These little short stories are written to document tales I've told the grandkids about growing up in "the good ol'e days" of the '50s & '60s in Arlington, Texas. The stories would, however, apply to almost any small, growing town in America. Names and places would change but the "gist" would be the same. The stories are clean, fun, and exude feelings of friendship and appreciation. It was a great time and place to grow up with wonderful teachers, coaches, and great friends, as well as a loving and supportive family and church. I was blessed to be a part of such an experience.
My family moved from Laurel, Mississippi in 1948 to Arlington, Texas, where my dad took a position at NTAC, soon to become Arlington State College. At that time Arlington was a sleepy little commuter college town with a population of about 7000 people, two elementary schools, one junior high and one high school, Arlington High School. There were several churches in town but we joined the First Presbyterian Church, at that time on West Abram Street. Arlington was a very dynamic little town with big town ambitions. It dramatically grew attracting businesses and lots of new families. We lived in one of the new developments, College Hills. It was near the college so Dad could walk to work in nice weather. I was the oldest kid with a brother, Johnny, 3 years younger and a sister, Jan, 6 years younger. All us kids were able to attend the same schools all the way through high school. (Sometimes that was good, sometimes bad!)
We lived in a modest home which my parents had built in '52, on University Drive which with Varsity Circle comprised a neighborhood of about 80 families. The families were mostly of our age group. It was a great neighborhood to grow up in and we all made lifelong friends of the kids and their parents, as well. Us kids were fortunate because we never moved until '62, and then, it was not far from the old home. I am so lucky to still have so many friends that I grew up with from church to kindergarten to elementary school to junior high and high school. Heck, I even met my lovely wife Becky when we were in seniors in high school!
Writing was never a strong suit for me at any point in my education, so I'm not sure what possessed me to me to write this book, however, doing so has brought joy into my life doing so, and I hope it does for you as well!
