Memories

Memories much like favorite photographs fade over time. Some though.....like the ones where you almost died.....hang with you like a hair in a biscuit. I was five years old going on six, funny isn't how as a kid the day after you turned five you told everyone you were "five going on six." We were sharecroppers, the land owner supplied the house and work animals, and we supplied the labor. The profits if there were any, we split at the end of the year. We were getting up hay that morning, it was cold for early September, and I was layered in hand me down clothing. It's never a good feeling wearing other peoples clothes. The weathered old wagon was drawn by a mule named "Tom" and we used pitchforks to pick up the hay and put it inside the bed. I say "we", I wasn't allowed to use a pitchfork or get near them while we were in the field. Didn't matter I thought, I would play with one later after everyone took a nap about one oclock. Since I had been told to "stay out of the way", I looked for arrowheads and threw rocks at the wagon until Daddy said "them rocks is scaring Tom, throw another one and you gonna be cutting yourself a switch." Nuff said, I knew full well the meaning of that statement. A few minutes later I spotted an arrowhead under the wagon, and not thinking of anything else, I started under to get it. The man upstairs had to be watching over me because Grandaddy was standing there and almost as soon as I started under something startled Tom and he lurched forward. Grandaddy somehow grabbed me by the shoe and ankle and snatched me backward. My head hit the wagon wheel and it knocked the breath out of me. Old Tom almost immediately stopped, and I tried to speak but couldn't. Grandaddy shook me and said "Jimmy, Jimmy, you OK." Daddy quickly ran over and when I got myself together I could see they was both teared up. I had never seen a grown man cry and it dawned on me what had just happened. I don't know who took this photo, it was made on one of the trips to the stable where we put the loose hay. I know it wasn't made after the fact though... because we didn't get up any more hay that day......