life in the city of MacArthur WV was a trip to say the least.I am the baby of seventeen kids and sixteen living.My first memories are mom fixing berakfast every morning to get four of us five kids still at home off to school.I would be up early with her and called my self helping her make bisquits.She would give me a peice of dough and I would make my brother Larry a special one it usually turned out rock hard but he would choke it down some how.

Times were tough in the early sixties but mom and came threw some how.My brorher and two older sisters worked at the local skating rink.They always pitched in that made it a lot easier.Dad was a disabled coal miner.When you start hand loading coal at the age of twelve it don't take long to become worn and torn before your time.

Mom always took care of us and some how squeezed up enough to go to the big city of Beckley once or twice a month.I loved those Saturdays.We never owned a car.My dad was smarter than that.He told me cars can eat more money than four more kids,I believe he was right.We would walk down the hill to the highway and catch the bus and off to the city.On those Saturdays when we would go to Beckley it was like entering a new world.The buildings were huge.Toy departments took up at least four or five isles.At Christmas time one store would open a whole floor with nothing but toys.Man that was the real deal.Good times, simple pleasures.Some how we would squeeze up enough cash to go to the Tip Top resturant hotdogs and french fries the best there ever was.