Flashback 1984 Part 2

The second family I remember staying with back in 1984 who also attended The Full Gospel Interdenominational Church in Manchester lived in Squire Village in Manchester (which was not far from the church in Downtown Manchester 6 minutes to be exact). The family was black and knew me and my family. Naturally, I thought that the family who I stayed with would relate to me. I was disciplined when I needed to be Proverbs 23:13-14 "13 Withhold not correction from the child: for [if] thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell."https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Proverbs-23-13_23-14/ was like the theme while I stayed with the family who I was staying with for a week. I remember that the mom Sister Brooks of the family who I stayed with told me right off the back, "In this house you do what you are told, you don't talk back, and you eat what is put in front of your plate!" All I could think about at 6 years of age was how I was going to learn the true meaning of discipline from the family who I was staying with. For one thing I was quiet. Secondly, I was taught not to talk back to adults. Lastly, my mom made sure that she taught me to eat what was put in front of my plate.

I remember the family who I stayed with showed me the guest room where I would stay at and I remember the family who I stayed with had 2 TV's (one in their bedroom and the other one in the living room). The mom of the family who I stayed with was outspoken and did all of the talking and I listened really carefully. I remember when we ate what I was used to eating for breakfast (cereal or oatmeal and occasionally pop tarts) like cornflakes & bananas and milk or raisin bran & bananas and milk. I remember I had to get up at a certain time in order to eat a certain time and whatever I didn't finish eating I was going to eat it either for lunch or dinner. (It was military style because the woman's hubby was in the military). The family who I stayed with was strictly about discipline to the core (you could say that they didn't let up when it came to discipline). The mom of the family who I stayed had no problem doing the discipline when it was necessary. The mom of the family who I stayed with introduced me to her big thick paddle she called "Soratie." The mom of the family who I stayed with showed me that little kids who acted up got disciplined with "Soratie." I did what I was told, ate what was put in front of my plate, and for the most part I didn't talk back. However, I was not a big vegetables eater and the one vegetable that the mom of the family who I stayed with made that I absolutely didn't like was sweet peas. At 6, it looked like the mom of the family who I stayed with was going to have a challenge because my own mom could never get me to eat sweet peas. I would eat carrots, spinach, and broccoli but cabbage and sweet peas; no one could get me to eat those vegetables. I remember I began to act stubborn with the mom of the family who I stayed with when it came time for me to eat my sweet peas and the mom of the family who I stayed with said, "Paul you better eat your sweet peas!" I said, "No!" The mom of the family who I stayed with said, "I said there is no back talking!" The mom of the family who I stayed with hit me with her paddle. I started crying and said, "But I don't like them!" The mom of the family who I stayed with hit me again with her paddle and said, "Paul in this house you do what you are told!" I remember crying and eating my sweet peas up until I was all done finally finishing my sweet peas. I immediately didn't hesitate and wrote my mom a letter telling my mom how the mom of the family who I stayed with made me eat my sweet peas hitting me a couple of times with her paddle. I will never forget how my mom and my older brother who knew I didn't like sweet peas drove from Hartford to Squire Village in Manchester and came and got me. My mom did the mom who I stayed with hair because my mom is a hairdresser at her house in Squire Village. The mom of the family who I stayed with had let me play my older brother in some games of checkers at her house up until my mom got threw doing her hair. I remember how amazed my mom was, how the mom of the family who I stayed with used her trustee paddle "Soratie" to discipline me & get me to eat my sweet peas. I gave Sister Brooks the silent treatment up until my, mom, older brother, and me left her house. Sister Brooks, "Paul you don't like me anymore. You had your mom pick you up and take you home because you don't want to be in Sister Brooks house anymore." It was so annoying, I remember frowning and how glad I was that I wouldn't have to go through something like that again. I had 2 experiences with different families who I stayed with in 1984 (one was white & the other was black) and I learned how to be content no matter how things were. I can honestly say that I've enjoyed the experiences that I had with the 2 different families who I stayed with.

Squire Village in Manchester (I will never forget this place)

Cornflakes, bananas, and milk pretty good combination

Raisin Bran, bananas, and milk (I liked this combination better when I was a kid).

Wow, who would have thought that I didn't like sweet peas. The mom of the family who I stayed with made me eat these in 1984 but my mom was the reason why I liked sweet peas in 1989.

The mom of the family who I stayed with (Sister Brooks) used her trustee paddle named "Soratie" to discipline me with to get me to eat my sweet peas.

Once my mom & older brother came to Squire Village, Sister Brooks (the mom of the family who I stayed with) let me play my older brother in some games of checkers and I was immediately reunited with my family when the week was up staying with a family.