My mother grew up in Montgomery, AL. When she was young, she lived in a house that changed hands several times to different family members. Her grandfather was a gambler and he lost the deed to the house at times, so other family members would step in and take ownership. From what I understand, this house is fondly remembered by all her first cousins, as they would come and go - staying for long visits. It sounds really rough and tumble with lots of people in and out. It was common in the South to have domestic help. My mom had to call her parents “father” and “mother” and she claimed that their maid was her main source of affection. Having known their maid, a woman who seemed bitter and miserable, I cannot imagine her being a loving woman in her youth; but Mom had fond memories of Ella braiding her hair. Dad grew up on a farm. There were lots of chores. His mother was emotionally very strange and childlike. The kids had an odd distance in age - his oldest sister was 4 years older than him, the middle child was as 8 years younger. The twins were 16 years younger. During WW2, his dad was sent to the Navy and his mom had to run the farm all by herself with him and his older sister to care for. Sounds brutal. I think he spent a lot of time unsupervised on the farm. He actually went to a one room schoolhouse where apparently he got an excellent education; he was recruited to Tulane for their debate team and traveled to Washington DC in his senior year of high school for a national debate. I also heard that his grandparents lived nearby and the kids would go over there a lot.