Early Memories....

Topics I like to write about …to give a little family history …my earliest memories….holidays….my collie dog, Nig….Uncle Saul and Aunt Seinie Moss…Mrs. Hedges, the visiting nurse from the Natchitoches health unit…values that were taught…going off to school…sharing how food was preserved….play time and toys…war and sacrifice…my papa and mama…hog killing…syrup making…churches and religion.

My earliest memories…I remember being held and rocked in a rocking chair on the back porch. There were also good feelings of love and being taken care of. There were many people who cared for me--my parents, siblings, and sister-in-laws. I always felt safe and special as a young child. Probably I was spoiled by my siblings-- they called me “Baby Faye”. I always knew there would be food to eat and someone to keep me safe and warm. My life was truly blessed. Some of my early memories were of my Uncle Saul and Aunt Seinie Moss .They were an African-American couple and had no children of their own. As you know, I was the twelfth child in my family. I remember the love I had for them and the love they had for me. They were such good friends of my parents. Later I learned just how much they did for our family. Uncle Saul was a tall and very dark black man. He rode a big black horse, and wore a large white hat. He loved to ride me on his horse around the yard. I must have been two or three years old at the time. Oh, how I loved riding on that horse. One day I was playing in the yard and saw him riding down the road toward our house. Somehow I got out the gate and started running up the road to meet him. I remember him telling me when he saw me that it scared him so bad that he thought he’d turned white. From that day on, I was never allowed to ride his horse. I remember Papa taking me to visit them. Aunt Seinie always had cake, cookies and milk for me. Later, I was told, that whenever Mama had a new baby Aunt Seinie would come and take care of the children and cook and wash clothes until Mama was up and about again. I was also told that Uncle Saul was always there to help with killing hogs or butchering a beef cow. He also helped my papa making syrup at the syrup mill. Papa had other black friends--among them two brothers, Ed and Till Moore. They owned their own homes and were such good neighbors. It wasn’t unusual to see these relationships during my childhood in the South………..more to come.