Bonnie, you have described much of my own childhood! I lived "in town" unil I was four, then we moved to the country, a mere ten minutes away, but it felt like a whole other world. I learned to "drive" the tractor at age 5, when my father broke his ankle yet had to harvest the corn. I had to stand on the brake and the clutch, allowing the tractor to roll slowly down the roll while my father limped along on his cast, pulling corn and tossing it onto the trailer behind the tractor. I was terrified. Like you, I ran away at 5, but didn't get far enough to find a friendly neighbor to feed me. Strange dogs barking in the distance scared me enough to return home. I remember flying through the fields on my bicycle, chasing my brother as we played cops and robbers, lying on my belly in the woods watching the critters scurrying about, and sliding down mossy rocks in the creek on a hot summer day. When I was 12 all that changed. My mother decided the schools were better in town, so back we went. I went from being a big duck in a tiny pond to a tiny duck in a medium sized one, and never fit in. Last spring my elementary school was nearly destroyed by tornadoes. Recently one of my best friends from then found me on Facebook. From there came reuniting with other classmates and I was declared to be a member of the class even though I didn't graduate there. We're having our reunion in a couple of weeks. From the pictures I've seen, I can still see those childlike faces behind the gray and the wrinkles. It feels like I've finally come back to where I belong.
Bonnie, you remember when girls absolutely never wore jeans? It is a lifetime ago, but there you and Sonny are. In a decade, you would have been in pants.
Cyndia, your story is amazing! I was such a shrimp at the age of 5 that I'm pretty sure I couldn't have managed a bicycle, let alone a tractor. Your dad's accident made you grow up fast!
Bonnie, you have described much of my own childhood! I lived "in town" unil I was four, then we moved to the country, a mere ten minutes away, but it felt like a whole other world. I learned to "drive" the tractor at age 5, when my father broke his ankle yet had to harvest the corn. I had to stand on the brake and the clutch, allowing the tractor to roll slowly down the roll while my father limped along on his cast, pulling corn and tossing it onto the trailer behind the tractor. I was terrified. Like you, I ran away at 5, but didn't get far enough to find a friendly neighbor to feed me. Strange dogs barking in the distance scared me enough to return home. I remember flying through the fields on my bicycle, chasing my brother as we played cops and robbers, lying on my belly in the woods watching the critters scurrying about, and sliding down mossy rocks in the creek on a hot summer day.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was 12 all that changed. My mother decided the schools were better in town, so back we went. I went from being a big duck in a tiny pond to a tiny duck in a medium sized one, and never fit in. Last spring my elementary school was nearly destroyed by tornadoes. Recently one of my best friends from then found me on Facebook. From there came reuniting with other classmates and I was declared to be a member of the class even though I didn't graduate there. We're having our reunion in a couple of weeks. From the pictures I've seen, I can still see those childlike faces behind the gray and the wrinkles. It feels like I've finally come back to where I belong.
Bonnie, you remember when girls absolutely never wore jeans? It is a lifetime ago, but there you and Sonny are. In a decade, you would have been in pants.
ReplyDeleteCyndia, your story is amazing! I was such a shrimp at the age of 5 that I'm pretty sure I couldn't have managed a bicycle, let alone a tractor. Your dad's accident made you grow up fast!
ReplyDeleteMorgan, we still couldn't wear pants to school in 1969; that changed in 1971.
ReplyDelete