Memories of Growing up in Texas – Memory Journal 1

When I speak or write about my family, you will most likely find the stories strange, as I believe they are since, I come from a broken family in Texas. This is just a little look at one of the earlier memories of my childhood.

A few weeks ago @michelle.gent posted a #story-mentor project assignment to write about our earliest memory, which I did and the story is at this link.

This memory is written using the guidelines from Eric Vance Walton @ericvancewalton at this link. Please enter and follow the rules at that link.

Steemit Blockchain Memory Project Rules of Engagement
• Share any significant memory you’d like to. Think about things that have shaped who you are or may be unique in some way.

Sorry for the lack of personal photographs for this story, because most all my childhood photographs were lost long ago, and that my friend is another story. We did recover this box from the fire I will keep looking for a photograph from that time and post if and when I find it.

In this memory of growing up in Texas I am sharing a life-changing event that helps in shaping the “who” I am today. This event leads to me no longer being the only, or oldest child in our family.

It all happens because Mother’s oldest brother, my Uncle Jim enters the army branch of the military, leaving his poor wife on a farm with their children.

What I am told is their mother dies of cancer and all the children, my cousins, were sent to the Buckner’s Orphanage in Dallas, Texas. My mother could not bear this and even though we were not wealthy she decides to adopt two of my cousins. I never found out how many there were.

My mother decides to make my two cousins my siblings, that day they become my brother and sister. So at 3 years of age, and the only child I might add, one day without notice, my parents bring home my new brother and sister. My brother Jimmy 4 years old, and sister Debbie 3 years old like me. One thing to note is this happens around 1958 when orphanages were not the best place to be.

Suddenly, I was no longer the only child and on top of that my mother begins to try and make my sister and I twins, although we were cousins born one month apart. We are as different as night and day. You may ask how she would accomplish the twin thing.

Well, my adopted sister, Debbie and I start celebrating all our birthdays, on the same day, even though our birthdays were really in two different months, at least the real birthdays are only a month apart. The great thing is at my birthdays I always get books. My parents constantly read to me and I believe that is why I love reading and writing so much.

Then Mother begins to dress my sister Debbie and I alike. At this point, I create an imaginary friend just like me, as a child, my imaginary friend is always with me. Yes, my imaginary friend looks and thinks like me. LOL. Now you know why I am so private.

I love my sister very much and it is great to have someone to play dolls with. My brother did his own thing but Debbie and I had the same life and slept in the same bedroom until we got older. She went on to have two beautiful daughters, one dies in a car accident and the other one lives in another state. My sister’s passing over is another story for another time.

My brother Jimmy, like his birth father, joins the Army and the military stations him in Germany. While stationed there he witnesses the Berlin Wall coming down, I still remember the excitement in his voice when he phones us.

While in the service Jimmy marries a German girl and they have children. Then years later after retiring from the military, he passes away. The way I learn of his passing is by receiving a letter in the mail written in the German language. I found someone to interpret the letter and as most everything else the letter was lost in our house fire in 2011.

Thank you for reading my memory journal.

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