By Willie Perine
I was born and raised in the upper part of Arnold’s Creek Road. I was the baby of the family, with two sisters and four brothers, but one brother died when he was just a few months old. We lived way up in the holler with a dirt road, of course. The only thing that came through there was a horse and buggy. Once a week we went out to the store in our horse and buggy, and I remember the horse would get scared of the train that ran through the town. We would buy a barrel of salt, a barrel of flour, sugar, and all the coffee we could buy at least twice a year.
I remember going to school with snow up to my waist. I started school at age six, and my school teacher was my first cousin. She put me in the corner all the time because I talked too much. Her name was Cindy Perine, my Uncle John’s daughter. I played a trick on her once. She was teaching school, and by this time I was grown up and in the Army. I didn’t tell her who I was, and we talked and talked until finally something gave it away and she realized who I was. She said, “I was about to hit you with this chair!”
My mom’s brother was killed in World War I, and I heard about him all my life. He had another brother who got run over by a truck.
I recall one of the places to sit and watch traffic go by in West Union was a big block of cement. I remember sitting on that stoop a lot and watching lots of traffic go by, but I didn’t know too many people back then. Every Saturday we went to town, and so I’d sit on that big block. There was plenty of relations that lived in town, but they thought they was too good for us, so I had to sit on the block while my parents shopped.
One time I remember getting a little brown paper bag with four or five chocolate drops in it! I ate one or two and then saved the rest until I got home with it. But as soon as we got home, I ate the rest!
Now I live at the Carl M. Brashear Radcliff Veterans Center next door to Ft. Knox, KY. I really enjoy getting my Herald Reporter and seeing what is going on in West Union, the town where I was born and raised. I want to thank Tammy Beamer, Pastor Don Lipscomb, and Ms. Toni Underwood for the cards of prayers and encouragement. Thank you for remembering me in your thoughts and prayers. I wish I could come visit again, but I am not able to, so hearing from you is a real encouragement. Thank you!