i was born march 26, 1936, at 2617 summer avenue in waco, texas, at home as was the custom in those days.  daddy was almost 26 at the time and mother was 24.  shirley, my much older sister and constant antagonist during childhood, was 3 1/2 years old at the time and, i believe had been born at home in the same house.  while mother was expectant with shirley she fell down some back steps (5 or 6 of them) and broke her arm.  we will never know whether this was a contributing factor to shirley’s attitudes and personality today, will we?

shirley must have “telepathied” me because she just called and corrected me that she was born at 2310 reuter where mother & daddy lived with the tatums-tom and, gladys, and their children-ardis and don.  shirley also remembered that the bathroom at 2617 was on an enclosed back porch and had a water tank hung high on the wall and a pull chain.  i also, take her word for it that she sat outside on the front porch while mother delivered me in a big bed in the front bedroom.  these were the “good old days?”

Back Porch Comfort

By Gregorydavid at the English language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12355042