When I was a very little girl, my family lived in Waynesboro, Georgia. My father had become ill, and had to stay in the hospital for two years in Milledgeville. My mother moved us to Waynesboro to be closer to him. Because I was only about three or four years old, I don’t remember very much about that time. My younger brother, Bobby, was born while we lived there.
There was a railroad track that went through the very back of our yard. It was an exciting thing for little kids to see the trains go by during the day. My older brother, Richard, and I always ran to the back of the yard to watch them. Some days, if we were lucky, the conductor would wave to us and throw us a pack of Juicy Fruit Gum.
Richard was somehow allowed to go with our babysitter’s family to pick cotton in the fields outside of town. He had his own cotton sack, which was huge for a little boy! Richard went with the workers every day for a week. His sack didn’t have nearly as much cotton in it as the older workers, but he was proud of the amount of cotton he picked. On Saturday, someone knocked on our door, and asked for Richard. The man was there to pay him for his work. After the cotton was weighed, Richard was paid with coins. I don’t remember how much he had made, but I do remember him running around the house, shaking those coins in his hands. He thought he was rich!
The last thing I remember is that our Aunt and Uncle lived in a mansion in town. We went to their house several times to play with cousins. This house was beautiful, and had stairs with wooden banisters going up to the second floor from the foyer. I got in so much trouble for sliding down those banisters!
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