Despite the stranglehold that the Baptist Church had on my emotional well-being, I have fond memories of my childhood. There were opportunities, even then, for me to be creative, and art poured out of me. I fondly remember Ma Barker — we called her Grannymom then — who was my maternal grandmother. You can read more about her in my substack article, “A Feedsack Quilt that my Grandmother Made.” Every autumn, my family picked apples from the orchard and make apple juice, and mom canned the juice in half gallon mason jars for us to drink all winter. Orange juice seemed like a luxury then, but now the opposite is true. Oh to taste that fresh-squeezed apple juice again.
In the photos above are the following people: Mom, Dad and Ma Barker making apple juice; a few cousins and Mom in the birthday cake photo; Dad and Rev. Phillip Duvall in the baptism photo; and, of course, baby Puma.
You were such a cute l'il tyke!