Some times of a morning

the life and homes of Jane Love

The Big White House

I was 5 years old. The large white house across from mama Jonie's became vacant. So we moved into it. It was two stories high, and white. I don't remember how many rooms were upstairs. I slid down the rail one day and mama caught me. She forbade me to go up there. Of course it needed painting, and was ramshackle. There was a large kitchen and living room, and one bedroom downstairs. The front door opened to a hall and stairs. There was a large porch off of the kitchen. A walk led to the alley and on one side an outhouse. I think we had a well.
Mom would set me down at the end of the walk where the ashes from our coal stove were dumped. She would bring out a pan of warm water with our silverware in it. I had todip each piece out from the dishpan and pick up the ashes with a wet rag and shine each piece, and put them back in the pan to rinse them. They were very old and cheap. I didn't mind because I liked to be outdoors.


Me at 5. Donald was 2.	There was a big yard to play in, and large old trees. The road in front was a dirt road. The ice cream man would come down the road, and I would run and jump on the back step and ride down to the next street. My mom whipped me for this! There was a milkman with a horse[-drawn cart] that brought milk. We couldn't afford milk thought Mama Jonie sometimes bought milk. In the summer the Ice Cream man made his rounds. In the winter he sold hot tamales. He put one of his daughters through college with his sales. There was a side road at Momma Jonie's that led up to the alley to Uncle Lawerence and Aunt Sarah's grocery store. Momma would sometimes make me go to the store for her. I would always buy a few pieces of candy to eat on the way home. There was always some left over, so I hid it beneath an electric light post in the weeds so I could get it when I wanted candy.
I didn't go to Mama Jonie's from there. There was bad feelings between dad and Mom because Papa Jonie made them move out of the store building. I don't remember how long the owner let us stay there. I remember summer and winter. Dad would move into a house and never pay the rent. So we moved a lot. I have a picture of me and my brother on the front porch. I had on a nice dress that Momma Jonie made for me. Momma Jonie made dresses for people, and sometimes people gave her outgrown dresses. She gave me many dresses as I grew up. I slept in the downstairs bedroom on an old folding bed. The only heat in winter was the kitchen coal stove, so the folding bed I slept on was moved into the kitchen. Mom was too lazy to clean off the kitchen table, and when she did, she made me stand on an old box to wash the dishes. I was only 5. Donald and I always had to wash dishes.
← Kidnaped!		School Days→