Picture of the day - June 6, 2008

My Childhood Home - Amelia, Virginia

Photo courtesy of Glen Rouse. My brother Glen and sister-in-law Tonnie recently paid a visit to Amelia, Virginia, the place where our family lived when I was a very young boy. Many of my most enduring memories are from that short period in my life, and it was wonderful seeing the pictures they brought back home with them. I was just three years old when mom and dad loaded everything we owned into a couple of U-Haul trailers and set out for Richmond in search of work. We ended up moving into this beautiful old farmhouse in rural Amelia County, and for the next five years we lived in the midst of forests filled with pin oaks and pine trees and fields of clover, wheat and soybeans. The large "pig farm" next door supplied plenty of aroma in the summertime as well as plenty of fishing worms when we wanted dad to take us swimming. I spent countless hours playing under that massive old oak tree standing just to the right of the house, beginning on the day we moved in. I couldn't even begin to tell you how many "tons" of that dry, sandy Amelia County dirt I moved around with my red tin bulldozer while kneeling under the cool shade of that big old oak, but it would probably fill a real dump truck to the brim. When I eventually became bored with excavating, I would climb into the swing that Larry had fashioned out of an old oak board and hemp rope and see how high I could go. It wasn't long before I was swinging even higher than the limb the rope was tied onto, and I suppose I can thank the good Lord and a massive tree branch for keeping me from going all the way around like a Ferris wheel! Helen, Roger and I loved to play in the woods behind our house where we would while away the long, hot summer days building tree houses, climbing vines and seeking out creatures of all shapes, sizes and smells to play with. It's a wonder we made it back out of those woods alive, but mom's prayers and God's protective hand kept us safe and sound. Jim Crow was alive and well in Amelia back then like he was in the rest of the old south, so I began my school years going to Amelia High School, the county's all-white K-12 institution. At first I couldn't understand why there were no black kids in our school even though they lived all around us, but it didn't take long for me to figure it out. It was the mid-1960's and the evening newscasts broadcast one story after another detailing the civil rights marches, protests and racial conflicts that were coming to head at that time in our nation's history. By the time I entered 2nd grade the schools had finally been integrated, and for the very first time I found myself studying alongside black students and black teachers. A new era in American history had begun, and I was lucky enough to experience first-hand one of the most momentous changes our nation has ever went through. We only lived in Amelia for about five years, but I can recall those days just like they were last week. Some of those times were good and some were bad, but collectively they helped shape the person that I am today. I was born right here in the beautiful mountains of southwestern Virginia, and I plan to live here until the Lord finally calls me home. But I will always cherish those memories of my early childhood when I lived, played and learned in Amelia County, Virginia.   Click here to comment on this picture.   Visit the POTD Archives for previous "Pictures Of The Day"!     Submit a photo of your own!                                 Place the "Picture of the Day" on your website, for free! Why I publish the "Picture of the Day"