Uncle Trumans

I am posting this for Virginia Lee..
While Daddy was in the service we lived at Denver Arkansas across from my grandfather's garden. at first there was only mama , Richard and me then in 1944 nine months after daddy was home on leave Clayton was born.
Many times the 3 of us would walk down long creek and spend the day with Truman and Francis and their boys.
We children loved to run and play like wild Indians and we always had a good meal because aunt Francis was best cook that ever was.
I remember crying not long after daddy was gone while we were at Truman's and my uncle ask me what was wrong and I said I don't have a daddy anymore, I was 5 years old at that time. Uncle Truman told me that he would be my daddy until daddy came home.
Uncle Truman milked cows for a living and he had a cement trough behind the cows for the cow manure to fall in, every time you put a cow in a station to milk her she surly will have a bowl movement.
That trough was always full of green cow manure and we all liked to play hide and seek in the barn. One time Jimmy slipped and fell while running for home base which was part of our game.
That boy was covered with manure from head to toe. Needless to say Jimmy had to have a bath in the wash tub with cold water. aunt Francis was not happy.
The barn had a loft and above the loft were these rafters way up in the air, Donnie was always a dare devil and he would climb up on these 2by4s and walk them. He would be walking the plank 12 feet in the air and I knew he would fall and kill him self. I would beg him to come down and of course he stayed up there longer to spite me.
One time aunt and uncle were in Denver shopping and they invited mama and us home with them to spend the night.
Uncle Truman had a green ford truck with a stock rack around it and we children were riding in the back
Donnie was Playing he was a cow boy with a horse and telling us big tales like he always Did. as we came in sight of the house me, jimmy and Richard lost interest in Donnie tales and face forward in the truck..
Donnie went to the open gate which was forbidden for us to do. when we got to the house and jumped out of the truck aunt Francis noticed Donnie was missing.Truman found him unconscious laying in the road, They took him to the doctor and from there they went to grandpa Powell where Donnie finally regained consciousness.
We had to go home and we didn't get to play any that day.Donnie's fault as usual.
Donnie and jimmy grew up on long creek fishing and playing all summer long. They would catch bull frogs on the creek and aunt Francis would fry them.I think they grew up in a pleasant place and were happy children. I know Richard and me were always happy when we got to go to uncle Truman.
Me and Jimmy started to school at Denver together.Our teacher was Cleo Jackson. we were issued spelling books and told to learn the first assignment. I looked at the book and couldn't make heads or tails out of the words and I suppose jimmy was in the same situation.
The next day Cleo called on me to spell my words and I couldn't, neither could Jimmy . Cleo took us up on the stage and whipped us with a belt in front of the school. I always felt that Cleo was wrong to do that because he had failed to show us what we were suppose to do.
Across the road from uncle Truman's house was the well and a big walnut tree grew there. There was this big flat rock and we would crack walnut and get our belly full. I never saw that rock without a pile of walnuts. Aunt Francis used the walnuts in her cakes and cookies.
Aunt Francis like to tell ghost stories. She would have us gather around her at night and tell us some ghost stories. I don't remember being scared by her stories.
Truman and Francis both read and there was always books and magazines in their upstairs room. I would slip up there and read every chance I got. I read God's little acre and forever Amber in the upstairs. both books were considered risque and of course I wanted to read them and did. Aunt Francis always had a stack of modern romance magazines up there and I read them also, Uncle Truman leaned toward westerns and there were always a ready supply for me to read.
My memories of those golden days are still with me after all these years. No children had a better childhood than we did.