I started getting freckles across my nose when I was about five years old. I was teased about them and learned to despise them. I doubt anyone meant to hurt my feelings, but I took the teasing as a negative thing. Every summer I seemed to collect more. Lila and I played out side most of the time and the sun did me no favors. Then when I became a teen, I developed freckles on my shoulders. I always thought I was homely because of those blemishes. I never wore any article of clothing that would expose the shoulder freckles to outsiders. One of our neighbors, Clint Green rented pasture land from my Grandpa and Grandma Caywood. He often stopped by to talk to my parents. He was a very tall and hefty guy who was intimidating to me any way and when he bellowed a friendly “Hello there Freck” I was just less than devastated. He had several girls who had a lot more freckles than I did and I am sure he also never meant his nickname for me to be insulting either. I often hid in the house when he stopped by. I inherited my fair skin and freckles from both the Caywood and Clover sides of my family. My grandfather John Reuben Caywood was a red head as well as his mother Elizabeth Ann Caywood. Mama had several siblings with shades of red hair from sandy red to dark auburn. My mother; Banna Clover Caywood had beautiful long dark Auburn hair when she was young. My brother Willis and I had tinges of red in our hair. Willis had a few freckles too, but they never bothered him. Of course, we had many red haired cousins too. Most of our children had tinges of red in their hair and many of the grandchildren do too. Not many of our offspring inherited my freckles though. One year when I was about fifteen years old mama saw a new style of blouse and made one for each Lila and I from pink satin material. She used a homemade pattern that she had made from a newspaper. It was sort of a sundress looking blouse with a wide shoulder straps that went from the front to back of the blouse and another wide ruffle that fell off the shoulder and ran completely around the upper part of the blouse. I remember how disappointed she was when I shied away from wearing it in public. I finally told her it revealed my shoulder freckles. She said I was being “silly” and I was. Lila wore hers often and got many raves about her beautiful satin blouse. I went out on a date with Harlan Gerten who was a class ahead of me at Gore High School. I liked him a lot. We often sat in the study hall together so we knew each other quite well. Once on a date, we were sitting in his car he commented how pretty I was. I thought it was just a “line” I said “Oh yeah, I am so pretty with my freckles” He said “Freckles…. I never knew you had freckles”. He turned on the car dome light and still could not see them until he got closer. At least I knew then he was not giving me a “line” I felt much better about my looks anyway. My freckles are now age spots > - <

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Created December 21, 2020

Updated: 14 June, 2021

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