Work In Progress 1

I was born the eighth among nine siblings .One sister Gladyss Darlene ,seven years older ,died after five days from a condition she would have probably survived had she been born in the hospital.I have always had a clear picture of her in my minds eye always as a young woman .She grew up. Something she didn't get to do in actuality. After a period of bed rest I was born January the 23 1955 to my 33 year old mother suffering from a heart issue caused from damage from Rheumatic fever as a child.I was the first born In a hospital.Weight 8 lbs.2 oz. Birth certificate Shows sex male crossed out then female.This will be brought up later.Stay tuned. Nicknamed Vine.All siblings nicknamed as well. Lived in old log house east side of levy On the Mississippi river in southern Illinois. We lived in the ground floor of what had been an old post office.The top floor only used in spring as had sheaves of tobacco hanging there I remember in late summer and fall . An odd assortment of people would come to our house to visit.An old couple called Duck and Leila. Viney king who I derived my nickname from.Gladyss and Al Rose.And our favorite old man Gus Padazzes.He would walk the levy to our house always bringing something for us kids.One time In the dead of winter he brought ice cream.He wore an engineer coat with big pockets he would fill with candy.A German ,he had a thick accent and I remember he had really large ear lobes that I thought were ugly but I loved him anyway.There was also a young Chinese couple my mom met when she went to work when I was about five. We always had a slew of dogs.I saw two of them struck by lightning at the same time . A pair named King and Queenie. We lived next to a large cow pasture and We ,my sibs and I ,would turn over the dried patties and get the big fat grubs that my older brothers would sell to a guy for bait.We had a regular enterprise going. One day a man came in the summer and asked to park his car and walk over the levy to dig for worms.My sister then about 16 said sure so he cracked his Windows against the heat and took off walking." Are we going to let him cut into our business?,my 8 year old brother said.We took cans scooping up dirt to fill his car with it.My sister switched Us for that as she apologized profusely. We were semi feral I'll admit.My mother Used to lament she couldn't take us anywhere as people shuddered when we pulled up. Tomorrow chapter 2.