April 14, 2011

By Kozetta

My earliest memory was about 3 years old. We lived on a large farm in Kansas and had a goat, well for drinking water, chickens for eggs and on Sunday we may get to eat one and only the food that we could grow. Which was usualy tomatoes, corn, both kinds of potatoes, rutabaga (and oh how I hated them)turnips (wasn’t fond of those either, collard greens and do forth. Nothing was ever enough for 10 kids and a single Mom! My dad died when I was 22 months old so we were on welfare. When Mother let us kill a chicken I being the youngest was given the foot. No wasn’t that something? I hated it and fed it to our old dog, Brownie who loved me cause I took him on long walks. Mom said she could only see the top of my head as we walked through the corn fields. We lived near the rairoad overpass and after the trains passed over my brothers would pick up the coal dropped through the rails to fire up our old coal stove for cooking and warmth. Near by that under pass grew wild rasberries which we picked wich great joy antispating the great cobbler Mom would make with them if she had sugar,oleo and flour. Our life was always an IF we had. She couldn’t cook unles she had the things mention before. God help us if the weather wasn’t on our side. That that didn’t kill ya would surly make us strong was my Mother’s motto. So here I am still standing proud. And way over the shame of it all.   ( love to all)