The Northside Sun from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 11

SECTION L) THE NORTHSIDE SUN, IACKSQN, MISSISSIPPI Thursday, lanuary 27, 2005 Mm gmIs DUO no JJ 1) feoiois Mter "Big River" and I said, and he said. 'Because I am going to introduce you and you arc going to come out and sing on she said. "He introduced mc and I had no choice. I was absolutely terrified. I can't even tell you if I even sang the right words or not," she said.

She sang "Riding on the City of New Orleans." No matter what, her dad always told her how good she did. 6 "Even if I knew I didn't do good, he'd always encourage mc and always smile and act so proud of me. It just made me feel so good," she said. She sang with him the last show he ever did. She eventually started writing and singing her own songs on stage.

She went on to sing for two years in her own band. The Next Generation, with Peggy Lynn, Loretta Lynn's daughter, Kathy Twitty, Conway Twitty's daughter and Georgette Jones, George Jones and Tammy Wynette's daughter. "We never made a record, we just wanted to be on the road," she said. June always told her to wear the biggest jewels she could find for the stage. "She said the audience wouldn't know if they were real or not She loved jewelry," Cindy said.

"She was a hoot. There was no one like that woman. She was very eccentric. She was a comedian in the 1950s when her family was singing. She was so funny.

She made up words that she used and we all knew what they meant," she said. June and her dad had an amazing connection, she said. "They never fought They had an understanding for each other that was really a good friendship. They could read each other's minds. I really miss them," she said.

June Carter Cash died in May of 2003 at the age of 73 after undergoing heart surgery, and Johnny Cash died September 12, 2003 at the age of 71 from complications of diabetes. CURRENTLY, CINDY'S mother, Vivian, is working on a book about her life with Johnny Cash. Many letters from when they were dating will also be in the book, she said. Cindy also published a book in 1997, "The Cash Family Scrapbook," which features more than 200 family photos, songs, poems and letters written by Cindy and her family. It also features early stories of Johnny Cash's life and the Cash family genealogy.

By DENISE CRONES Sun Staff Writer FOR CINDY CASH'S 18th birthday her dad wrote her a song, Cindy I Love You. In the sweet lyrics, her father, the late country music legend Johnny Cash, tells his daughter he will always love her even though he's not always there. Cindy Cash, 46, the third daughter from his first marriage to Vivian Distin (formerly Vivian Liberto), shared a few stories of her life growing up a Cash while she was re-arranging items in her antique booth at The Antique Mall of the South in Ridgeland. Cash lives in Madison with her husband, Eddie Panetta, a lifelong Jackson resident. She and Panetta dated long distance while she lived in Nashville.

'I've always wanted an antique store, but I thought a booth would be easier," she said Cindy said her late stepmother, June Carter Cash, was a big collector and loved antique stores. "Dad used to say the bus would automatically turn into antique stores," she said laughing. "June actually had an antique store at her office open to the public," Cindy said. Some of the items in Cindy's booth are from June's store. "There is nothing in here for sale that belonged to my dad.

There are some of June's things that came out of her store. My siblings gave me all her retail that wasn't her personal stuff," she said. The only things for sale in her booth are items she bought or were given to her. In her booth, there is a glass case with an angel sitting on top which holds personal mementos of her dad's and June's. A POSTCARD IN THE case from her dad reads, "Hi Cindy, I love you baby.

See you in a few days." The Cash girls, Rosanne, Kathy, Cindy, Tara and his wife Vivian, didn't get to see him much during his career, but when they did, Cindy said it was always fun. The family lived in California, an hour from Los Angeles and when her dad would come home, he was either acting or in the studio. "When he came out there he would always have a car come get us. We would stay with him and do whatever he was doing. We were with him when he did 'little House on the Prairie," "Coiumbo" and all that stuff because it was all done out there and that's where we lived," she said.

While he was on the set of "Little House on the Prairie," she and her sister Tara asked if they could go Cindy Cash would often join her father, Johnny, on stage when touring used to tell me that He'd say, 'When I look at you, it's like looking at me when I was your to the set of "Happy Days." "The day we met the Fonz we were so excited. He was the hottest thing in this coun- try," she said. age. And 1 would say, un, she said. She was on the road with Her parents divorced when Cindy was nine.

Her dad moved to Nashville and him for five years. "He loved to be on the bus as opposed to flying. We eventually purchased a house on Old Hickory Lake in Hendersonville, so his children could come visit him. There the girls would spend would take naps, cook our own meals and watch movies. It was fun," she said.

two week periods during the summer. When Cindy was older she CINDY DTD SHOWS with her dad and his wife June throughout their began going on the road with him. "I loved going on the road with him. That was where he was most comfortable. That's where we got to know each other the best.

On the road we bonded and I found out that I am so much like him it's scary. He careers. The first time she sang with her dad was last minute, Cindy said. "We were at a state fair. I was 16 years old and about 10 minutes before the show he said, 'Hey, go find something pretty to wear and be ready after I sing, Do your eyes thirst for comfort? iiaiiy 7-r--T7T-amriMjg0m win 1 zmtHi.

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