My Mother, My Cousin, Our Home

A few weeks ago, my favorite cousin sent this picture to me, and although it may be worn, and tattered, it brought back memories that made me smile as I saw my mother as she looked when I first remember her, the house we lived in, and the fun I had playing with my cousin, Patricia, in that time. The old cars in the background attest to the time period, probably around 1953, guessing from memory, because my brother Greg, born in September 54, is obviously not on the way when this was taken! If you look closely, in the background, you'll see mother's old wringer washing machine, which was electric, but had to have the water loaded into it by a hose, because we didn't have indoor plumbing. Mother would wash outside, and she would let us push the clothes through the top wringer to squeeze the water out--that is, until one day when Brenda's hand got caught in the wringer and mother had to stop the machine and get Brenda free, fearing that her arm might be permanently damaged. It wasn't, but that was the end of our wringing the clothes. I can remember the feel of feeding the clothes through it, but I wasn't allowed to very often. We would beg for the chance because it was facinating to watch. The tiny back porch had a porch rail with a wide board and the water bucket sat on that, with a dipper, for us to drink from. There was a water faucet there, and the well pump was beside the porch, in the small enclosure just behind the car that shows only the headlight. I think that was Uncle Jessie's car, Patricia's dad. I just thought it might be interesting for you to see where I lived when I was small. I've recently visited Clanton, and I went to two other places I lived and took pictures of those homes, so I'll share more, later. I'm including a picture of me, at the age I was around the time this photo was taken. That's my sister, Brenda, sitting in the chair! It was a gentler time when it was OK for little girls to leave off their shirts! I was such a tomboy its no wonder!