Oh, Emily

What a delight you are! What is it about Broad Street that can just never leave us? One of the first things my daddy did to remodel when we bought the house across from the Sudberry’s (later to be your house), was to tear off the front porch. When we first moved there, Bobby McHaney performed acrobatics for me on his bed while I watched, facinated, from that porch. Ah, well. I could still watch him perform, but it seemed more like voyuerism to just stand in his yard and watch him flip around. He never teased me about my freckles, but actually called me his “Dream Boat”. His grandmother used to send a box of cross-vine every spring from Arkansas

and we would go in the back yard or down by the ditch and smoke it. Very sophisticated, eh? We all used to “play out” until our caretakers MADE us come in. We had regular ghost stories, but none of them were about the Abominable Snow Man. We had a lot of plays or “skits” in which I was the fair maiden and Bobby rescued me. Daddy kept a close eye on him. I wish I still had that energy and the disdain for meals that we had then. The Sudberrys were the first on the street to have air conditioning. I can remember going into Sydney’s bedroom, flinging myself on the bed and breathing in all that frosty air. Wow! The Lloyds (next door to you) were the first on the street with television. We all went over to watch wrestling and eat Mrs. Lloyd’s delicious cookies.

It’s my thinking that when air conditioning started creeping in, the porches started disappearing, along with the sense of community. My husband thought I was nuts when I wanted to put a ceiling fan on my front porch just so I could watch the goings on in the neighborhood…..I just can’t stand the heat anymore. I love being in the swing and will have to come up with a “swing moniker”…..Now I just pray that the swing won’t fall down when a neighbor joins me on it.

I so enjoyed your story about Robert Harrell. He is my brother, Charles’, age and lived over on Westbrook (next to the Lovings….remind me to tell you of some of the stories from THEIR house). Wonderful. Colorful. But back to Robert. He is just so wonderful and I love him better than chocolate (that’s a LOT of love). Every time he sees you he makes you think you’re a special person. That’s a real gift. West Point is so lucky to have the characters (a term of endearment) that we do…..your dad is included. I hear rumors of his office closing and it gives me chills. I’ve already told him he’s the only person who can never retire and cannot die. We’ll just ALL go under. I remember your mother with that porcelain skin and beautiful smile and the fact that her clothes never got wrinkled; she was perfectly formed and gracious beyond words.

Gone much too soon.

Just wanted you to know you set off lots of memories for me and they were all pleasant.