Beazle used to say I started to school at the Arkansas School for the blind 22 days before I turnedfiv e. Actually it was 21 days before. I know because back then school started the day after Labor Day at ASB and most other places as well. Mom must have counted the day I wen
t along with my birthday. Like the
cruse lines call a cruse starting on Friday and ending on Sunday a three
day cruise. So on September 7, 1965 I went away to school; coming home
most weekends, vacations, and summers.
"You may ask, "Why are
you bringing this up now?" Well, two of my grown children made me think
of this. My oldest made a post on Facebook about Black History Month
and my youngest asked in a comment, wasn't Mom in one of the first classes
to attend ASB after integration? Yes I was. We first toured the Blind
school for Black students thinking I'd be going there. Sometime during
the summer the powers that be decided to integrate the schools and
everybody went to the school on Markham.
My oldest grandchild
will be turning five soon. I will be thinking about him 21 days before
his fifth birthday. I wonder how my parents brought themselves to make
such a dramatic decision for their young child. I am so grateful they
did
I rode a Continental Trailways (a competitor of
Greyhound) bus home every Friday. Sometimes I also took the bus back to
Little Rock on Sundays, sometimes Mom drove me. You may shutter to
think of such a thing now, but it was a matter of course back then for
children of all ages to travel alone by bus. Someone from school would
take us to the bus station on Friday afternoon and buy our tickets.
That person gave us our ticket and left. It was our responsibility to
listen for the announcements, keep up with our ticket, and board the
bus. Mom met me at the other end in Pine Bluff. When I took the bus
back on Sunday, I'd sometimes have to ask the ticket agent to call the
school to have someone come pick me up. Usually there'd be older
students returning and they'd ask the ticket agent to call.
I
can't imagine my grandson doing these things at his present age. Take
away the dangers children face now and I still can't imagine him being
allowed to do things like that even if adults thought he could. b.
