Page 95 - my-people-abbie-harris-beck

MY SISTER ANNIE LAURA (AUGA)

She was a jack of all trades. There was nothing that she could not do. At age 14
she had become the man of the house, so to speak. She unstopped the kitchen sink, fixed
flat tires, changed light bulbs, fixed electrical cords, carried mama to the farm to tend to
business.
At the age of 6 or 7, she became very ill. The doctors in Geneva were puzzled, they could
not find the problem. Papa carried her to North Carolina to see his cousin, Dr. Highsmith.
But too late. He told papa that she had infentile paralysis. One of her feet and one leg
never developed from that day. She wore a child's size 3 and 1/2 on one foot and a
regular size 8 or the other foot. She had a limp. She was determined that it did not keep
her from doing anything . Annie Laura was so active. I was 6 years younger and it never
dawned on me that she was crippled. She had to buy two pairs of shoes, later years a
company had them made for her. She was the star player on the basket ball team. Annie
Laura was a forward, she could shoot goals backwards, with one hand and very seldom
missed. Her basketball team went to the championship in Birmingham, Alabama.
Mama begin to depend on Annie Laura more and more. The '29 flood came when
I was in 5th grade. We packed the car with some of our clothes and headed for Samson.
The water already waist deep in our house. Mama had a friend there and they invited us
to stay with them. That first day was a holiday for me, no school, freedom to run all over
Samson, watch airplanes drop sacks of food. Three days later here comes my oldest sister
Willie to take me to De Funiak Springs, Florida, so I wouldn't miss school, also to get me
out of the way. I finished the year and things were not too bad for me. I found a new boy
friend and we sat together at the picture show.
Mama and Annie Laura had a different story. When the water came down and
they could come back to Geneva, it was a big, big mess. Mud was 3 inches deep in the
house, furniture ruined, everything totally destroyed, a wreck. With a lot of help from
blacks, mama and Annie Laura had the house in order when I returned at the end of the
school year. Mama and Annie Laura carried a big, big load that 3 months. No wonder I
was called a "cry baby". Annie Laura helped mama look after me during my growing up, I
did not realize it. I just thought that she was bossy.