There were six kids in our family, but by the time my brother, Michael David, and I came along, the others were almost grown and some were already married so it was really like there were just the two of us. Of course, I was the boss since I was older and much wiser than my brother. We were very close when I was not away at school. He was about four when I went to school and would cry if my mother ate ice cream or drank a soda he was saving for me. Keep in mind that I was gone for months at a time :).
My big sister (only 4' 9" now) attended the School for the Blind with me in Talladega when I was in the first grade and part of the second. The older girls lived on the second floor of the dormitory. She would come to my room at night after swimming to hug me goodnight.
My daddy worked at night at a service station in Mobile and would almost always bring home candy for us. When he didn't, Mike and I would pile toys, rocking chairs, and whatever else we could find in his bed so he couldn't go to sleep. Weren't we mean (and just a little spoiled?)
We were like gypsies. We moved a lot and my parents were very spontaneous. My daddy would tell us to get in the car, but we didn't know where we were going. We would end up at the park or at one of my sisters' homes across the Bay in Baldwin County.
When we lived in Beaumont, Mississippi, I liked playing in the woods across the road from my home at age 11 or 12 with my brother and two friends, Darlene and Mike Palmer. The thing I wished my son could have had growing up was the innocence and lack of danger children are exposed to in today's society.
Family reunions at my grandmother's on the 4th of July.
Eating fresh vegetables at my Aunt Addie May Robinson's house with my cousin Teresa.
Going to my Aunt Lucille Smith's and playing in Uncle Ivie's junked cars.
Staying with my sister, Boots, playing cards all night or listening to her and Junior play music.
Visiting my twelve Carroll cousins and carrying on four different conversations at once.
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