My early years in Franklin, Louisiana

I was born sixty-two years ago in what was called the brick yard in a shotgun house. My dad was a farmer before I was born and later a dredge boat operator. He was originally from Cecilia, Louisiana. My mom worked after I was born as a waitress. She was originally from a community across the bayou from Jeanerette, Louisiana called Websterville. Everyone knew the community as crapo town. In French crapo means frog. My dad spoke only French when he was young as did my mom. In fact when they spoke to each other they usually spoke in French. One of my biggest regrets was that I never learned to speak French. The public schools band the use of French and would punish students caught speaking French on the school ground. In this journey I want to convey to you what it was like growing up in the innocent years. If you lived in that time hopefully the stories will bring back good memories of your younger years. And if this is before your time I hope they will give you an idea of what those years were like through the eyes of four young boys growing up in a south Louisiana town in the 50's and early 60's.