The Storm

boat up the river. My granddad, Ruben, was born and raised right here in this house. Granddad continued with the established broom corn and cotton business even after my great grandpa died." "My grandpa, Ruben, was Mayor of Ruby, as well as constable, until his death from when a drunk driver hit him head-on." Henry went on to tell me that he had lost a brother, stillborn, and a sister to typhoid fever. It was bad well water, which was common in those days. A fever had taken his mom, and 10 years later a bout with pneumonia took his dad." "My father was born right here in Ruby and also worked the broom corn business and stayed here most of his young life, until goin' to Shreveport to practice law after graduat'n from the university there. Uncle Sam called himwhen he was 25, and he served under General George Patton as a communications man and a forward observer for the Third Army during World War II. He was shipped back home after a piece of shrapnel had bounced off of an old Sherman tank when it had run over an anti-tank mine, hittin' his left leg. He was hospitalized for six months, and after that stint, he was able to walk again. He picked up his practice again in Shreveport. I was born in Shreveport, but we moved back here to be with my agin' grandmother. Ruby was still doin' well t'ill the Boll Weevil blight wiped out cotton production, and most of the broom corn production went up the Mississippi. Hay was the only thing left, but prices dropped, and folks quit plantin' it." "I went to grade school here, and then finished high school in Pride and did odd jobs and helped dad with the harvest. The Vietnam War broke out and I did my duty and

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