“My roommate and I were walking on campus one day and met two older guys who had a car. Having a car was a big deal back then, so when they invited us to go to the lake with them, we went. You would never do that nowadays, but it was safer then. Eventually I married one of the guys, Caleb, and my roommate married the other.
“My husband served in the Air Force during the war, and after he came home we moved into a house in the Bethel Grove area. The neighborhood was built for returning soldiers, and it was just full of families with young children; it was wonderful. In those days, you didn’t make arrangements for your children to play together. All you had to do was open the doors and all the kids were there. I remember many rainy days when the children would sit in our dining room and play Monopoly. I can still see them gathered around this table. My children have said, ‘You can get rid of anything else, but not the dining room table. There are too many memories there.’
“I applied for a teaching job with Memphis City Schools, but had no way to get to schools across town. We had sold our car during the war because gas and tires were rationed. The superintendent had been the principal when my husband attended Messick High School, so he was willing to send me wherever I needed to go. Bethel Grove Elementary was right across the street from where we lived, so that’s where I went. I taught there for 16 years and then at Shady Grove Elementary for the rest of my career. I loved those second-graders."
“My husband served in the Air Force during the war, and after he came home we moved into a house in the Bethel Grove area. The neighborhood was built for returning soldiers, and it was just full of families with young children; it was wonderful. In those days, you didn’t make arrangements for your children to play together. All you had to do was open the doors and all the kids were there. I remember many rainy days when the children would sit in our dining room and play Monopoly. I can still see them gathered around this table. My children have said, ‘You can get rid of anything else, but not the dining room table. There are too many memories there.’
“I applied for a teaching job with Memphis City Schools, but had no way to get to schools across town. We had sold our car during the war because gas and tires were rationed. The superintendent had been the principal when my husband attended Messick High School, so he was willing to send me wherever I needed to go. Bethel Grove Elementary was right across the street from where we lived, so that’s where I went. I taught there for 16 years and then at Shady Grove Elementary for the rest of my career. I loved those second-graders."
The dining room table where the neighborhood children played Monopoly.:
Dot in her younger years:
Dot was born on March 13, 1919, and recently celebrated her 96th birthday.
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