There are a lot of unanswered questions. And a lot that will always go unanswered, for there are no answers.

Three score and ten years ago it all began. I was born on October 1, 1928 in Augusta, Georgia in a barrio known as Frog Holler. The name was given for the reason that it was a low lying area and when it rained, water stood making the frogs come out and holler. A big canal ran from the Savannah River by our barrio and furnished water to the cotton mills. I can still hear the noise from the looms running twenty four hours a day in those cotton mills. Where was OSHA in those days? Well there was none really and the poor people that slaved in those mills had to suffer from hearing problems as I know, for my Grandmother Hoy was employed there. Her pay in those days was about six dollars a week carry home. Can you Imagine?

Well let me tell you something, I have an uncanny memory and there have been lots of friends that have encouraged me to tell my story as I remember it. I seem to have overlooked giving credit to my friend Bob Tode as he incouraged me for a long time that I should start putting some of my memories on paper. Bob had a lot to do with my getting up on the computer and coached me some with Windows 3.1. He gets a big credit! And it all began in 1995. My wife Lolly was the first person and recently a new found friend and I shall name him, Robert Grady encouraged me to start a web page and through his help and patience here I am. I only hope the story doesn't bore you. Never in my dreams did I realize that I would be putting it where the whole world could see and read it. Well lets get back to the job at hand.

My parents Margaret and Grady had three son's. All three destined to serve in the U.S. Navy. The eldest son being Henry Grady Jr. and the next Bert C. with me the youngest. There was too much age difference between my older brothers and I, to have much of a relationship. I was just the kid brother always tagging along and in the way.

I was fortunate to be able to know and enjoy all my grandparents. I have been surprised at the number of those that didn't.

The good old days! I remember them well. I even remember the first haircut I had at a barber shop and I remember the first time I met a policeman. There are so many memories in this mind of mine and yet I have people tell me they have no memories of their early childhood. My early days are very vivid in my mind. Mother was always there for me and I got into lots of trouble or at least it seemed that way.

There was so much to do and enjoy, unlike most kids today. In the good old days you couldn't keep us in the house and today you can hardly get the kids out of the house. Nature was our thing, with fishing, camping and the likes. Walking also was our thing and it was nothing to walk five or six miles a day and it cost nothing! I actually learned to swim in Reyes creek that runs through the Augusta National golf course and used to recover golf balls from the creek.

Here I was right in the middle of the big depression, growing up and not even aware it was happening. Our big plans for a week end was to go camping on a creek or pond scrounging what we could to put something together for our food. One would get a couple of potatoes, another a couple onions and another a can of tomatoes. We called it potatoe soup. I can smell the camp fire now and there was always a bay tree around to supply the bayleaf to give it that special flavor. If we were lucky enough to catch a couple of fish before the stew was ready we would add them to it and it now became fish chowder. Things were tough in those days and food and extras were very scarce.

As I was growing up there became instances where I began to question different occurances. One was I never understood the segregation imposed on the black people. On an election day as I stood in line with my Mother and Dad as they waited to vote, I noticed a group of black people standing across the street and I asked my Mother what were they doing there and she said they were protesting as they wanted to vote but were not allowed to. I asked why and my question went unanswered. I was about five or six at the time.

Never while growing up did I ever hear any talk of racism. Everyone used the N word in refering to the black people but there was never discussions about the different races. We knew lots of blacks and my mother used to have a lady named Sophie sit me when she had to go somewhere. She was black and I never knew the difference. I liked Sophie she was a very sweet lady. Sophie also would come and ask mother for work or a little food. Mother might not be able to pay her but she always had food for her and her family. We were poor in those days for sure. If we had meat once a week we were lucky. My mother always had a garden and raised her own chickens and turkeys. She would trade eggs and her famous relish chow chow for feed for the chickens and for butter and milk.

From the time I started school until the day I left for the Navy we were not allowed to play after school with a lot of our friends. When I finally questioned this I was told that those that were catholic were not allowed by their parents to socialize with protestants. And we lived on the same block! It all changed once we went away and returned home. Everything changed and the big war and rationing was over. Catholics, protestant, black, white, we all had drank from the same cup. But then we soon forgot! It began to escalate and the minority issue became predominant. Prejudice, bigotry and hate had all started to grow again. At one time I thought that perhaps when all the older ones had passed that might change the way of thinking, I was wrong.

