Читать книгу When God Calls, You Will Answer! - George A. Ross - Страница 7

My summer time vacation was full of fun and splendor. In the summer, my siblings and I would go to the cotton fields to pick cotton. We always went to work for Mrs. Louise Wilcox, which meant work plus fun. Mrs. Wilcox did not own the farm where she lived; she hired the hands to pick the cotton fields for the owner though. Now, these were happy times for us because when it would rain, we would go over to the Wilcox farm house and ride the calves and the cows in the barn until it stopped raining. We also went skinny dipping in the lakes and creeks located on the land. Pay day was early Saturday mornings, we would gather in line at Mrs. Wilcox’s truck to receive our pay. My cousins, Ellis, Jr., Hollis, Barbara Ann and Lloyd White, were good cotton pickers. They were so good that they could pick a hundred pounds or more a day.

It was a great way to earn our money. We would have enough to buy our own school clothes plus have extra spending money for going to the movies and other things. I remember that feeling of freedom. I was at a high point in my life because I was able to work, buy my own clothes and had money left over in my pocket. All of us kids went to the cotton fields and earned money to help buy the things we needed.

There were some black families that were well-off and their children didn’t have to go pick cotton. These families owned the stores and other businesses in town and made enough money to buy everything their children needed.

There was a time one summer when my mother went with us to the cotton field because my father’s plumbing business was suffering. She pitched in to help make money needed for the family. One afternoon, my mother was thirsty from working so hard in the heat and we had no water left. Actually, there was a little bit of water down in the bottom of the barrel, littered with trash. Back in that day, the trash in the bottom of the barrel was called “drugs.” So my mother poured the remaining water, laden with all of the drugs, into a cup and before she drank it, she placed a clear cloth over the cup to strain the drugs. It was very difficult for us to see our mother in such desperation. We all agreed that we never wanted that to happen again and we all helped out where it was needed.

My cousins from Galveston, Texas, would always visit when they were out of school for their summer vacation. Their names were Margery Ann Bailey and Nelson Miller, Jr. and they visited every summer. We were very close and we loved one another. The summer was a great time for our families to send special time together; we had lots of fun getting reacquainted every year. There was plenty of time for us to spend together, including attending church as a family and just sitting around talking about our dreams or just talking foolishly. We were just being children, enjoying our lives together, creating a bond that would connect us together for life.

We all enjoyed playing hide-and-go-seek. When we played this game, the person doing the seeking counted to ten while all the other players hid quickly before the count was completed. Once the seeker got to ten he or she would begin their search for those that were hidden. Oh, I get so excited just writing about those times. We had a wonderful childhood and I would not change a thing about it. We were kids growing up with two loving parents and loving grandparents on both sides. Whenever we needed correction, it did not matter which parent or grandparent did the correcting. And if one of us did something wrong at school, church or anywhere else, if there was an adult in the area, they would correct us and usually call our parents to tell on us. If that happened, we would prepare ourselves for another round of correcting. In those days the black neighborhood worked together on raising their children. A kid couldn’t get away with anything if there was an adult around.

There was never a dull moment at 2920 Park Avenue, in the summer time we always had something going on. There were fun, teenage places to go to on the weekend. Some of our favorites were Eddie’s Teenage Play, the Freeze-Ease and Boss Man’s. But we had to be home by twelve o’clock so we had to leave Boss Man’s before closing time since they stayed open until twelve. The Freeze-Ease stayed open until ten. We visited Eddie’s Teenage Play, right around the corner, and danced there from time to time but we spent more time at the Freeze-Ease or Boss Man’s. We never complained about anything because we had everything that was needed for us to grow into responsible adults.