In off times I write on my memoir. Below is an excerpt from one of the pages. The rest of the story sits at the end of this blog.

We moved back to Fort Scott, Kansas from Ottawa, Kansas after WW II when I was four. Our house sat on a corner not far from downtown.

Across the street to the west lived an old lady. Because there was a housing shortage at the time, her son, his wife, and their three kids lived with her while they looked for a house.

Behind their residence sat a small chicken coop with a dirt floor. The kids and I loved to play in the coop. It was furnished with a small table and some chairs. We enjoyed pretend tea parties there. Even though it hadn’t housed chickens for many years, it still carried the slight stench of chickens.

One day I went to play with the children. Soon the grandmother came out and said to me, “You need to go home now. My grandson is having a birthday party this afternoon and he needs to get his clothes changed.”

When I came in the back door, Mom asked, “What happened? I thought you were going to play across the street.”

“His grandma told me to go home.”

Mom frowned. “Why? Did you do something bad?”

“No. The little boy is having a birthday party so she told me I had to leave.”

Mom’s frown deepened. She sank into a kitchen chair and drew me onto her lap. Tears rolled down her cheeks as silence ruled the room.

After a long time, she wiped her face, stood, cleared her throat, and said, “How would you like to walk to town and go shopping?”

“Oh yes. Can we?”

“Here’s a nickel. You can buy some candy at the drugstore.”

While I waited for Mom to change out of her house dress, I laid on the couch balancing the coin on my lips. What kind of candy would I buy? I sure didn’t want to lose that nickel so I popped it in my mouth.

“Okay, honey, let’s go,” Mom called from the bedroom.

Her voice startled me and I swallowed my nickel.

We did go to town that day, but Mom didn’t have another nickel for candy.

Years passed. Another family moved into the house across the street and we moved on to a larger home.

The other night I received a call from a high school friend. He invited me to his 77th birthday party. It’s to be held at the house with the chicken coop. It’s taken me seventy-two years, but I’m finally going to a birthday party at that house.

Guess what they say is true, what goes around, comes around.

 

My latest book, Joshua’s Journey: One Boy’s Victory Over Allergies is available here on Amazon.com. All my books are available in Kindle and paperback. The Miracle Books are also available in audible.