My brother, Darrell, lives in Alabama so we don’t get to visit as often as we’d like. Last night was one of those too rare occasions when we got to sit down and talk for a while. After dinner at MomaG’s the conversation turned to memories of the past.

Like me, Darrell doesn’t have a lot of childhood memories, but some things are imprinted on our brains. He was one year old when we moved from New Chapel to Nettleton, so that’s when his recollections start. I do have some memories of New Chapel, including getting a whoopin’ for throwing rocks at my aunt who is only a few years older than me.

MomaG was surprised at the stories we related, and she told one I’d never heard. They owned the Western Auto & a doctor’s wife asked DaddyG to order her one of the first dishwashers. It was much like the portable ones you can still get today that you manually hook up to the sink faucet. MomaG decided she needed one, too, but it wasn’t money well spent. She said it wouldn’t wash dishes worth a hoot. DaddyG would buy and sell almost anything & one day he loaded up the mattress & box springs off their bed and sold it to someone who’d bought a bedroom suit from him.

Like most towns, Nettleton has a large ditch that runs through it. Darrell & friend Steve decided to try to dam up a section and fill it with water so we could swim. No telling how much water was wasted before they were caught & stopped. And one day I was filling up the plastic pool and didn’t stop at the parent-designated level, so Darrell got a hoe and chopped the water hose in two.

More memories surfaced as we talked and it turned out to be a wonderful evening. I hope we’ll do it more often.