The Ringling Bros.& Barnum and Bailey Circus train went north early each spring; it still does in February.
In the early 1940s, train after train went through, filled with young soldiers. My mother was in a car that was hit by a troop train. She recovered, and that’s when the town got serious about installing lights and gates at each crossing.
The railway station was such a busy place all day, with freight and produce being unloaded and passengers coming and going.
James Boyd bought many of the pictures Dad took of trains, as one of his sons had such an interest in them.
One Christmas Eve when I was 6 years old, a favorite neighbor couple came to our house. They didn’t have any children, so I always sat on Mr. Goodwin’s lap, and my sister, Sukey, sat on Mrs. Goodwin’s lap.
During the conversation, my mother said that Mr. Eddy had gone on an errand. (My mother always called our father Mr. Eddy; I never heard her call him Ellsworth.)
Mr. Goodwin said, “I bet he’s gone to Aberdeen to get something with two wheels.”
Wow! Not only did I know who Santa Claus was, but I knew also what I was getting for Christmas. I had been told I couldn’t have a bicycle until I learned to spell it, and I don’t mean “bike.” I got down off that lap mighty fast and never did any more lap-sitting.
In fact, I wouldn’t ever speak to him again or ride my beautiful new blue bicycle by his house. Mean old man, spoiling my fun!
Timely Lesson
When I was 8 years old, I received a handsome wristwatch for Christmas. It had an unbreakable crystal — they were new then. I went out that afternoon to show it off and brag about it.
Some of the neighbor boys said there was no such thing as an unbreakable crystal. After a lot of arguing, I took it off and told them to bang it on the cement sidewalk, which they all took turns doing.
Well, I was right, wasn’t I? It didn’t break, but its poor little shattered insides would never tell time again. My father insisted on calling all the parents. Perhaps he thought they should hold a fund-raiser and buy me a new watch, but it really was my fault.
I was never given another watch until I was 16, so I did learn a timely lesson.
