Daddy, Uncle Earl, and Uncle Jody were the youngest siblings in their family. Their best friends, growing up were the “Richardson boys”: Will, John Henry, and Floyd. They hunted, fished and played together, and many stories were generated. I think all three were still around when I was born, but John Henry and his wife, whom we called “Aunt Agnes,” lived in the Milstead community where I was born. I do not recall where Will and Floyd were at that time. The Richardson boys had two sisters, Mary Charles and Annie Jo, but I never knew them. I think Will would up in Wisconsin, and do not know about Floyd.
But John Henry and Aunt Agnes were a part of our community. They either already owned, or bought a small farm there. I remember at one time they lived in Tuskegee, and we visited them there. John Henry was Daddy’s “best friend.” Aunt Agnes was not our Aunt, but many of the women in the community, particularly those that we saw most often, were actually our Aunts, and I think that practically all my cousins called her “Aunt Agnes. It was her title of respect. The Richardson home was on up the big road past Uncle R.V.’s house, but we could get there through the woods.
John Henry and Aunt Agnes daughter, whose name was “Nona Ruth,” was about a year younger than me and was always a very special person and playmate. We would walk through the woods to visit the Richardsons. They may have owned a vehicle—I don’t remember. I remember one occasion that the Richardson’s visited us at the Little House. They came for lunch. Mama had made lemon pie and that was mine and Wade’s favorite. I quickly finished mine, and for some reason, Nona did not want to eat all of hers and the decision was made that I could have it. I dug in. But then I realized that I was eating with Nona’s spoon, and everybody else figured that out too! Total embarrassment. That was a total taboo. It would have been bad enough if she had been a boy. But she was a girls.
At the Bradford’s cemetery, there is a row of little graves, where John Henry and Aunt Agnes buried babies who were either still-born, or that lived for only a short time.
When we started school, Nona was in the class behind me. Very smart. And we always attended church together. She learned to play the piano, and often played at Church.
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