Divorcing Mae did not win me any friends in her family. Charles
and I had been good friends a long time and Charles just told me it was
between the two of us and he did not want to get involved. The rest of
the family was not so generous. They all wanted to get involved. I guess
I used this as an excuse not to visit my son. It was a poor excuse and
the real facts are that I just did not visit. There are things you would
do differently if you had the chance to do it all over again and this is
one of them.

	My Mother and I sold the house near the court house. Tuscaloosa
had voted to legalize alcoholic beverage sales and the law at the time
was that beverages could not be sold within one mile of a school unless
it was within 400 feet of the court house. Several people wanted the
house as it was within 400 feet of the court house and beverages could
be sold there. We sold the house to the Carpenter's Union.

	We bought a new house in Meadow Lawn subdivision. It was a two
bedroom house. The first one we bought had a spring under the house and
the man we bought it from gave us a new one on higher ground. It was a
new house and cost about $6,000.00.

	My Mother and I bought a 1941 Chevrolet coupe and got William
Hoggle, who was working at the Studebaker dealership then, to repair
everything he could find wrong with it. We then invited Bill Miller and
his Mother (Aunt Lizzie) to go on a vacation to Colorado with us. Bill
did not want his Mother to go but I told him he could go only if his
Mother went. I asked Bill if he had enough money to pay their expenses
and he said he did.

	We left for Colorado and when we got to Fort Smith, Arkansas the
car kept jumping out of high gear and the speedometer quit working. I
had to hold the gear shift and guess at the speed and miles the rest of
the trip. We went to Colorado Springs, Colorado and the surrounding
area. Bill had enough money for their expenses for one or two days and I
had to pay for everything the rest of the trip. It was a nice trip,
though and we really enjoyed it.

	My Mother met a man named Archie Claypool and they decided to
get married. The house was too small for all of us and I could not
afford to move and pay my own expenses so I decided to get in the Air
Force. The Air Force said I would have to prove I had no dependents so I
got Mae to sign a document to the effect that she and our son were not
dependent on me. The document meant I never had to pay her child support
again but we had a verbal agreement that I would continue to pay and I
did.

	My Mother married Archie in Columbus, Mississippi and I left for
the Air Force.