I was born into a family in South Georgia, and they both had TB. So I went to live with my Grandma. After that I had to go to the children’s home, and from there I was at college. I didn’t know either one of my parents, but I was really close with my grandmother. I loved her, and she loved me. I’ve always had lots of friends. When I grew up in the South, we picked blackberries. We made jelly and jam. They were good blackberries, big juicy ones.

In World War II, I was a riveter. I worked hard, and I made good money. We worked underground making B-29 Airplanes. All of us just wanted to help our country, and we were very patriotic. My husband was in the war, in Paton’s Third Army, and when he came home we bought a house. We had two kids, a boy and a girl. I was also a teacher. The children would want to come home with me every night and I’d say, “Well what would my children do?” But they would still want to come with me. I loved the children.