A charmed childhood

I grew up in a very small southern town, although it has maintained its designation as a city, it has always been very rural. I simply cannot imagine it any other way. I came along in an era when we had a lot more folks around in our little town. These days there are not nearly as many as there once was. Regardless, it’s home and I’m proud to be here.

I grew up in a world where everybody here took part in raising the children. Everybody in town had permission from my parents to reprimand me for whatever mischief I got to. They would discipline me, and I would get disciplined again when I made it home. It was a much simpler time, I long for those days to return.

I think to some degree I was on the tail-end of a society that was really something to be proud of. Things have changed so much from the days of my childhood to the days we live in now. I’m not saddened by that fact, I realize that things inevitably change, I just wish the kids today could experience all the things I did as a child.

There were still quite a few kids around in my day, they served as playmates, partners in crime, but mainly as friends. Most of the ones I grew up with have since moved on to greener pastures. Despite their absence, their friendship and their love for this little town have only continued to grow over all these years.

It’s June, summertime in the south, hot weather abounds and as an adult I don’t love summer like I did as a child. Summer days during my youth were spent working at the grocery store, except for Sundays and Mondays when the store was closed. I always looked forward to Sun-days because after church, I would be allowed to go swimming at McKinney’s Pond in the swimming pool.

Henry Clark ran the pool in those days, and he was entrusted with watching over all us young’uns. Everybody would be there, all the kids from Midville and all the kids from Emanu-el County who lived in close proximity to McKinney’s. It was a grand time to be alive in Mid-ville. Our parents would drop us off at the swimming pool, not to return until late in the afternoon.

As good as Mr. Henry was, he watched us rather loosely, we were free to do just about any-thing. And we did! It was all basically harmless though, as we knew better than to really mis-behave. We ate Snickers bars, cold, that came from that old cooler. We drank snow cones made with crushed ice and syrup that was pumped from a gallon jug. Our greatest treat was a cheeseburger cooked on an old flat grill. Mr. Henry was as good as there was at cooking on that old relic of a cooking apparatus.

On Mondays I fished a lot with friends, my grandpa or one of the proprietors of the grocery store. Regardless of who I was with, it was always a grand adventure. Sometimes on Mon-days, I would be recruited by my granny to not only pick peas, but shell them as well. My fingers would be colored a mixture of green and purple according to the variety of peas that had been shelled. What glorious days those were indeed!

Not only in the summer, but the rest of the year as well, we stayed out until dark. Darkness meant not only suppertime, but time to be home. As we got older and started driving, we were allowed to stay out later, but knew we had better be back at whatever time had been appoint-ed. There were no cell phones back then, our parents did not have a constant check on us, but we had been raised in a manner that did not require constant supervision. We had been raised to stay out of trouble and be home on time,

We had vacation bible school, and we were required to go to whatever church was having it, not just our own church. We all sang in the choir at the church I grew up in. The sweet lady who directed us handmade our choir robes. They were white with black collars and hot, but they were made with love. Regular church was at 11 on Sunday morning and Sunday School was at 10. Our attendance was not only expected but required.

As we got older, we followed in the footsteps of the older men and had fish suppers and cooked chickens on the grill. We barbecued whole hogs on oak wood. We fried doves and quail in the fall. We cooked ducks with wild rice in the dead of winter with a roaring fire burning outside. It was such a marvelous time.

We never ventured far. Our days and nights were spent right here. Truth is, I don’t think we wanted to go anywhere. We wanted to be here in this all but forgotten little town. It was and still is home. There was so much love here and we unknowingly at the time, did not want to forsake that love. I still don’t want to forsake that love, the love of the people here.

I said I was not sad, but as I sat here at this keyboard and recounted all these wonderful memories, I have become a little sad. I miss those days and all the people who took such a big part in our upbringing. Nonetheless, my heart is full of gratitude for all we were given because it was indeed a charmed childhood.