Wren and I were both in elementary school in El Dorado, Arkansas. Our principal’s name was Miss Ellis. She and our mother (Abie) were great friends. If Miss Ellis had to correct either of us with a paddle, Abie would repeat the process of correction with her peach tree switch when we got home. There were some very good teachers including Mr. Waddell, Miss Eula Good Goodwin, Miss O’Laughton, Miss Bishop, and my favorite, Miss Mouton.
I have many great memories of Southside School including a spelling bee when I was in about the 4th grade. I always loved reading and I was a pretty good student. In the school spelling bee I was left on stage with one other student. My word to spell was "aim". In my anxiety to spell it right, I quickly spelled it "Ame". This of course eliminated me, but I have never forgotten how to spell this word.
My first day in the third grade was spent in a hospital. The day before school started, my brother and I and several friends had been playing in a large lumber yard which contained hundreds of large logs that had been piled high by a local lumber company. We thought it was great fun to jump across one log to another.
It was almost dark and I tried to jump across a large log when it suddenly started rolling toward me. I jumped off backward from the log and it continued to roll, pinning one of my legs between it and another log. The pain was unbearable and I must have fainted. The next thing I knew I was being shaken from side to side. When I woke up I was in the arms of a large boy who had picked me up and was running to my home with me. He and my brother had lifted the log off my leg. Fortunately no bones were broken, but the nerves in my left leg are still dead.
The third grade was quite an eventful year for me. My parents had separated and my father was no longer living at our home. I could not comprehend the meaning of this at the time, and I missed my father very much.
Valentine's day was very important to all third grade students. Each student was expected to buy a valentine for his or her special friend in the same room. These cards cost about 1 cent each and at that time my mother did not have this kind of money to give to me. I was feeling very sorry for myself.
About the middle of the day, there was a knock on the classroom door. The teacher went to the door and then turned and motioned for me to come to the door. I had a visitor! There stood my father who had a paper sack filled with enough Valentine cards for me to give to each of my 25 classmates. I was the proudest child in school that day, and I have never forgotten this act of kindness by my father.
Most Sundays our mother would drag us "kicking and screaming" (not really) to Church and Sunday School at a Methodist Church near our home. Sunday School proved to be interesting, but Church service seemed to last an eternity. At about 13 years of age I asked my mother, "Which church should I join?" She told me to visit several other churches with several of my friends and then select any mainline church that I would be most comfortable with a good youth program and then join it and support it. I took her advice and joined the Methodist Church after visiting several others.
She also somehow provided 3 meals a day and at practically every mealtime she would talk to us about honesty, integrity, hard work, how to handle adversity and to be responsible for all our actions. She would also listen to our opinions and would encourage us to do our best at anything we tried.
The main source of income for my undereducated mother (she finished only the third grade) was a small restaurant near the school she called the "Kleen Kitchen". She cooked and served hamburgers and soft drinks only and with our help she managed to provide for Wren and me.
One of my greatest joys as a child was a pair of roller skates my mother provided for Christmas. The skate key was my most prized possession. At this time we lived about a mile from school and I soon wore these skates out by skating to school and back on the sidewalk.
About the middle of the day, there was a knock on the classroom door. The teacher went to the door and then turned and motioned for me to come to the door. I had a visitor! There stood my father who had a paper sack filled with enough Valentine cards for me to give to each of my 25 classmates. I was the proudest child in school that day, and I have never forgotten this act of kindness by my father.
Most Sundays our mother would drag us "kicking and screaming" (not really) to Church and Sunday School at a Methodist Church near our home. Sunday School proved to be interesting, but Church service seemed to last an eternity. At about 13 years of age I asked my mother, "Which church should I join?" She told me to visit several other churches with several of my friends and then select any mainline church that I would be most comfortable with a good youth program and then join it and support it. I took her advice and joined the Methodist Church after visiting several others.
She also somehow provided 3 meals a day and at practically every mealtime she would talk to us about honesty, integrity, hard work, how to handle adversity and to be responsible for all our actions. She would also listen to our opinions and would encourage us to do our best at anything we tried.
The main source of income for my undereducated mother (she finished only the third grade) was a small restaurant near the school she called the "Kleen Kitchen". She cooked and served hamburgers and soft drinks only and with our help she managed to provide for Wren and me.
One of my greatest joys as a child was a pair of roller skates my mother provided for Christmas. The skate key was my most prized possession. At this time we lived about a mile from school and I soon wore these skates out by skating to school and back on the sidewalk.
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