“I was born August 24, 1919, in Vermillion Indian Parish Indian Bayou, LA. My parents were Ernest and Mattie Petry. I was the fifth of eight children. We lived in a community of Indian Bayou with neighbors not far away. We lived in a small two room house. In the summer we slept with nets over the beds to keep out the mosquitos.

Grandma and Aunt Leta lived a little way from us, and I loved to go visit them and sometime spend the night. We had to cross a bridge to get there, and I was very scared to cross it and would run and sing until I crossed over it. Uncle Clifton and Aunt Martha lived a little piece further down from grandma. Uncle Clifton enjoyed coming over to our house and scaring us.

We were taught not to use bad language, and I remember hiding out because I used bad language and knew I would be punished by my mother. I hid behind a chicken coop but when it began to get dark, I had to face the punishment of my disobedience, which I’m sure was too pleasant.