The Way It Was

I was born May 3, 1932, near the end of the Depression.  I was the oldest of twelve children.  My mother and father were young farmers.  We were living on Country Club Road in Wadesboro, NC (near the Golf Course today).  My mother said for Christmas that year she only had $1.00 to spend.  She bought me a little rubber doll, one bag of oranges, one bag of apples, and a bag of peppermint candy; no other gifts. 

I was about four years old and I remember my aunt and I walking to the store, which was located somewhere on Morven Road.  In walking to the store, we had to pass by the Country Home, which is now Heritage Hills Nursing Home. Everytime we pass the home, the patients would be outside walking or standing.  Being young and not knowing any better, we thought they were crazy, so we would crossover to the other side of the road.  We learned in later years that they were just senile. 

My mother had to work in the fields.  She would leave my two brothers and me in the house and tell me not to open the door for anyone while she was gone.  If it were done in this day, it would be child neglect.  I had to learn at an early age to be responsible. 

In late fall of 1936, daddy decided he would not sharecrop any longer.  He had worked hard all year at the end; he did not clear up any money.  He found a house and farm for rent on Route 109 South.  So they packed up and made the move.  I was very excited, moving in this big two-story house on the hill.  My daddy said he could rent for a certain amount of money per year and after all the expenses were paid, he could clear a good profit. 

My oldest brother in 1933 and the second oldest in 1935.  I remember the next nine siblings.  On December 11, 1936, my third brother was born and by summertime, I had one more baby to care for.  By now I was five years old.  Mother always kept busy, washing, cleaning, sewing, cooking and working in the fields. 

After my brother started walking, he was very bow-legged.  My mother got a referral to take to an orthopedic.  They had to travel all the way to Gastonia, NC, the closest orthopedic office.  After several trips and treatments, she was told the only way his legs could be straightened was by breaking them and resetting which would entail wearing casts for several months.  To my mother this was such a horrible thing to do, so she did not take him back to the orthopedic.  She just gave him doses of cod liver oil and massaged his legs several times a day until they improved (almost straight).