Got Roots? Doing an Oral History Project

You Be the Historian

The Springers and Me

One day I woke up to see my mother crying in the corner chair. I asked her what was wrong and she replied, “ You know I love you, but I have to let you go.”

As she was crying I asked her why. She told me that she had no more money to support herself, so how could she support me too? I told her that I could find some way to get us money, but she refused saying, “You deserve so much better of a life than that! You should be able to have fun while you are still young.”

She said, “I went into town this morning before you woke up, and I found a nice family that can support you so much better than I can.”

I ran downstairs so confused I couldn’t even tell if I was crying or not. I loved my mother! I never even imagined I would ever be without her. I decided to get the courage to go upstairs to comfort my mother. When I hit the top step I saw my mother and then I knew I was crying. I hate to see her cry. Well, I went over to her and hugged her for what seemed to be forever. I never wanted her to let me go. I didn’t want to leave but I knew I had to go.

Later that day I went into the kitchen to see the sheriff. He told me I had to go with him. He was there to take me to the Springer’s house. Mother was upstairs sleeping because she didn’t want to see me go. I just got finished writing her a good bye letter and we left. I couldn’t cry, all the tears were gone and I knew that this had to have all been happening for a reason.

Well, the ride there seemed like forever and when we were finally there I felt relieved. We arrived to a beautiful farm house with animals everywhere. Two little girls about five years old came running out screaming, “She’s here! She’s here!”

Then I saw two older people coming out to greet me. “Hello, my name is Thomas and this is my wife, Elizabeth. Welcome to our home. I hope you like it,” the man said.

I just looked at the couple. They looked like really nice people. The woman looked pale and weak, while Thomas was tan and strong. He was a very tall and muscular man like he had worked hard out in the field for a long time, which is probably true.

They then turned to the two girls and Elizabeth said, “These are our daughters, Sarah and Marie. They are your family now.”

In the background I saw people working in the fields. They were slaves. Well, the Springers obviously had a lot of money. That’s a good thing, because then I know that they can never give me up because of being poor. I am already starting to like my new family even though I have only been here for about an hour. They were very nice people, I think they realized that I was still in shock and they did everything in their power to make me feel better about everything.
Well, Elizabeth must have read my mind because the next thing she asked me was, “Are you hungry?”

She is a wonderful cook! She prepared a meal set for a king. It was just past lunchtime and I was hungry, but not that hungry. We had salad, really good mashed potatoes, chicken sandwiches, and everything else in the house was on the table to help yourself.

After lunch, Elizabeth showed me around the farm and showed me to my room. It was a really big room, I was surprised. It was a big change from my small, cluttered room back with mom. I put my bag in my room and went downstairs.

The two girls pulled me saying, “ Come play with us!” So I followed them outside to the field. I played outside with them until I looked up and the sun was almost all the way down. I was tired and I knew I better take the girls inside now. I went in, said goodnight to everybody, and went up to my room. I fell dead asleep with my clothes on and everything from a good day with my new family.

~*Written by: Christy & Megan*~