Memory
of a New Home
It’s
strange how I sometimes remember in detail something that
occurred when I was very young. I believe that this is due
to the fact that I was an only child with very young
parents who gave me a lot of attention. We lived here in
Fayetteville, a small town where restrictions concerning my
safety were limited, and I was allowed to do things on my
own that today parents would not consider. This gave me
opportunities to investigate things in my environment in
more detail and to make note of them.
When I was five my daddy ran a department store on the
courthouse square. Since we lived in walking distance of
the store, I often went to and from home at will. My
parents never seemed to worry about me as long as they knew
where I was.
On one particular day I was with my daddy at the store.
Buddy, a black man, a friend since Daddy’s childhood, came
by in his buggy. Daddy needing a package that had been
delivered to the railroad depot , asked Buddy if he would
pick it up for him. Buddy asked me to ride to the depot
with him and Daddy approved. I’d never ridden in a buggy
before and this was special for me.
The depot was located on Railroad Street next to where
Jordan's Salvage is located today. We pulled up in front of
the depot. Buddy left me in the buggy holding the lines to
his horse and went into the depot with some papers Daddy
had given him. Soon he came back and we drove to the side
of the depot where there was a loading dock. A man was
standing at the top of the dock and motioned for Buddy to
back the buggy up to the dock. The two of them loaded a
large wooden crate (It was not uncommon for packages to
come in wooden crates) on the back of the buggy and we
started back to Daddy’s store.
Daddy and Buddy unloaded the crate and took it into the
store. After removing the contents Daddy said I could have
the empty crate. It was too large for me to carry home by
myself, so Daddy took it home for me at lunch time.
It became a new home for my dog, Pal.