Awin is home to one of the most unique landmarks in Wilcox County

Wilcox County’s Awin community is located at the intersection of State Highway 10 and State Highway 47 in the extreme southeastern corner of the county. If you visit this intersection today, the most prominent landmarks you’ll see are the remnants of two old country stores. However, if you look a little closer, you’ll find one of the most unique landmarks in all of Wilcox County.

Not too long ago, I found myself in “downtown” Awin and stopped in the forks of the road to snap a few pictures of the old Driscoll’s Grocery store. While there, I had the good fortune to met Mr. Daniel Driscoll Jr., the retired former proprietor of the store. Driscoll now lives in a comfortable dwelling behind the old store, and he invited me up onto his porch to talk.

As Driscoll rocked in his porch swing and I occupied a rocking chair, we discussed the community and how much it had changed over the years. While sitting on Driscoll’s porch, I noticed what looked like a tombstone in a patch of tall, green grass, a few steps from the main door to his old store. I asked him about this lone grave in the middle of this busy crossroads, and he proceeded to tell me about what may be one of the most remarkable and unusual graves in all of Wilcox County.

I presumed that the grave was that of one of Driscoll’s close relatives or maybe someone who lived on the property years ago, but Driscoll explained that the headstone actually marked the burial site of his beloved pet and long-time feline companion, Cleopatra. Driscoll disappeared inside his home for a few seconds and returned with a framed photograph of “Cleo,” a large cat with a mottled coat of white, brown and black.

Grave is to the left of Driscoll's Grocery entrance.

Driscoll explained that Cleo was born in the early 1980s and from the time she was a small kitten until the day she died, she was his faithful companion. I asked what happened to the cat, presuming it had been struck by a vehicle at the busy intersection, but Driscoll said that she’d actually died of old age. According to her tombstone, which is nicer than some you’ll see in many cemeteries, Cleo was born on March 23, 1981 and died at the age of 18 on Jan. 14, 2000.

Driscoll still has several cats today, who enjoy roaming around his yard, sunning themselves around his tulip trees. As we stood there together, the breeze carried down to us the fragrance of the honeysuckle growing around the tall birdhouse not far from his porch. Once the martins begin to show up, his cats will turn an eye toward figuring out how to catch one for breakfast, he said.

I eventually bid Driscoll farewell and eased on down the road. As I drove away, I began to wonder about just how many people pass through this busy intersection each day and about the thousands who have driven past Cleo’s gave over the years without giving it a second glance. In the end, maybe now, faithful readers of The Progressive Era will take note of the memorial in Awin that pays tribute to one man’s faithful animal companion.