The cowboy and the doll Christmas Day 1954 was a day of great joy but no peace. My brothers, David and Donnie, got the most wonderful cowboy outfits I had ever seen. David was 9 and I was 7. I was a tomboy because my sisters had already left home, so I just had my three brothers to play with. For my present I got my first baby doll with hair. When you laid her down she would close her eyes and make a crying sound. But that doll couldn’t compare with those cowboy outfits that the boys got. Just look at it! He got a hat, bandana, vest, wrist bands, chaps, holsters and the six-shooter that was big and shiny and came with a box of caps. The only thing he didn’t get was a pair of boots. But it was a warm Christmas, so David went bare-footed. The peace was broken when David got it in his head to find out why and how my doll made the crying sound. So he took my doll and a knife and proceeded to operate on her. He was two years older than I, but I was just as mean as he was, and it was on! That was the way we were then, and kids are still the same today. I sometimes wonder why couldn’t they have just bought me a cowgirl outfit and everyone would have been happy. I don’t know what happened to my doll but my sister-in-law still has that hat. Lula Grover |
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