BY SHIRLEY WILLIAMS PROCTOR

One of my earliest memories as a child is when I broke my arm at the age of five. There were several children in the family playing in the front yard; making "mud pies", which was one of my favorite things to do. I climbed on the pump to get some more water for my mud pie and fell off. I landed on my arm in such a way that it broke both bones. I was only five years old at the time and must have been extremely small. The one thing that sticks in my mind about this was that everyone was very concerned about Mother because she was so upset. I remember them stopping at a country grocery store (Johnson's, on Cokey Rd.) to get Mother something to drink and me some ice cream to calm us down. When we arrived at the "Clinic" Mother had to be given a sedative because she was so upset.

I vividly remember being very close to Mother and not really ever wanting to leave her. One time Cleo wanted me to come visit her in Rocky Mount. I'm not sure how old I was but I would guess around six or seven. Cleo lived on Church Street in a very big house with a large front porch. She wanted to walk down to the corner grocery to get a newspaper. She told me to stand on the porch and watch her the whole time because she knew I didn't like to be left alone. It was only about one-half block. I remember feeling very uneasy but I stood on the porch until she walked into the grocery store. At that moment I became very frightened and jumped off the porch into a very big hedge. She must have hated to take me home to Mother looking so scratched up. I've been told by my brothers and sisters that Nancy and I both stuck to Mother like glue when we were little and never wanted her to get out of our sight.

We moved to Clark Street when I was six years old. I started second grade at Bassett, which was only about three blocks from our house. Most of the kids took a bag lunch to school, as no lunches were served at school at that time. We lived so close that we walked home for lunch every day. Mother usually had cooked a hot meal. I am pretty sure that Daddy and most of the boys came home to lunch every day. I was a very picky eater and she would usually fix me something special. About the only things I remember really liking were mashed potatoes, butter beans and banana sandwiches (I still am kidded about that to this day). Even though Mother had so many to prepare for, she would still try to make sure that she had something I liked. At the time I don't guess I appreciated it, but now that I am a mother I can see how difficult it must have been for her to have so many demands put on her day in and day out with no letup.

My most special memories are staying home from school and being with Mother all by myself. I must have required lots of extra attention because I think I "played sick" a lot. As soon as everyone left Mother would go to Wooten's Grocery Store and get us Anne's Donuts and a Pepsi. I always thought I had her fooled but now that I look back I realize she must have known that I really wasn't that sick but just needed a little TLC and she always allowed me to do that. Sometimes, Daddy would even come home for lunch early and he would bring me some paper dolls. I would spend the rest of the day cutting them out.

When we moved to 624 Clark Street I had a friend named Jewel Winters. They had a television and I just loved to watch it. My favorite thing was the Big Top Circus which was on from 9:00--11:00 on Saturday morning. Most of the time she would invite us down; I was so disappointed when she would not. I had to be very careful not to make her mad because if I did then I wouldn't get to see the Big Top. This happened quite often because we didn't really get along very well. I remember doing something to make her mad one Friday afternoon and she told me not to come to her house the next morning to watch TV; I cried for hours. It must not have been too long after that when we got our first TV. I think the boys went together and bought it with their "paper route" money. It probably took them forever to pay for it because I am sure they were very expensive. Not too many people had them. Of course, it was black and white; there were no color TVs. It was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to us. TV programs were only on at certain times of the day; it was sometime before they had continuous programming throughout the day. I remember lots of times when our married brothers and sisters would come over at night and we would have a room full of family watching the TV. A particular program that sticks in my mind was the $64,000 Question. I could not imagine anyone winning that much money.

I was eleven years old when Don was born. I was not even aware that Mother was pregnant. Back then things like that were not discussed with children. I remember Daddy coming home from work early one day and he had a worried look on his face. He took Mother away in the car and I knew something was wrong but no one would tell us what it was. That night Daddy came home and told us we had a little brother.

One month before Don was born, Hurricane Hazel hit. It was a school day and I remember very well sitting in class and the sky getting very black; parents started coming for their children. We were not told what was happening. Mother and Daddy came to school for Nancy and me. We had ridden our bicycles to school and Daddy walked with us while we pushed the bikes home. The whole family came over to our house. I feel sure it was because everyone was worried about Mother and the fact that she was so pregnant. Of course, I didn't know that. The storm was quite bad but we managed to escape with only a few damages to the house. I remember riding east with the family on several trips to see the damage that Hazel caused.

When I was around 12 years old Glenn joined the Navy. He had just turned 18. Mother didn't really think he was old enough but I guess she went along with it. I remember missing him very much. Nancy and I both wrote him often and we got letters from him. That felt so special to get letters addressed just to us. On a very special Saturday morning in December I remember someone knocking on the door and I went to see who it was. There was a postman with two packages. I called Mother and told her that she and Daddy had gotten a package. But when she got there she told me they were for Nancy and me from Glenn. I was just beside myself because I don't think I had ever gotten a package like that before. When we opened them I could not believe my eyes. We each had a beautiful doll.