My Father's only hobby was fishing. He had a friend named Gus Phillips and they were the greatest of fishing buddies. For years they would leave every Sunday morning at around five a.m. and head out fishing. They always came home with fish. Lot's of them. Every one in the family ate fish except my Dad. I loved eating fish as it was one of my favorites. I loved and admired my father. In my Father's foot steps I became a fisherman.

My father was superintendant of the water works for the city of Augusta, having followed in the steps of my Grandfather Wylds. Water was pumped to the water works from the Savannah river and purified. The Savannah river was a red muddy water and it was amazing to see how it turned to pure crystal clear water for drinking. He had started as superintendant at eight dollars per week. My oldest brother Grady Jr. was to follow my dad as superintendant when he retired. I knew my Grandfather Wylds until he passed away when I was about seven years old. He used to make his own wine from wild cherries and rolled his own cigars. The wild cherries grow all over the state of Georgia. My Grandmother Wylds used to like to scare me by poking her false teeth out at me. I was about twenty years old when she passed away. My Mother was a housewife and was a great Mother. She taught all of us boys how to do everything , cook, wash and even how to iron clothes. My grandparents from my Mother's side were Grandfather Hoy and Grandmother Hoy. Grandfather Hoy was a retired fireman for the city of Augusta. He died of a heart attack in 1937 and I was nine years old at the time. My Grandmother Hoy told me he died sitting on the floor at her feet. He had been out side chopping wood for the stove and fire place and had come inside complaining of his left shoulder and she told him to sit down and she would rub it for him. She said he sighed once and died right then at her feet. My Grandmother lived to be ninety nine years old and died in 1989. My Mother followed her in 1992. She was one month short of being ninety.

My dad's friend Gus Phillips took me under his wing at about the age of thirteen and taught me about watches and jewelry. This was to have an impact on my life in later years. After about a year of his tutoring he helped me start my first business. Mind you I was still going to school and eager to learn all I could as I knew that one day I would have to support myself. There were a lot of pawn shops in Augusta at that time and Mr. Phillips took me around to all the pawn shops and introduced me to the owners as someone who could do their watch repairs for them. I would repair a watch and it didn't matter what was wrong with it, all they would pay was two dollars and fifty cents a peice to repair them. I did real well at this new trade and soon knew my independence. I continued with this business up until I joined the Navy. I came out of the Navy in 1947. With the GI bill of rights in my pocket I decided to further my education and I decided to continue in the watch and jewelry field. After checking with all the different schools, I decided on Houston, Texas as the best due mainly to the climate. The other alternative would have been Denver, Colorado. I took an advanced course in Watch making and Jewelry which was for one year. I had finished the course in four months but they would not let me graduate until I had been there for a year. Seventy five dollars a month plus a part time job I had driving a city bus was all the income I had. I drove part time and only during the rush hours. Early morning and late afternoon. I lived in a rooming house and had two meals a day five days a week for the sum of ten dollars. I still have my diplomas for graduating from the Houston School of Horology.

Now we come to my work history! The first job I held was as a soda jerk at a drug store while I attended high school at Richmond Academy an ROTC school. Here I learned to make milk shakes, ice cream sundaes and sodas. the second Job I had was as an usher at a movie theatre where you wore a fancy uniform and showed people to their seats with a flashlight.

My life has had lots of ups and downs. I was brought up to believe that a man got married had a family and was the provider for that family. I actually felt that it was a lifetime commitment by both parties. For the record I have been married four times. My first marriage lasted ten and a half years. My second lasted eight and one half years and the third seventeen years. The fourth marrige will last forever! I acrued four bonus children in my fourth marriage and love them as my own. I had three children in the first marrige and two in the second marriage. So far I have outlived two wives and two children. I never thought once that it would be this way.
It has been one helluva good life my friends!

This symbol of the sun has a significant meaning to me, as I live on the Mexican border across from the city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas. Which I will explain to you in another chapter. October 19, 2001, Now my daughter Alicia has joined her brother Javi in pressing me to get on with completing these pages. Soon my loves soon! <bgsound src="myway3.mid" loop=infinite>