Texas Memories

When we drove by the front of the Will Rogers Memorial Center in Ft. Worth, I had a definite feeling of having been there before. Turns out we went to a rodeo there when our family visited Texas in the early 60s. I remembered going to a rodeo somewhere, but didn't associate it with this place until I was back there, 40-plus years later.

I started trying to recall other memories of Texas. I remember visiting Ruth and her father, of course, and of having a picnic in their backyard. I remember Harry, a Baptist minister, saying grace, and immediately following the Amen, he'd say: Now eat hearty, folks! I remember going somewhere in the country where there were rows of concrete statues. I walked among them and made up little stories about them. It turns out that was the home of Ruth's friend, Jim, and he had made all the statues and numerous fountains as well. Ruth gave me a couple of slides from there that I will try to get digitally copied. I thought the statues were life-size, but they appear to be no more than 3 feet tall. (I was a little kid, remember.)

I remember going to see the Alamo, and I think we even went to Padre Island. I also remembered going to see a tower in a big empty space like a park or battlefield. Mom and Dad didn't remember what this was. I Googled for it, but there are a lot of towers in Texas. Finally, I searched for it in Google by images and recognized it when I saw it. It's the San Jacinto Memorial Tower. Taller than the Washington Monument (of course Texans always have to be bigger), it commemorates the battle where Sam Houston defeated Santa Ana to win the Texas war of independence.

I don't remember things like cars very well, but evidently our family with 4 kids drove from Illinois to Texas and back, and all around Texas, in a convertible! Mom and Dad, thanks for the memories!