Sometime later we knew Glenn was coming home. Nancy and I were outside playing. We lived at 624 Clark Street which was very near downtown Rocky Mount. I looked up and saw Glenn walking down the street. He had on his dark blue sailor outfit and I remember running all the way down the block because I was so glad to see him. He could have called us to pick him up at the bus station but he decided to walk and surprise us.

In the summer before entering eighth grade we moved to Bedford Road. That was the first "new" house we had ever had. I thought we were rich. We looked at two houses; one on the corner and one next door. Mother wanted the one on the corner but we just loved the big picture window in the one beside it. Somehow we convinced Mother that it was the one for us. The Campbells bought the one on the corner.

Mary Alice Campbell became a very good friend of Mother's. I loved living there and made many friends. Two of my best friends were Mary Anne Harrell and Gloria Holmes. We had many sleep overs and double dates. Our favorite thing to do in the afternoon was to walk to Joe Barrett's Soda Shop. If my memory serves me right we only needed eleven cents, six cents for a fountain coke and a nickel for a pickle or a
candy bar. Gloria always got a pickle. Sometimes we would get a squirt of cherry if we had a few extra cents.

I was not really ready to drive when I turned 16 years old. Most of my friends were younger than I was and they were not driving yet, so I saw no need to do so. However, when I was 17 I wanted to get my license. I think Mother was afraid to try and teach me so she got C.T. to help me. He spent one whole weekend with me and taught me to drive his Volkswagen. After I had the hang of it, he decided we would take Mother for a ride and I think I really scared her badly but she didn't say anything.

I started dating James Proctor when I was in the tenth grade. James' uncle, Shorty, and my brother, Phillip, worked together at Bel Aire Chevrolet. Also, Cleo had gone to school and graduated with James' mother and father. So, needless to say, the whole family knew the Proctor family. James and I dated for almost five years before we got married and we both got to know each others' family well. James worked for the City of Rocky Mount during the summers on a survey team. Since Meadowbrook Park was a new subdivision, his survey team would be working in our neighborhood on many occasions. I would think of all sorts of excuses to ask Mother for the car so I could ride by where he was working. I would never stop, but I wanted to be sure he saw me.

On Mother's Day in 1961 I borrowed Mother and Daddy's car (they only had one family car) and I went to pick up James and we went to Bettie Lee's house in Temperance Hall. We picked strawberries and then we went back to James' house and he cut some roses from his mother's garden for me. I had told Mother and Daddy that I would not be too long so I was in a hurry to get home. On the way home I wrecked their car, which was a Falcon. I turned it over one complete turn and did a lot of damage. I felt so badly about wrecking their only car. They must have been so mad and upset but they never punished me or made me feel badly about it. They were without a car for a while during the repairs. I think Oliver let them use his. He was still living at home and working at the Evening Telegram. The thing I remember most about Oliver is that he read all the time. We should have known that he would eventually become a college professor.

James and I continued to date all through high school. We went to three Proms together. For the first one I borrowed a dress from Milton's girl friend. For my senior year, Mother had someone design and make me the most beautiful gown I had ever seen. It must have been quite an expense for her but she never mentioned it.

After high school I worked for two years at Davis and Company. During this time, Daddy also started a business at the old Sutton's Grocery. I would walk over there and eat lunch with them. Also, J.D. would come and have lunch with us a lot of the time. He worked down on S. Church Street. I think it was a hard time for Mother and Daddy, they didn't really make much money at the store.

I quit my job at Davis and Company, sold my car, and went to East Carolina. Nancy and I were freshmen together and really became best friends for the first time. We depended on each other to keep from getting so homesick. It must have been really hard on Mother and Daddy to have lost both of us at the same time. In the beginning, we could not go home for 3 or 4 weeks. One Sunday Mother and Daddy came up and brought a picnic lunch since we couldn't come home. It was quite a treat. We also got letters from Mother. She would tell things like what she did that day and what she was cooking for supper. I only stayed at ECC for two quarters. When I called and told them I wanted to come home, Phillip and Daddy came up to get me. They never put me down or told me I had done the wrong thing. I got a job at Wimberly and Gregory. Since I had sold my car I didn't have transportation. They took me to work and picked me up every day until I could work out a ride with a neighbor.

James and I decided that we wanted to get married that next Thanksgiving. He was a sophomore at Carolina and I had to quit my job to move to Chapel Hill. We didn't have much money for a wedding but Mother did everything she could to be sure that we had a nice wedding.

We had been married about one year when we got the call that Daddy had died. It was a big football weekend at Carolina. About five or six couples were over at Bettie Lee and Alan Proctor's house. Daddy died early in the day but they couldn't reach us by phone until that night. It was very sudden and was quite a shock. I loved him very much and felt bad about the circumstances of that day. I took some time off from work and stayed with Mother. She was never really the same after Daddy died. Their love for each other was so evident and she never really adjusted to his being gone. She gradually went downhill until her death three years later.

I look back now and see how devoted they were to their children. Everything they ever did centered around us. We made a vow after she died that we would not drift apart from each other. We get together at least twice a year; once in October and at Christmas. We have "mini-get-togethers" during the year. I can't imagine what it would be like without all my wonderful brothers and sisters, their children and grandchildren. We have been truly blessed.