GOOD PAY IN GEORGIA

Story told by Pop about leaving home at age 15 to work in the shipyards in Brunswick, Georgia.

While I was still in high school, I started living in an old house that belonged to the state.  I stayed with Luther Glen.  He was a bachelor and he was a state dairyman.  The state gave me a hundred percent maintenance plus I think it was $25 a month or something like that - which was big money then.  And it was great to even have a job.

Things went to changing.  The war came on, and that put everything to moving.  The farm superintendent at the blind institution, Mr. Boone, lived next door to me.  One of his sons, Roy Boone, had gone to Brunswick, Georgia, to go to work with J. Jones Construction Company, which was building Liberty ships on the river there that came into Brunswick.  He came home one Christmas talking about the opportunities that were down there and how much money they were paying and all that.  He and his wife were going back after Christmas.

There was a big demand for people.  I was small, you know.  At that time I weighed about 118 or 120 pounds, real slim and trim.  And there was a big demand for welders working on ships because they had a tremendous amount of close places to get that bigger people just could not get.  And you had to have a whole lot of skill at the same time.

I didn't put any significance on being the assistant dairyman for the state.  So I asked him, I said, "I'll just go back down there with you."

He said, "You'd be a natural.  They've got a welding school down there."

I told him, "I don't know how to get down there or nothing."

He said, "You can go back with me."  He and his wife had an apartment down there.

So I went home and told Mamma just right off the bat from one day to the next that I was going to Brunswick, Georgia.  She had a pure damn conniption and said I wasn't going.  I said, "Well, I am going."

So I rode back down there with Roy.  In fact, I drove down there.  I drove the whole way.  That was part of the deal.  And the furthest I had ever been away from home was the distance I could ride on a bicycle.  Other than going to Wake Forest to visit my aunt and uncle.  And once I rode with my cousin's husband Jeff to Greensboro.

Lord, I thought I'd gone slam to the other side of the world.  Wrote Mamma a letter trying to remember all the towns we'd been through.  I thought it was something great.  There was umpteen of them or more, and I finally gave up on that part of it.

HALLOWEEN

I didn't think Halloween could get any better, but this year topped them all, thanks to my ten-year-old son Fred.  His main interest was getting the candy!  Lots of candy!  All the candy you can carry!

Fred began creating his costume about two months ago when he purchased two cans of spray paint for his hair.  On Halloween, my husband and I looked at his "normal" hair style and figured he really didn't need the paint.  His rat tail and his too-long flat top, held stiff as a board with mousse, would scare the pants off anyone. 

Five minutes before trick-or-treating time, Fred started on the rest of his costume.  He dug an old shirt out of his drawer, ripped it to shreds, put it on, grabbed a grocery bag, and headed for the car.  I offered to draw a jack-o-lantern on the bag.  "Mom!  No way!" was all the thanks I got.

I picked up his friend Eric, who began struggling to get into his headless horseman costume in the car.  I picked up Jamie, whose grass skirt wouldn't stay on.  Then I drove the punk rocker, the Hawaiian tourist, and the headless horseman into town, listening to their debate about which streets gave the most candy.  Do all the kids in town spend their year planning these strategies?

We drove past some bright jack-o-lanterns and I said, "Look at that!"  Fred and Jamie said, "Wow!" and Eric said, "Where?"  We passed a toddler dressed in a ballerina costume, and I said, "Isn't she adorable?" and Eric said, "Where? Where?"  We passed a familiar looking goblin and I asked, "Who's that?"  Eric's voice again, "Where? Where?"  I realized that Eric had finally gotten into his headless horseman costume and couldn't see a thing.

Later that night, after all the homes were stripped of candy and Fred's belly was full, I watched him sleeping and wondered at his ability to have so much fun after raking leaves, walking six miles for the Cancer Drive, and skateboarding all afternoon.  I guess there's always enough energy left for Halloween!