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Memories of Golde Dicks Markham (1996) Golde Markham Dicks 99/125

But then11 had to tell Mrs. Wright about Sharon biting other kids. The teacher said

that was caused by the lack of association with other children—when Sharon saw them she
wanted to get so close to them and love them and biting was the only thing she knew to get
close to them. Mrs. Wright was hesitant to take Sharon'because she was so young, so I
bargained with her. I told her to please try her out, and if she gave her trouble, I would take
her out of the school—with no bad feelings. But Mrs. Wright fell in love with Sharon and

was amazed how mature she was for her age.
I trained Sharon early not to wet at night. I had timed the periods between her
wettings and started putting her on the potty. She got to the point that when she had to wet,
she started squirming and wiggling in her bed which woke me up—we both got trained and

got the job done. Before she could talk enough to tell me she had to go, she started hissing
the “ssssss” sound.
Sharon read funny books long before she started school. When we were going on a
trip, I’d buy a pile of funny books, and we never knew Sharon was in the car because she

was reading. For several years, we pulled her out of school about the third week in Septem­
ber to take a two-week vacation in the Smoky Mountains usually in Clayton, Georgia. Those
were nice trips, and the food was out of this world.

Sharon was always ready to spend a day or a week with anybody. Before she started
to school, she would go with Otis and Emerald to the beach at St. Augustine. She stayed
with them for a week and was as happy as she could be. Several times when Eric and I were
going out of town to a hardware convention, Fay kept her out at Ma and Pa’s farm.

Fay really spoiled Sharon. Shirley, Bertie Mae, and Alice used to take her out to Uncle
Press and Aunt Ruth’s for several days at a time. They all seemed to have a great time.
Sharon still has a special feeling for those who gave her so much attention as a child.

Can you imagine Lenvil and Rodney babysitting Sharon! Lenvil was about 11 and
Rodney was around 7. If Erie and I had to go to some kind of function or meeting, the boys
stayed with Sharon. One night when we came home, we watched the boys change Sharon’s
diaper. I was so surprised that they could do such a good job.

Sharon had a problem with her feet. The doctor told us she had to wear high-top, lace-
up shoes every day to correct her foot problem. I polished her shoes every day. After she
was 4 years old, she noticed that other kids were wearing slippers or moccasins. She begged

and pleaded with everyone to buy her a pair of loafers. Her Uncle Otis bought her a pair of
loafers, and that was the end of the high-top shoes. Sharon always thought Uncle Otis was
the greatest!
Radio station WDSR opened in Lake City. When Sharon was walking home with her

dad one afternoon, they saw a radio announcer doing a man-on-the-street interview. He

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