I was working for a close neighbor of my grandparents one
summer, picking cotton. Cotton was especially good that year.
On one day in particular, I was feeling really good and decided
I would see just how much cotton I could pick! By four o'clock
that afternoon, I had picked 450 pounds; by the end of the day,
I had picked well over 500 pounds! For folks who don't know
what I'm talking about, that is a LOT of cotton!
When my grandfather found out, he was really upset, and he told
everyone that "that boy could have been doing that years ago!"
But I never learned to like the farm as a way of life. I knew
at age five that I was not cut out to be a farmer. Not only
did I not like the life-style, but working in the heat and
humidity was unbearable. It wasn't unusual at all for a person
to suffer a heat stroke, and many did if they failed to drink
enough liquid.
I remember one summer, when it was extremely hot with high
humidity.... I was plowing cotton, walking behind a team of
mules, when I became very dizzy. The cotton rows were almost a
mile long, and I was at the far end of the row, but I attempted
to make it back to the farmhouse. I didn't make it. That was
the last thing I remember until I woke up in the barnyard. I
had been dragged by the team about half a mile and was covered
with cuts and bruises.
That sunstroke really laid me low. The after-effects kept me
under the weather for a long time.... Did I go to a doctor? The
answer is no. Seldom did one go to a doctor unless it was
really a matter of life and death. You would simply tough it
out.
I loved my grandparents very much, but I could see -- even as a
young child -- the strain the large addition to their family was
having. At the age of twelve or thirteen (I don't remember
exactly), I moved out on my own and worked for my room and
board. I really didn't want to leave my sister, so I managed to
stay and work for people in the same community.
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