Vexations of Childhood

There are certain things that I look back on from childhood that I regret. One of those is the way I treated my elementary school yearbooks. My parents always bought their children a yearbook each school year when they were available. I have copies of K, 1, & 4-12. The condition of the yearbooks... well, it's regrettable.

I have a vague memory of browsing through my Kindergarden and 1st grade yearbooks with pens, markers and scissors. Yup - I destroyed them! I remember wanting to "protect" and "preserve" certain pictures and memories. I cut out photos and drew all over the pictures of my classmates. Here's what's left:

Kindergarden (above) is mostly intact. I colored over most of my classmates, leaving my own image clean. I cut out the group photo and it is now missing.

First Grade (above) is almost all missing! I assume the blue arrow indicates where my photo was - before I destroyed it.

I think that I might need to make a trip to my old elementary school (nearby, thank goodness) to make copies of the pages that I destroyed. It won't be the same as having the original book intact, but it would be better than the way things are now.

Where Daddy lived

I sat my Dad down today and talked to him about the places that he lived as a child.  His parents met and married in Elbert County, GA - up on the border with South Carolina.  My Dad's oldest sister, June, talks about living on Huff Road, but that was before Daddy's time.

His first house was on Ball Park Drive in Tucker.  He remembers that there was a ball field, a swimming pool (25¢ to swim all day!) and a "lake."  Their house was right next to all of those.  

He remembers going into the lake (pond really) when they weren't supposed to.  Two steps in and he cut his foot open!  At the swimming pool, they had Dad jumping off the high board and swimming across the pool to prove he could swim before he was even in school.

Explore:

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His next house was off Rosser Terrace, also in Tucker.  He remembers his older brothers, Wayne and Gary, making carts to ride down the hill.  The carts had metal things on them that would spark as they went.  He also remembers when a firecracker went off in his hand.

Google maps doesn't go down this street, but here it is:

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Finally, Dad lived in Lilburn, on Harmony Grove Road.  He moved there while he was in 1st grade, changing from Briarcliff Elementary to Lilburn Elementary.  This is the house where he lived out the rest of his childhood.  This house burned down at one point, while most of the family was away, visiting relatives in Elbert County.  They rebuilt the house on the same land, in just a slightly different location.  There's also an old well in the front yard.

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(I love google maps street view!)

Audio Story

I ambushed mom and got this audio story.

Transcript:

Mom: I do think you should have to watch "He Haw" with me again before we talk about "He Haw."
Valerie: I already watched it
Mom: I know, but Sarah hasn't seen it
Sarah: I've seen the show
Mom: You've seen "He Haw" before?
Sarah: Well, I know what you're talkin' about. We watched that one night on tape with Dolly Parton
Mom: Yeah! I asked you if you'd seen it and you said 'no.' That....
Valerie: Well, why don't you tell us-
Sarah: I thought you meant a specific episode-
Mom: No...
Valerie: Why don't you say what you were just sayin'
Mom: What? That-
Valerie: That when it came on, y'all came runnin'
Mom: Yeah, all of us would come runnin' and flop around in the livin' room 'cause there would be kids everywhere. And we'd watch the show with Mama and Daddy when it come on. We'd hear that song goin' "He he he haw haw - He he he haw haw - He he he haw haw haw haw." And we'd all come runnin' to the livin' room and the He Haw gang would be comin' on.
Valerie: And Dad, you watched it?
Dad: Oh yeah!
Mom: And you watched it too. That was the thang
Dad: Not with them, but I watched it
Mom: Yeah, 'cause we didn't know him then
Valerie: And what was that other song you were singin'?
Mom: Gloom, despair and agony on me?
Valerie: uh hu
Mom: It was: Gloom, despair and agony on me. Deep dark depression, excessive misery. If it weren't fer bad luck I'd have no luck at all. Gloom, despair and agony on me. And then your Dad said that should have been is theme song.
Valerie: And you said you... what did Grandmama think about it?
Mom: Oh, I don't know what Grandmama used to think about it 'cause I couldn't imagine... watchin' it now how she stood sittin' there watchin' with all those scantily dressed women in their little Daisy Mae outfits, lazin' around on the porches, layin' there just talkin' about silly stuff. Definitely not the role model she wanted for us.