Preamble & Chapter One

MEMORIES OF A GRANDFATHER
Preamble
I had been thinking about writing down my memories of childhood and growing up through teenager, young adult, adult and you know what follows. But I had put it farther back on the shelf for a later time, and then the other evening a couple of friends and I were visiting together. One of my friends started talking about his early memories from Arkansas and how he had written some it down. I don’t believe he’s shown it to anyone, but he’s far ahead of me because he has written it down. Well, I’ve started writing my memories down. I’m going to try to keep this blog going, updating it weekly. Brief chapters so that it doesn’t take long to read and hopefully some relatives and friends may find it amusing, entertaining or "boy that’s sure an ego trip!" There are a few things I’ve done in my past that I’m not proud of which may get mentioned but not in depth. I prefer to look at my past as "the good ol’ days" seen through "rose colored glasses". Besides I’m not planning to sell my memories to Hollywood.

Chapter One
Memories I’ve been told
As you can probably guess, I don’t remember being born, but I’ve been told that I was not born in a hospital. As was common then, I was born at home on March 7, 1937. Just so that you don’t get the wrong idea, there were hospitals and cars. I was born in Cherryvale, Kansas a small stop on the train route in southeast Kansas. Incidentally, watching the passenger train stop, disembark any passengers and board any others was one of the exciting events to enjoy. One of Cherryvale’s claim to a spot in history is that it’s only a few miles west of Coffeyville, Kansas where the Dalton Brothers were shot and killed during an attempted bank robbery. Before my time though. I had a lot of relatives who lived there in Cherryvale, mostly on my mother’s side. I haven’t been back there in years. I don’t know how many are there now. Both my mother and my father are buried there in the local cemetery.
Now for a few words about the immediate cast members. My father’s name was Floyd and my mother’s name was Bettie. I have an older brother named William Gary but I call him Gary. I also have a younger sister named Ginger, but she comes later in the memories. We also had an older sister name Cleo Jane but she died before I was born and is buried along with my father and mother in Cherryvale. Another important cast member in my early childhood was my grandfather – "Gramps" - my mother’s father. He appears later in my memories.
The next era of "my memories I’ve been told" occurs in the small town of Burlington, Kansas. A story my dad liked to tell happened on the edge of town. As the story goes, my brother Gary was suppose to be keeping an eye on me. I believe I must have been about 3 years old at the time. Anyway, he and a friend wanted to go exploring along the railroad tracks and of course I went tagging along. My brother was always one to go exploring and checking things out. He especially found the ice on creeks or ponds inviting. I’ve been told that he fell through the ice on a creek in Abilene but that comes later after Burlington. However, I’m digressing. Gary and his friend had gone across a railroad bridge over a creek or ravine and I had started to follow after them when dad caught up to us. Boy, did Gary catch (expletive), because the bridge was built to support the rails and the railroad ties but was completely open between the ties. The openings were big enough for my small size to fall through. I didn’t fall though as you may have guessed since I’m telling the story.

I have some memory of Gary and I spending time by the creek or river (I don’t remember how big it was) which ran through the center of town catching frogs and tadpoles. I also have a fragment of memory about speedboat racing on the river to the north of town. That was exciting. Next is Abilene, Kansas.