Adopted Angels

 

Mr. Davis asked us to keep the kids while he goes to visit his baby girl.  We are happy

to keep them they are so cute.  Dorothy is nine and such a pretty little girl.  Maudean is

eight and a beautiful little blond girl always laughing.  G.D. is six and such a little character;

we love all three of them.  Mr. Davis is having a real hard time trying to keep the farm going

and trying to be a mother and dad to them.  They are well-behaved little ones.  The kids love

my teacakes so I made a whole dish pan full, we ate them all in one day.

 

Boots is getting everything ready to start picking cotton next week.  Boots borrowed a wagon

and team, from the landlord, so he could take the cotton to the gin.

 

Today is my eighteenth birthday, to celebrate I baked a cake.  Boots has been working so

hard everyday in the field, I cooked his favorite meal; fried steak, gravy, red beans, fried

potatoes and biscuits.  Mr. Davis came back in time to have supper with us.  We all ate

like hogs, so much we could hardly move.  We sure enjoyed the supper.  When supper

was over, I put the little ones to bed.  I went back to the kitchen poured coffee for Mr. Davis,

Boots and myself.  While sitting at the kitchen table laughing and talking, Mr. Davis asked

us if we would like to adopt his kids.  We could see he was heart broken because he

couldn’t take care of the kids, the way they should be taken care of.  We really don’t know

what to say.  It is like an answer to prayer for us.  We told him we would pray about it and

let him know in a few days.  We knew God was going to let us have a family but didn’t

realize it was going to be these three beautiful kids.  We felt sorry for Mr. Davis having

to give up his family.

 

We talked and prayed almost all night before deciding to adopt the little ones.  We

couldn’t imagine the kids being with another family or being separated.  Before

breakfast, Boots went to tell Mr. Davis to go ahead and make the arrangements for the adoption.

 

The little ones woke up as Boots was leaving.  They helped me cook breakfast and

after eating went home.  Mr. Davis is going to tell them about the adoption, in a few

days.  He wanted to spend a few days with them before he tells them.  I feel so

sorry for him; I would hate to be in his shoes.

 

Boots and I love them, and we know we can never take the place of their own

Mama and Daddy.  We know it is a big responsibility and hope they won’t be

disappointed.  I wrote Mama a letter today to tell her the good news.

 

 

 

The next week we started picking cotton.  It’s the middle of August and the

days have been so hot.  Our workday begins in the field at sunup where we

pick cotton until around noon.  We go back to the house eat lunch and cool

off until 3, then back to the field until dark.  We work hard from can til can’t.

We have picked four bales of cotton and took it to the gin.  The cotton prices

are pretty good this year.

 

Mr. Davis asked us to take over his farm after we get our crops in this year.

He says he thinks it will be easier on the kids if they don’t have to move, he

is also giving us all of his livestock and farm equipment.  He says we will

need it to provide for the kids.  He is moving to Kaufman and taking a job

in town, so he won’t need it.

 

I got a letter from Mama today, she is worried about us taking on the

responsibility of three kids, with me being only eighteen and Boots nineteen.

We may be young but we know we love these kids and we want them so

much.  I wrote her back and told her we will be signing the adoption papers

next week.  I know she means well, but we know what we are doing.

 

We are going to Cooper today to sign the papers.  Boots has got to take a

load of cotton to the gin, so we are all going in together on the cotton wagon.

The kids seem to be excited about this and Mr. Davis is sad.

 

I bought some material to make the girls some new dresses for school and

G.D. some new shirts.  We also bought all of them a new pair of shoes and

G.D. some little overalls just like Boots wears.

 

Mr. Davis left today to go to Kaufman and we are on our own with the kids.

I wish we had more time to play and get to know them, but we have to get

this cotton picked.  They all have little cotton sacks and go to the fields with

us; I can’t leave them at the house alone.  I know it is hard on them.  School

starts in about two weeks so that will make it easier for them.  I have to get

them some clothes made before they start.

 

Boots has been going to the store almost everyday to get ice for iced tea,

the kid’s sure do like it.  He always gets them a bag of penny candy, they

love that too and so do I.  I put the beans on to cook everyday before we

go to the field, so all I have to do when we come in for dinner is fry potatoes

and make cornbread.  We have plenty of milk and butter, so we don’t have to

worry about food for awhile.  I make teacakes for the kids as often as I can;

they like them better than cake.  They like flap jacks for breakfast better than

anything else.  Boots likes salt pork and eggs.  They all like the biscuits and

gravy I make every morning.

 

 

 

Dorothy and Maudean asked us today what they should call us, we told them

they could just call us by our names if they wanted.  It wouldn’t be fair to have

them call us Mama & Papa.  We would have liked for them to, but understand

why they couldn’t.

 

I fainted in the field today and realized later in the afternoon that I must be

pregnant again.  I am happy but so scared.  We have been so busy with the

kids, I hadn’t even thought about it.  I am going to wait awhile to tell Boots, no

need to worry him until I see the Doctor.  The weather is so hot in the cotton

field, it could just be the heat.

 

School is starting and we are taking the kids for their first day with their new

name.  Dorothy starts in the fourth grade, she looks so cute with her dark

brown hair and new dress and shoes.  Maudean is in the third grade and is

as blond as Dorothy is dark; she looks like a little angel in her new clothes.

G.D. will be in the first grade and he doesn’t want to go, he is so little, he

looks like a little man in his new shirt and overalls.  He wants to stay home

and help Boots.  Boots told him he has to go and learn to read and write, so

he can teach him.  G.D. finally agreed to go so he could learn and teach Boots.

 

We decided to visit Grandma Goodman while we were in town.  She hasn’t met

the kids yet so we decided to stay until school was out, so she could meet them.

I am also going to the Doctor today, just to be sure I am pregnant.  Boots picked

up the kids at school and brought them to Grandma’s house, she loved them on

sight.  Grandma has decided to go home with us to help while we finish picking

the cotton.  Thank God for Grandmas.

 

The kids are riding the school bus everyday now.  They have to leave around

six thirty in the morning and don’t get back until around five.  Grandma has

been staying at the house to cook for all of us while we are in the field, it sure

is nice.  Now I have time to sew in the evenings to finish making clothes for the

kids.  The coal oil lamp really doesn’t make enough light to sew or read by, but

I think I can manage.  We help the kids with their homework anyway, so I can

sew at the same time.

 

We are almost finished with the cotton, just one more time through the fields,

pulling bolls.  We had a real good crop this year, so far we have one hundred

fifty bales.  That is a lot of cotton, and a lot of work.  We made enough money

to see us through the winter and have enough cottonseeds to plant next year.

 

I got a letter from Mama today, she wants us to come there for Thanksgiving.

Boots don’t want to go, he wants to have our first Thanksgiving with the kids

at home.