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Show 69 School rescued us from farm work, but Vetris was still my baby. She wouldn't let anyone but me put her to sleep, so it was a problem when I went to school. I must run home from school, two blocks at noon and sing her to sleep, which I did by sitting on a low chair and screaming songs at the top of my lungs. Her eyelids would flutter shut like an angel's; I would deposit her in bed and cram a hasty lunch, get back to school before the bell rang. I had always loved dolls, but they were unsatisfactory after tending babies. Eldon was 'prissy' about my changing Grant's diapers because of his being a boy, and Mama upheld him in it, so I had little to do with Grant. For that matter, he was born grown up. Nobody could keep him a baby for long. Grant was very homely when he was born, all nose and ears, but his mouth soon learned to grin. Mollie Robinson, from the Ozarks said: "He ain't much pretty, Laurie, but he's awful cute. " Mama cried when Lettie Hopkins had a baby and her sister said: "Good Lord! He's as ugly as Laura's Grant! " It didn't worry Grant. His main concern was horses. Before he could walk he played his feet were horses, pulled his shoestrings for lines, and said "Gup! Cl'k, " before he could say "Mama. " In fact, he always called her "Nance, " (one of the mares) and when he could walk he would back up to her, pick up her foot between his knees, and "shoe" her, pounding on her sole with his little hammer. |
