I have told this so many times my children and most of my family roll their eyes when they hear it start. My dad married my mom just before he was deployed to Italy in WWII. He was gone for 23 months (sometimes I tell it as 26 months)…truth is I can”t remember but I …
Gordon (Gene) & Mary Edith Gilleland bought their first house at the end of 1945. It was a few steps from the house where my mother was raised and it lacked some of the amenities of many of their neighbors. But it was theirs or would be when all the payments were made.It’s quaint look …
Since I was born in 46 and Cricket in 48 we were pretty young in the early 50s so my memory is sort of sketchy. Mom and Dad were trying to make a life for us in a world that was new and probably much different than they expected. Much changed after WWII. I am …
During the summer of 1953 we moved back to Abilene. Somewhere on Hickory around North 10th in a big old drafty white house. But we were only there for a few months and then we moved to the south side of town. We moved into an upstairs (over a garage) apartment. See map…it is still …
From my earliest memories, I see the two room, plank sided, unpainted house where my Granny & Papa Phelps lived. It was set up on haydite blocks and was a perfect place for my cousins and I to go underneath, get out of the heat and harass doodle bugs. It set on the corner of …
Two important things happened in 1946. I was born and the Metro Theater was built. The Metro, years later, in the mid-50s to very early 60s became “my” movie theater. In the 1700 block of Butternut in Abilene, TX it was approximately 10 blocks from my house. Starting at about 10 years old I would …
Sometime in the mid-50s my dad bought a light green 1953 Mercury two door. It was a real upgrade from our previous autos and even though there were four of us..we made the two door work. It was our primary car until Dad bought a 1955 Ford station wagon. Brown and also a two-door (not …
Growing up in the 50’s in some ways was probably like growing up during any decade but in other ways it was very unique. I assume that things happening to me occurred to most 8 year olds…10 year olds…12 year olds. The progression towards independence was shaped by an understanding that things were good and …
On Facebook this morning a Roby Alumni shared a Google Earth view of his homestead on KatKlaw creek at the very edge of Abilene to the south. This is an area I was familiar with as a boy. I lived at 2118 Jannette St. from 1953 until 1960. I roamed the area between South 1st …
In 1958 Crickett was 10 and I was 12. In this Christmas photo she is in the fourth grade and I am in the seventh. For me it was a watershed year that I remember vividly. This photo tells a lot about that year and that time in our lives. First of all Crick got …
One thing about my Dad was that he was always looking for opportunity. Although some were not as good as others and none ever lived up to his hopes…it never stopped him from trying, and uprooting the family never stopped him either. That summer Dad got a bee in his butt about something and decided …
This old photo tells about all you need to know about 1961. Photo appears to be printed in November of 1961. I have no idea who took it or how it came into my possession. But I can tell you about many afternoons that were just like the one shown here. That is me reading …