I Must Remember This

Book excerpt: It was the sober time of the Great Depression, World War II, and general want, but it was also a time to live and enjoy life as much as possible. The memories include two black men, our nearest neighbors, one of whom had a wife and a son. The hard times drew us together. My father was trying to succeed with his sawmill and store so he hired the black men to look after his farm and to look after us. Mama often helped in the store and or in the church so the black man's wife was often our housekeeper, cook, and second mother. The black couple's son was our playmate so the color line was indistinct and we lived on both sides of it. Segregation had crystallized around laws, customs, and public opinion. Some people made a science of it-unwritten but widespread views about what to do under various conditions. Jim Crow was harsh and we saw some horrible things making these memories all the more melancholy and all the more precious because we did some things right.