Allen Thrower

Waco, Texas. We lived at 2000 McFerrin. I was 7 years old.

It was common knowledge in our household that we had once lived in a house on 21st Street, just off of McFerrin. In our straying from home during play, it was no secret which house it was that we used to live in.

Out of curiosity I went there alone one day to visit whoever lived there. I was not welcome inside, but the lady spoke to me very briefly. It seems that I remember a small porch or just a few steps on the south side of the house, and that the house faced west. I was on the south side, and I was looking into the kitchen. I had a strange feeling that I remembered when I was younger that I had been inside that house and crawled to the kitchen door and looked out through a screened door.

There was what I call a “doorjamb” there, sort of an “arched” piece of unpainted wood about 1/2″ high the width of the door that stopped the screen door. The door was latched and I couldn’t open it. It seems that there was not much grass out that direction, but that the south yard was pretty big. I may be wrong in every detail, but that’s what I have in my memory, and have had since before the war. If this is correct, it is my earliest memory. I understand I was one year old when we moved from the house on 21st street.