We were a very poor family that lived in south Georgia in the 1950s. It was only me, my brother, and my mom. Our dad had left after my brother was born. Mom said he just didn’t want to be around us anymore. He wanted to go “have fun” he said and not work on a farm. I was seventeen, my brother was fifteen, and it was up to me now to run the farm. I was strong for my age and my brother did what I told him to do, so we weren’t rich, but we were surviving. I had to drop out of school, which I didn’t like, but had no choice. We made sure my brother stayed in school. He was great. When he got home from school, he was a big help to me and mom.

A typical day started around four a.m. when my mom would get up and make me breakfast. I always had a lot to do so my day started early. I got up and I had to feed the animals first and make sure they had water. After that, I would go in and eat breakfast with mom. When we finished eating, it was usually time to get my brother up. After he went to school, I usually had fields to cultivate or plant until lunch. After lunch, I may take a nap for an hour because I usually worked into the night.