Reminisces of
Howard P. King Jr.

Page 1

Well no, I do not remember the material and pictures on these first pages but do except him as factual and true in nature. Except! The "full name of child" is an error and should include the designation of "Junior".

As an adult now, and looking at my baby picture, I'd have to say that I was a cute baby as babies go and certainly not unusual. A little bald maybe, so what comes around comes around.

Unfortunately, my mother died two weeks later, and although a portrait of her hangs in our bedroom, this book of memories does not include her like this. In the second photograph, I am held by my sister, Elizabeth (Betty) Vance King. I also had a brother living at home at this time, Allan Harrison King, but he does not come into the pictures till some years later.

Betty and Allan remained at home for enough years that I can recollect their presence. These were not entirely happy years for them, for our father remarried and the relationship did not develop as one would hope. They were old enough to resent the intrusion, and Beulah Orr Berry King was not to be taken lightly, she was the new Queen and her word was law. However, I can recall some of the better times.

One of my fond recollections of Allan is that we were on a trip in the car going somewhere, and he entertained me by drawing pictures. One sketch in particular that I remember was of a blinker light which was the caution signal of the day at intersections. It was a square column about five or six feet in height, 15 to 18 inches square on a concrete base located squarely in the center of the intersection with a blinking yellow light on top. Needless to say, each picture he sketched was wonderful in my eyes. A funny habit he had was that as he sketched he would chew on his tongue. Another recollection was one day when I was supposed to be taking a nap, Allen came into the room to change his clothes after school. I asked if I could get up and as a typical teenage brother said he could care less. There the recollection stops, for I do not recall whether mother was away and I did indeed get up, or whether she was there and ruled the final decision.

Link: PDF of original page