My Birth - 65 Years Ago

     Although I don't remember my birth on July 16, 1948 (I was born at an early age), at 3:50 a.m. on a Friday, I do have some interesting pictures and stories that go along with the event.
     I was born in my mother's bedroom, in a two-room house on Division St, in Greenville, Texas. One room was the living room/kitchen, the other was the bedroom/bath. Here is the house (though in better shape and painted white when we lived there).

     My Grandmother Gilmore was in attendance, as she was with most of her grandchildren. She was a mid-wife/office keeper for Dr. H M Bradford. She also kept a "Nursing Book", which I happen to have (a very treasured keepsake). Here is a page from that book detailing my birth, and the $5.00 she made for helping Dr. Bradford.

     The interesting thing about my doctor is that he was 79 when he delivered me. AND, I remember being at his house in Dallas when he was about 90 and I was about 11. He still stood ramrod straight, wearing a suit and tie. I will never forget the visit. Here is a picture of him and his wife in later years.

     I also have the two earliest pictures of myself; one as a baby, and one at about 1.5 years old. Here they are.

     My mother said that July was very, very hot; and the day before my birth, a Thursday, my brother Weldon (14 months older) was determined to have a piece of a big Black Diamond watermelon. So mother picked it up and set it on the table to cut it -- and I was born early the next morning.

     And that is the end of my story.