Abbeville, LA

At about six or seven years of age I was allowed to join the field workers in our effort to harvest the Sugar Cane. This was a very important crop because it was a cash crop, something that brought money in the door.

This wagon was my responsibility and I felt good about the trust my Grandfather had put in me. Our Sugar Cane patch was about eighty acres. The cane stood well over my head while standing in the wagon. It dwarfed the workers cutting in the field.

After the Cane was loaded my job was to drive the team of mules to the weigh house for a record of our yield, then to pull up to the derrick to unload and return. Our derrick was made of telephone poles with a turn stile that was powered by a mule.

One day when I was about twelve years old I realized that it was the mules old Jim and Judy that knew the routine and I had been there for the ride. Just one example of the wisdom of my Grandfather, who I loved so very much.