Part VI

Exploring our new home was fun. Rosanne and I pretended we owned a "hotel" like Miss Kitty in "Gunsmoke". The swinging saloon doors in our dressing room was, of course, the inspiration. We thought Kitty was the owner of a hotel, so being Miss Kitty was the role we used every time we played "saloon". Even if someone had told us she was a Madam, we wouldn't have known what that was, so it wouldn't have mattered.

Looking back now, I think it's pretty funny. Now I understand why Mama always tried to get us to change the name of our game to "Hotel". (I'm sure Daddy got a kick out of that.)

Television was pretty limited at the time, so westerns and a couple of other shows were all the TV we had to base pretend characters on. All except Binkham and Bromham.

Mama and Daddy thought they were imaginary friends, but Rosanne and I KNEW they were there. They just couldn't be seen by anyone but us.

We always set our little table for four with tea cups, saucers, bread and butter, and cookies. We had complete conversations with our little "friends" and somehow even spoke limited German to them. Mama was convinced Daddy had taught us German words, but Daddy insisted that he hadn't. He was telling the truth. (We never heard German from Daddy until we were in our teens and he actually took us to Germany.)

It became such a topic of interest for a while that Daddy finally called it something that seemed to satisfy Mama and him and put their curiosity to rest. He decided that Rosanne and I learned to speak German by something he called "osmosis". He explained that all the time he spent in the Air Force speaking German must have somehow transferred to us.

Rosanne and I knew the real story, but they didn't believe us, so we just kept it to ourselves. Brinkham and Bromham taught us, but it would stay "our little secret" because adults didn't understand it for some strange reason. We loved them and spent a lot of secret time with them, just talking. They were children, too.

We also passed the time learning how to ride our bikes on the big turn around and running up the steep stairs to the barbecue overlooking the view as far as we could see. Our favorite pastime was what we called building "chalk houses". Mama bought us big boxes of gigantic chalk, and we spent hours drawing outlines of houses, furniture and even flowers in vases sitting on tables we drew. After the house was completed, we'd sit on the asphalt "chairs", lay on the rock hard "beds" and knock on the flat colored "doors". When we'd get bored with that layout, we'd grab the water hose, wash it off and wait for it to dry so we could start over with another "home." Hours would go by quickly, and it would soon be dark. The asphalt would be good and dry waiting for our next creation the following day.

When Daddy was home, he was always coming up with some new idea to keep our little family entertained. I guess he thought we were bored, but we found many thing to occupy our days and loved it. I felt like Mama was lonely, and I found out later that she was. Daddy knew it too, so he made sure that he spent all his time with us when he was home.

Daddy coming home was always like Christmas. When he brought his suitcase in, it was always laid out on the floor with presents from his recent trip immediately handed out with pride. Mama always got her gift first, accompanied with a kiss and hug. I remember Mama always telling Daddy that him being home was the greatest gift, but Daddy always said, "Baby, you have me AND a gift. I want you to have something from every place I go." Mama always smiled and wrapped her arms around him like she never wanted to let him go. I always thought Daddy and Mama must be the happiest people I ever saw when they were together.

My sisters and I always got the most beautiful dolls dressed in their native costumes and we took great pride in them. I always immediately named my new doll. (They're in excellent condition to this day.)

I take them out on occasion and say hello to them, letting my memories take me back to the excitement of the "treasure suitcase ritual" in Casitas Springs, sitting on the floor in a family circle.

It seemed like forever, but finally Daddy told us that Grandma and Grandpa were coming! He bought a trailer park with a little two bedroom white clapboard house for them to live in. Grandpa and Grandma were going to manage the park, and the best part is they would be living about ten minutes from our house. I was so excited! Before we knew it, they were in California, and seemed to be as happy as we were. In between their house and the trailer park, was a huge fruit tree orchard and a lot of big shade trees. Grandma and Grandpa had a nice big yard. The house was small but roomy and felt like Memphis to me, it was cozy and had that familiar smell of "home." Something was always baking, Grandma was always humming and Grandpa had a good place to grow a garden. They were happy and settled in immediately. I felt like our lives were almost as great as Memphis had been. Now when Daddy was gone, it wouldn't be so lonesome.

Then I got the news that my life would take a terrible turn. Mama said it was time for me and Rosanne to start school. I wasn't sure exactly what that meant, but it sounded very scary. She said it would be a lot of fun, but I didn't want to go there. Rosanne was happy, but I wasn't. I was tired of all these new changes, and didn't like it one bit.

Just when things were better than ever, I had to leave my house every day and be away from Mama, Daddy, and Cindy. Mama reminded me that Rosanne would be there, but when I found out she wouldn't be in the same room with me, I panicked.

I was sure I could find a way to change Mama's mind, and if that didn't work, I'd have to get Grandma to help change her mind. Thank goodness Grandma was there. She came just in time.

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