Euclid Avenue Kids John St.Clair

For those who weren’t privileged to know her, Casey was the daughter of Pam Jones Blasingame and Howard Ross. She was later adopted when Pam married her second husband, Sam McLean. Casey was one of the brightest souls you could ever know with a beautiful smile, blessed spirit, and the occasional mischievous side comment!

This is part two of a conversation between Dorothy St.Clair Essex and her brother, John. The general topic is the experience of growing up. This segment is mainly devoted to Dorothy's experiences in nursing.

Recorded August 18, 2020. Dorothy and her brother John talk about growing up in Mobile, Alabama; Biloxi, Mississippi; Waycross, Georgia; LaGrange, Georgia; Nashville, Tennessee; and, Murfreesboro, Tennessee. They talked about the places and people met along the way and how the many moves affected their education. and personality.

When I was five years old, my best friend was a boy named Willie Thompson. I used to walk by myself to his house a half a block away. When I was five it was still considered safe to for me to walk to a friend’s house a half a block away without holding onto Mamma’s hand. I was a big girl; could do it by myself.

“Way the hell across Georgia! You must be out of your mind. I’m not going!” You could tell my mother really didn’t want to move to Waycross, Georgia; not only through her choice of words, but the volume. Oh my no, she didn’t want to go.

“I don’t care what you call her,” said the boy, “I’m going to call her Susie.” He was only seven but he was certainly stubborn and he really liked me a lot. I’m the one named Susie, actually, it’s Susanne. That’s the French spelling, I’ve been told. My Mama did that to me. Hardly anyone spells it right. The boy’s name was Tommy… His mom was going to have a baby soon and their family had been discussing names. He was adamant. If it was a girl, he was going to call her Susie.