Around this time of year, children are beginning to think about going back to school. In my day, we were just reaching the halfway mark of our summer break about this time. One summer sticks out in my mind as the greatest one of all. I can’t tell you the year, but it was in the neighborhood of 1970. That’s the summer we spent our days at Mawmaw’s and Pawpaw’s. It seemed like half the kids on Jonesboro Road spent their summer there. Mawmaw and Pawpaw were my Great Aunt Ruby and Great Uncle Jesse Wesley.
I think there were roughly ten of us there, including their son Ronnie, who had Down’s syndrome. To us kids, Ronnie was special. We knew he was grown and yet still a kid. In my mind’s eye, I can still see the way he moved when we played dodge ball. Instead of flitting around like waterbugs and bumping into each other like the rest of us, he glided. He had naturally learned through experience something I would learn later – smooth is fast.
That summer was like a 3-month camp. If I had been given the task of watching over that many children, getting through the day with everyone in one piece would have been enough adventure, But they would load us all up and take us places. I remember one day we went to Indian Springs. Even the typical day-to-day playing was an adventure with that many kids.
But the best day of all was Friday. Every Friday, they would load us all up and take us to Mr. Foster’s store at the intersection of Jonesboro and Mt. Carmel roads. We were all allowed to get some amount of what we called penny candy. We then returned to their house, each of us with our small bag of loot. We would all sit in the shade under the giant hardwood trees in their front yard when we got back. Those trees had roots protruding out of the ground, and we would find a comfortable spot on one of them. Then we’d enjoy our purchases, making trades and deals with each other. It was pure contentment.
Our parents’ bank accounts would not have reflected it, but I believe we were the richest kids in the world.