a good, Southern upbringing.
"When I start talking about the wonderful parents we had, it just makes me happy all over," said Helen. "Our parents were talented people. Daddy could make anything, repair anything. And Mama could cut clothes, like she made our clothes without a pattern."
But they got into their fair share of mischief, like when they got into their grandpa's bootleg whiskey.
"We decided we were going to go back and see what Pa was drinking," said Helen.
"He would smack his lips, like it was good," said Ellen.
"And so we drank that stuff and it made us, drunk," said Helen. "And Mama got onto us too, about doing that. Didn't we get a whipping?"
When they graduated from high school in 1946, their parents gave them each money to go on a trip. And where did they choose to go? Knoxville.
It turned out to be a lucky day for them and the city they picked.
"We started looking for us a job, because we wanted to go to college. Our first job was at the S&W," said Helen.
In their time here, they've gotten married. Helen had a child. They opened two restaurants and worked as nurses at UT Medical Center. And in their biggest feat, they started The Love Kitchen.
"Oh honey, there's just so much love. You know that's what keeps you going," said Helen.
And these two sisters had a bond then that is evident now in everything they do.
"God sent two, we say, because there's so much work to be done. But I tell you, I know what my sister's thinking, and she knows what I am thinking," said Ellen.
It's two of "Your Stories" combined into one because there's no place like this one.
