Lovie Fomby
Family Treasures

I guess my fondest memories of childhood are about Christmas. Seems like we always had so many people and so much fun! I remember one year Mable and I had picked out the dolls we wanted (from the Sears catalog, I think) Santa to bring us. Well, Santa got them mixed up. Mable wanted to trade (she knew things about Santa that I didn’t know). But I wouldn’t trade, cause if Santa brought it to me — it was mine.

Then there was the time I got a little piano and Pete sat down on it and broke the legs off it. I could still play it though.

One year I went running to Cliff (since he was still in bed) to show him what Santa brought me. I asked what he got and he said — a toothbrush. I felt so sad about that — and still do when I think about it at Christmas time. (I’ve learned since then that some of the others may not have even got a toothbrush.) But we were never short on love!

The Christmas that all of us got the mumps may have been the worst on. Everybody got it but Daddy. Mama had baked all of these cakes and pies and not a soul could eat them. We tried crumbling them in milk so we could drink it — that didn’t work either. I don’t remember what happened to all of them.

We used to have lots of fun in the summertime, too. Zackie, Edgar, Jr., and Leon, Billy and Bobby used to get out of school at Carpenter a month earlier than we did at Utica and we were so jealous. One year, when the school bus got to our driveway, there was a string tied across tied across the road and not a soul in sight. After we got off the bus, Zackie and Edgar jumped out of the bushes and scared us. Zackie and Edgar jumped out of the bushes and scared us. Zackie used to stay most of the summer with us cause Sis worked at the packing shed (for cabbage and tomatoes). Edgar came a good bit-off and on. I think Ross kept Leon, Billy, and Bobby busy.

There’s lots of things I can’t remember about Mama because she dies when I was 16. But, I can’t remember how much I loved her. I slept on her arm every night until she got too sick. I do regret not letting Daddy know how much I loved him until Mama was gone. But, I did get a chance to let him know it.

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