Early Neighbors

Avalou Clayton, Jean Steele, and Clifford Clayton.  are my  first neighbors that I interacted with.  Clifford and Avalou Clayton are siblings.  They lived two doors down from our Clay Homes Apartment.  Jean lived across the street behind Pete Steele's Store.  Her father was Pete. Avalou and Jean are about the same age and a couple years older than me and Clifford is a couple years younger than me.

We lived in the Clay Homes from about 1941 to 1947.  My closest friends then were Caro Joe Clayton (Avalou's  and Clifford's brother) and Tommy Hadaway, Jean's nephew.

I remember one time about a block south of the Clay Homes a dog got between home and Carol Joe and I.  We ran all the way to my grandparents about a mile away.   I was about 4 or 5 years old, the family was amazed I knew the way.   When I was in the Navy Carol Joe was killed in a car accident at a Soaks Creek Covered Bridge.

I also remember when they were bulldozing and clearing the area for the Greyhound Bus Station I threw a rock over a hump of red dirt an hit Tommy in the head, putting a big gash in it.  He was taken to the hospital where they put a clamp on it.  

As I type this the Superbowl has just went into overtime.  It reminds me a few years ago when the Clifford, Avalou Clayton and their sibings' mother died.  We went to the funeral home for visitation to pay our respects.  We expected to see a bunc of old friends from Crestview Baptist where we used to be members and the Claytons still were.  None of the Crestview members were there.  They were  all having a Superbowl Party at a deacon's home.  True.