No doubt at all, I was enjoying living on Catalina. Everyday was something new. My mom and dad both worked but Lowell and I got by very well. There were neighbors that watched over the kids of working parents. I never felt neglected in anyway. Mrs. Eber and Mrs. Williams lived just across the road. They were "day moms" for us kids.

Come days end, we were ready for bed. It was at this time that I sometimes felt a little homesick for Alabama. There is that time when you doze but aren't fully a sleep. Thats the time when the theater of your mind comes into focus and you dream. This was when I journeyed back home.

My childhood world had been centered on those around me. I guess every kild feels that way. After mom, dad and Lowell, I had my cousins and their parents. In my case that was a small group. On my dads side was my uncle Bill, aunt Verda and two sons, Boyd and Mitchell. My aunt Tootsie, uncle Junior and their daughter Linda. On moms side was uncle Buck, aunt Nell and three sons Charles, Hubert anf Jerry. I mention these folks now because they will ultimately come up many more times as this tale continues. 

Boyd and Mitchell (a.k.a Shine) were about the same age as Lowell and me. The other boys ranged in ages form 3 to 5 years our senior. Charles and Hubert were twins and older than Jerry.

Boyd and Shine had been pretty much constant companions for Lowell and me for as long as I could remember. They had been cohorts in our "Whiskey Bottle" enterprise that I wrote about earlier.

Charles, Hubert and Jerry always let me tag along and go fishing with them. They treated me as if I was their age.

Tootsie and Junior always saw to it that Lowell and I got "kid" things that we otherwise would have not had. They are the reason I'm such an avid reader. They kept me supplied in all kinds of books.

I missed them all. Worried about them. Wondered if they'd forget me. Typical kid stuff.