1 Memories

Memories from Lois Skinner

A Memory from Lois Skinner

  The world has changed a lot since I visited Mamaw and Papaw in Wharton, Texas as a child and teen.  Now at 66 years old, I cherish those memories.
  
  I remember the excitement of riding in Papaw's old Ford stick shift pickup truck.  One year he purchased a load of watermelons to feed his pigs.  They were loaded into the bed of his truck and we brought them home.  He opened one up and I got to eat it outside.  It was sweet!  I loved spending time alone with Papaw.  I felt loved.

  Since there wasn't a bathroom inside Mamaw and Papaw's small wood framed house, we used their two-seater out house.  We bathed in a galvanized tub in the kitchen in the winter.  The water was heated in a kettle and poured into the tub.  In the summer, we bathed outside in our swim suits in cold water.  No one complained.  It was fun!

  On hot days, when we got thirsty, we ran inside and drank water from a bucket near the sink with a ladle that was shared by everyone.

  I don't think there were any toys to play with, there were no computers, no WiFi or Internet, no cell phones, no landlines, no selfies, no social media ... but I was never bored.  I remember swinging from the vines in the woods behind the creek, being chased by a cow, climbing on the hay stack in the barn and falling off and breaking my arm, exploring the land, getting inside the old Airstream trailer full of wasp nests and dirt dobbers.  I remember picking cotton and wondering how adults could do such hard work day after day.  I remember the night time sounds and smells as we sat on the "gallrey" (front porch) and ate "roastin' ears" (corn on the cob).  The kids listened to the adults talk while we ran around and did cartwheels and somersaults and caught lightning bugs.  I remember Mamaw loved her hair to be brushed.  Some nights, I would brush her hair for what seemed like hours.  She would always say, "I'm not tender headed".  She was so sweet.

  I was blessed with wonderful grandparents, parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  As I age, I appriciate my childhood and family more and more.