My parents traded houses with my grandparents on my daddy's
side when I was four, which would be in 1963, so we moved from the big house to the little white house. They
decided to trade houses because the big house had more room, and then my two
aunts and an uncle were still living at home.
The little white house was located about half a mile down the same road, Willow Branch Road, as the big house.
My most vivid memory of the little house is Christmas, and
Mama and Daddy coming to the bedroom my brother and I shared to coax us out of bed to
see what Santa brought us. Can you
imagine children having to be coaxed out of bed on Christmas morning? I guess my brother and I were a bit
timid. It could have something to do
with watching for Santa and his sleigh out the bedroom window. Maybe we were afraid he would still be there
and we were shy.
I remember only one of
my Christmas gifts and it was a horse pillow for TV watching. My brother and I each got one.
One other memory I have from living in the little white
house was watching Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock with my parents. They probably didn't think I was watching,
but those people with pig snouts scared me, and I also remember dolls that came to life. That memory could
explain why I freaked out when I discovered my husband years later watching Stephen King's
"It" while our toddler played in the same room!
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| My dad and baby sister at the little white house |
One day Mama and us kids were outside, Mama sitting on the back step with my baby sister Sharon, and Allen and I playing in the backyard. A red wasp landed in Mama's hair and as she shook her head to get it out, it decided to take off after me! Mama cried, "Run, April!" So I ran. But I didn't run fast enough or far enough. I stopped running and that red wasp popped me on the forehead over my left eyebrow and then on my hand when I brushed it away. I still have the hole in my forehead from the stinger. I've been afraid of wasps ever since. Mama tried. . . Wait, isn't that a
song?
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| Me helping with Sharon at the little white house |
I don't have many more memories of life in the little white house, but I do remember Mama chasing my brother around the house in a tight shift dress. I don't recall if they were playing or if he was in trouble! (Probably the latter.)
On to the house by the football field in Van. . .stay tuned!
XOXO
Labels: Mama Tried, Merle Haggard, red wasp, Smith County, Texas, Willow Branch Road
