Written by my mother on September 17, 1973:

Thomas Louallen Crittenden and Obie Nancy Cox

had five children, namely:

Lurine, later changed to Lorene, born November 21, 1913;

Mattie Beatrice, born December 20, 1914;

Nathan Louallen, born June 25, 1918;

Viola Agnes, born January 28, 1921;

and Robert Stuart, born April 15, 1922.

Robert S. died at age 2. Obie Nancy died the first week of July, same year.

I, Lurine, was born in Dawson, Texas, near midnight on a stormy night during a cloudburst. My mother delivered me, a 12-pound baby, alone, as my father had gone in the buggy to get the doctor and was late getting back due to the swollen creek they had to cross.

In 13 months my sister was born, so I became Daddy's "big" girl. I walked at 7 months, never crawled, sucked my food 'til I was old enough I can remember being scolded and told to chew since I now had a mouthful of teeth.

Most of my childhood was spent in babysitting, though we didn't call it that in those days. It was "tending" the baby. Oh - how I hated washdays! It was an all day job for me. Mama had to draw the water from a well, rub the clothes on the rub-board, boil them in an iron pot and rinse them through three tubs of water, then hang them on a line to dry. The next day was spent in ironing, but at least Mama was in the house to talk to us.

She sang a lot, always church songs. She was a devout Christian, Baptist-style.

She and Grandpa Crittenden, (Robert Stuart Crittenden, see his picture and comments below) who lived with us, took us kids to church every Sunday. Daddy went sometimes but was not as fanatical as Mama. Neither of them cursed or said ugly words. Daddy was better educated than Mama, but she was much more practical than he. If she had lived, he would not have died poverty-stricken.

When Viola was a baby, Daddy bought a victrola. I was the official record-changer, winding it up each time. Those were my happiest days. I loved school and couldn't stand for anybody to make better grades than I.

Mama built my ego to the sky. She thought there was no limit to what I could do, and made me believe it. But then she had another baby and her health broke. He had a bad heart and became my special charge for two years, and when he died, my heart broke for the first time.

Mama died two months later and I became "Mother" to the three left. Nine years old. Some "mother!" I could make biscuits, cook meat, beans and potatoes. Grandpa could cook when he was there. He was a blacksmith. He worked days at the "cooperage" doing the ironwork for kegs and barrels.

Daddy worked nights at the depot for American Railway Express.