Page 193 - Always Virginia

Always Virginia 181

it would fizz up, and you thought it was suds. You were gonna get
somebody to save Nanny from herself.
Jack: What’s the first thing you remember when you were a
little child?

Mary Pearl: Oh, gosh. I don’t know. I remember that mother
always bought me little red slippers and I used to love them for
the summer. I had a little white dress trimmed in red. Of course,
me being the only girl, I got everything that come out as soon as
it did come out.

Jack: How did you wear your hair?

Mary Pearl: Curls. I just had long curls, for a long time, until
I guess my Mother started to braid it after I went to school awhile.

Jack: What kind of books did you read when you were a little
girl.

Mary Pearl: Mother Goose rhymes, such as that. I used to love
to read. After I was out of school and my Dad and Mom made me
quit working at Butler Brothers, I think I read every book in the
St. Louis library, ’cause it was all I did.

Jack: What were some of your favorites?

Mary Pearl: Oh God, Jack....I loved Ben Hur. I read that two
or three times. I really can’t remember all of them. Zane Gray,
mmm, I loved that. I had more fun than anything else.

Jack: Did you travel on any trips when you were little?

Mary Pearl: Not much. My mother went to Tennessee one
time, but I stayed home. I was old enough to take care of the house
while she was gone. My dad had relatives down there [in Tennessee]
by the name of Lawler.