Mid 50s

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 there according to Google Maps. I attended 2nd grade at Travis Elementary which was (and is) a block away.

It was during this time that I learned to play and to love the game of baseball. I remember the diamonds on the school yard. I watched the older boys play and fancied myself a shortstop in the style of Pee Wee Reese of the Brooklyn Dodgers, my favorite team. I would snag a hot one and throw a bullet to Gil Hodges on first for the out. Then he would flip the ball to Jackie Robinson who would toss it to Billy Cox on third and finally to “the man” Roy Campanella as we all walked to the mound and the ball wound up in the hands of Carl Erskine. Played a lot of ball in my head during that time. It seemed that everyone was older than me…I could occasionally get someone to play catch…I still love to play catch.

At the start of the school year in 54 as I was entering the third grade … still at Travis … Crickett who was to turn 6 on September 4th was denied admission because school started a couple of days before that. I think the school system in Abilene was in crisis with the growth surge brought about by Dyess Air Force Base. They were looking for any reason to lower class size. So my sister who was two years my junior was now three years behind me in school. I used to tell people she failed the first grade. Hey if you can’t torment your little sister…right?

We would move to 2118 Jeannett St during that school year and would live in that house longer than any place in our youth. I finished the 8th grade going to South Junior High and Crickett went her first 5 years to Bowie Elementary…all living in that little house. Lots of stories to tell from there.

I am adding a photo from those years of me and Crick, our Grandparents Gilleland and my Dad. This was an old home place outside of Glen Rose where they all lived when Dad was a boy.