I had all the great players since my relative was Sherm Loller the great second baseman for the Chicago White Sox. I followed nearly every game of his. I was determined to become a great baseball player.
Alas, I was left handed which only goes to show how prejudiced the world is against the lefty. Nonetheless, baseball was the refuge for the Southpaw. Third base Shortstop or Second base were my only infield options.The coach finally put me in the outfield.
My parents gave my brother Mike a brand new Schwinn bike. In the spirit of brotherly love he allowed me to use it in spite of it being way too big for me. Once I was in the saddle, I could reach the pedals and practice. I was riding on the sidewalk. I was reasonably safe. The butcher shop was receiving fresh meat that morning so the sidewalk was blocked. I decided to cut through the parked cars and go around the blockage without the problem of dismounting.
As I was executing this maneuver, I was struck by a car driven by a lady and her daughter hurrying to Catholic school. The impact threw me on the ground and the bike crashed into the parked car hanging up on the bumper. In shock, I stood up and started crying for a moment. She jumped from the car and started fawning over me. I was shook. She offered to take me home. I said no.
My parents gave my brother Mike a brand new Schwinn bike. In the spirit of brotherly love he allowed me to use it in spite of it being way too big for me. Once I was in the saddle, I could reach the pedals and practice. I was riding on the sidewalk. I was reasonably safe. The butcher shop was receiving fresh meat that morning so the sidewalk was blocked. I decided to cut through the parked cars and go around the blockage without the problem of dismounting.
As I was executing this maneuver, I was struck by a car driven by a lady and her daughter hurrying to Catholic school. The impact threw me on the ground and the bike crashed into the parked car hanging up on the bumper. In shock, I stood up and started crying for a moment. She jumped from the car and started fawning over me. I was shook. She offered to take me home. I said no.
I knew what that meant if she took me home. She would see that I was a home alone kid and actually find out where I lived. Best to deflect this unwanted visit. Mike would not even suspect the accident.
I would ride down St Phillip and have to turn around which meant stop pedaling, get off and find a curb so I could jump back on. I needed help now and then to do this maneuver.
One day, a black boy said he'd help me get back on. He invited me to lunch at his family table. That was the nicest experience and such a rewarding remembrance of black kindness.
These folks supplimented their diet by foraging in the woods and hunting and fishing. It was my first taste of the highly poisonous Polk salad which is named from the James K. Polk administration who helped the South before the Civil War.
The Civil War is continually remembered by Southerners and re-fought daily, by the way. You must learn to let go of the past if you are to proceed to the future.
St Phillip was the only time my maternal grandmother visited us. Jetty was a widower and frail. She had seven offspring and was continually being passed between all those households. She loved going to different places to visit her children who were now scattered throughout the South on the train. She was very quiet which should have been recognized as an early symptom of Alzheimer's.
St Phillip was the only time my maternal grandmother visited us. Jetty was a widower and frail. She had seven offspring and was continually being passed between all those households. She loved going to different places to visit her children who were now scattered throughout the South on the train. She was very quiet which should have been recognized as an early symptom of Alzheimer's.
She would be sitting waiting for us to kiss her on the cheek as we began our play day. The only thing she loved more besides her family was to traveling on the Hummingbird Express that ran from Jacksonville to New Orleans.
I remember her devotion to family was immense. My mother and I traveled to her bedside in Alabama when she succumbed to entropy or what the doctors call old age. I saved the salt and pepper packets from her food tray as a reminder of her. I was seven years old.
I remember vividly rising very early in the morning to go and stand between my Grandfather's knees and watch the roaring fire he just built in anticipation of the rest of the household waking up. It was a silent visit we shared.
I remember vividly rising very early in the morning to go and stand between my Grandfather's knees and watch the roaring fire he just built in anticipation of the rest of the household waking up. It was a silent visit we shared.
He certainly loved having me around. I could just barely walk and spent my days in the walker with wheels. I could not get through the doorway which was an immense sort of frustration for me. We were living in Dothan because my father was killed in one of those inexplicable train accidents. They say he was drinking in the job.
Only after years had gone by, did I hear the story of his death. It seems he was a notorious womanizer having two wives with my Mother being the second. He was a brakeman for the railroad. At least he felt no pain.
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