Childhood Memories

Fishing with Grandma Somers and my mother in 1960.

One of my earliest memories is of Grandma Somers teaching me how to fish... And after finding this photo, I vividly remember the day it was taken at Grandma's favorite fishin' hole. We used a cane pole and Grandma explained to me that I had to be very quiet so as to not scare away the fish and as you can see, Grandma's advice worked! If you look very closely, you can see that in the photo I'm holding my first fish!

I also remember how pretty my mother was that day and how much in love she and my father were.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for the wonderful memory and for placing these loving parents and grandparents in my life.

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Another fond memory I have is arriving at my grandparents home in the evening after the long drive from St. Louis and Grandpa telling me he had heard a bobcat near the outhouse... Well, needless to say I refused to go outside and grandma chuckled and showed me where she kept a pot under the bed for emergencies. :)

Grandpa would often go hunting in the morning and while I ate biscuits with gravy for breakfast, he would tell grandma to cook some squirrel with his eggs and then laugh when my eyes became as wide as saucers. I also remember going out to the barn with grandma and helping her feed the chicks. In the country folks would have barn cats to keep the mouse population down, and I would try to pet the kittens. I remember grandma explaining to me that they were wild and even ran away from her.

My grandparents lived in the country off a gravel road in Southern Missouri near the Arkansas border. They had electricity, but no indoor plumbing. Grandma pumped her water from a well and cooked on a woodstove. She made the best biscuits I have ever eaten and the well water was always cold and delicious!