When I woke up this morning, I looked at Maggie, my cat, and said
“You’re nine years old.
Would you like to hear what I did when I was nine?”
She looked interested so I proceeded.
We moved from Texas
to San Francisco when I was
nine. My very first
train ride, the Southern Pacific.
My mom, brother Morton and I boarded in Waco,
Texas
for my new adventure.
My life was made up of adventures; some small, some large but, and a
train ride all the way to San Francisco
was the biggest adventure of my life.
My mother settled in as best she could in the chair car.
You slept in your seat in a reclining position but I couldn’t
wait for the train to start.
I needed to start exploring. As
soon as my mom closed her eyes, I was off, going from one car to the
other, back, back to the caboose.
As I entered, there sat several porters resting between jobs.
I eagerly approached them smiling and said “Would you like to see
me dance?” They all nodded
or said yes; I quickly started my routine titled Shoe Shine Boy.
I sang the words and danced.
Shoe
shine boy, you work hard all day
Shoe
shine boy, got no time to play,
Every
nickel helps a lot,
So
shine, shine, shoe shine boy.
The men watched and smiled as I continued dancing up and down the aisle.
Then, my brother entered the car, looking at me sternly and said
“Mama, said to some back to your seat.
Don’t trouble those men.
As I reluctantly accompanied my
brother back to my seat, my mom said
“Helen, stay here, don’t go
bothering those men.
They are resting”.
I looked down and nodded.
more
. .
