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• Photo: Noel and Dida Waterfield.tif

My parents were Noel and Dida Waterfield. My sister is Nola Waterfield-Billetdeaux. My family lived on Kesler Lane in the 1940s and 1950s. Our house was No. 60 something. The street was unpaved, and we still had “outhouses” for bathrooms. Bathing was done in a No. 3 washtub. A large irrigation ditch was located at the back of our home along Pecos Road. Yes, we swam in it. Our water came from a well, located along Kesler behind a Gulf station. We paid our water bill there, too.

• Photo: Joe and Nola Billetdeaux 6-56

My aunt and uncle, Ruth and Chris Boel, lived across the street from us, and my Aunt Laura Payne lived just down the street. Our life-long friends, Frank and Melba Perez, lived next door. As a child, probably around 10 years or so, I would manage to go over to visit Melba just as she was making tortillas. Oh, so good! She always invited me to sit down and help myself as they came off her griddle and put butter or avocado on it. We remained life-long friends, and I still talk to their grown children, sadly to say, mostly at funerals, and we usually talk about our happy times on Kesler Lane.

• Photo: Inez and Dida Waterfield, Betty Ann and Patsy Boel.tif