13. Lice and Chicken Pox

My hair was thick and long with ribbon curls – the kind of hair women paid lots of money for. I had beautiful natural blond highlights that framed my face my brown face. When Mom took me to Texas at 6 years old, my personal hygiene was completely left up to me. I learned to […]

12. Christmas and Mexico

Christmas rolled around and Mom spent a lot of time and effort buying gifts for Mr. Dennis’ daughter. I’d never met her but apparently she and I liked the same things. Mom laid out Barbie dolls and Barbie clothes, cute shirts, stuffed animals, play food and play money. I helped her wrap the gifts for […]

11. Chucky and Ronnie Visit

I couldn’t believe it! A big gray van pulled into the parking lot on the side of our apartment building. Mr. Ron, Chucky and Ronnie had driven from Moss Bluff, Louisiana to see me and Mom. Mom did not tell me they were coming. It had been almost a year since I’d seen them. I […]

10. October 6, 1990 & New Glasses

School started and I was excited to meet new friends. In the beginning, Mom would bring me to school and drop me off in the front. My classroom was bright and my teacher was friendly. I played with new friends at recess and enjoyed watching Reading Rainbow and eating lunch that I didn’t have to […]

9. Butter on Burns

The summer was coming to an end and as much as I enjoyed dancing around in the house alone and playing dolls, I desperately wanted to play with other kids. Mom’s shifts at the Longhorn Steak House in Corpus Christi were mostly in the afternoon and into the evening, so I would venture outside during […]

8. Sex Stinks

Functioning alcoholics and addicts are the most confusing adults a child can be around. They seem safe for small stints and then the anger from not drinking kicks in or they drink quietly and you can’t figure out who they are or what’s wrong with them but you know something is off. When your parent […]

7. You’ve Got Mail

Just a few days after talking to my Dad on the phone, I started to get mail. First, there were cards for me with long notes inside from my Dad. He wrote all about what had happened since we’d left and about how much he loved Mom and I. He would send a separate card […]

6. Suburgatory

There were very few trees in this suburban purgatory I found myself in. Granted, it was southern Texas and hotter than Hades but the lack of trees bothered me more than the heat. In Southwest Louisiana we had big beautiful trees to climb and sit under and our grass was green and soft under your […]

5. My 3rd kindergarten

I started my 3rd kindergarten there in Flour Bluff, TX. When all of the kids went back to school after the holiday break, my mother brought me in to register. She had not thought to grab my paperwork from the prior school but she had proof that she was my mother so they signed me […]

4. Flour Bluff, Texas

We climbed out of our black Caprice and we were warmly welcomed into the home of the Smith family. Mr. Rick was a round man with big glasses and a trucker hat. He greeted us with both with a Budweiser can in one hand and a cigarette in the other. During my stay there, I’d […]