- Chapter Six -
I Grew Up Here


Trailer in Ardmore
The place of my birth, Ardmore, Oklahoma, is really just that-the place of my birth. I have no really special memories from this place, and I've only been there once or twice since leaving. As I've already stated though, I lived in a trailer home and had some horses, chickens, cats, and a dog. I remember that I lived out in the country, not really close to town at all.

Decatur, Illinois holds much more importance. Though I must not have liked it at first because, as my dad says of me just after the move:
"After we were there a couple of weeks I believe you may have gotten a little homesick for Oklahoma. You told your mom it was time to go back. She said, "We can't; we live here now." You said, 'Yes we can, the moving van moved us here and it can move us back.'"
It is the place I lived from before kindergarten to the third grade-a five-year period. My house was brown in color and partially brick. In the part of the yard facing the street, there was a maple tree I liked to climb and some tall shrubs close to the road. A line of poplar trees went down both sides of the driveway until they died and were cut down. A big rock next to the mailbox had the house numbers painted on it from before we moved in. The driveway went straight back on the left side of the yard and then turned right before reaching the two-car, two-door garage. Directly opposite the garage in the gravel of driveway was a basketball hoop that I often used. Past the turn in the driveway were some cedar trees, another maple tree, and some other kinds of trees. Between a pair of trees was where we kept wood for the fireplace. Beyond that, but before reaching the pasture there were three apple trees and one pear tree. In the pasture there was a small barn and lots of weeds and grass and the horse, of course.


House in Decatur
Inside the house were two living rooms, one at the front door entrance and one at the garage entrance-at opposite ends of the house. There were four bedrooms-one for each me, James, Marie, and Mom and Dad. My bedroom was on the opposite end of the hallway as the bathroom, and my siblings' rooms were on the left side of the hallway from my room. Exiting my room and turning right would bring one to the dinning room and kitchen. Past this was my parents' room, and they had their own bathroom on the left side of their room. There was a sliding door and patio off both the dinning room and the living room. In that same living room were the stairs to the basement where the washer, dryer, and sump pump were kept.


Here in Lafayette
I have now been living in Lafayette for almost eight and a half years. The house here is smaller than the one in Decatur, but the lot size is the same-five acres. The barn here is much larger and the horse still resides in the pasture. The garage only has one door, but still holds two cars and not much more. When entering the front door, you are presented with two stairways-the one on the left leading up, and the one on the right leading down. Both the upper and lower levels resemble each other with the exception that the upstairs has a kitchen while the downstairs has a larger living room and a very small laundry room. My room is directly below my parent's and has one window on the front of the house. Marie's old room is next to my parent's and is now the computer/pile-of-junk room. The room my sister recently moved out of, which is James's old room, is next to mine. The living rooms are one above the other on the north side of the house. In the yard, there are many pine trees and some maple trees. This driveway was also lined with poplar trees until they died, were cut down, and used as firewood.

I have not had the typical life of staying in one place during my childhood nor have I had the other common lifestyle of moving many, many times. Out of all the landscape that my yards have presented though, there have been many places to play various games and do various activities.


< Previous Contents Next >