Mississippi
I lived in Biloxi while my dad was stationed at Keesler Air Force Base
From 1954 to early 1957
The most important turning point in my life happened while we lived there
Before we moved to a house just outside of Gate 7 on Pass Road
We lived close to a Palmetto field
I helped make a baseball field pulling a log over the ground to smooth the infield
I also received a Red Ryder BB gun as a gift from my parents
I went hunting and shot a beautiful Blue Jay
I was by myself and I heard a voice and felt a hand gently pushing me forward
As I watched the red stain of life leave the Blue Jay, the Voice said clearly,
"See what you have done. Never ever kill anything I have made again!"
This was a loving voice but I was terrified and horrified and ran crying back home
No one understood and to this day I have never deliberately killed anything ever again
I know this was my Creator God who spoke with me that day and
God has been ever present in my life
I learned to play baseball in Mississippi and have always loved the game
My father was an announcer for the local Keesler Tarpons
It was here that it was also discovered I had terrible eyesight and I got my first pair of glasses
I remember we were at the Beach Drive In movies and I really could see for the first time
I went to Sacred Heart Academy in Biloxi and found
I had a great voice and singing became a tool for me
Sister Mary Marion discovered I could sing and I turned from an introverted abused little boy
I once slapped Sister Mary Winifred in the face and
She was loving enough to know where I learned to do that
Music, Baseball, and the Church were the escapes I made for myself
I became an extrovert who could sing and play baseball and my life slowly changed
Music and the Church also became my escape. along with baseball from
The harsh and dangerous environment I was in
I was sexually abused here by a priest and a baseball player my parents allowed me to be with
Everything I think about Mississippi is colored by these experiences
We went to Mardi Gras and drove highway 90 and walked on the glass strewn beach
You could wade for what seemed miles with only ribbons of channels in the way
Broken glass was everywhere on the beach and in the water not like today
We went to the Shrimp Boat festival and I was an active Altar Boy
You could see Deer Island from the beach front and
A famous actress was beheaded in a car accident while we lived there
Later in life I would travel frequently through Mississippi with my family
To Memphis we often drove through Tupelo and stopped to see
The little white house where Elvis lived
We have driven from Vicksburg through Meridian and from Jackson to Mobile
Through Hattiesburg
I remember it as being hot and humid with massive thunderstorms
The drive into Hattiesburg from Mobile was through
A huge Army Base and through swampy farming country
Mississippi is almost all farming country with no hills to speak of
My family once watched as a tree fire burned out of control near where we were
We have driven 90 from New Orleans to Mobile all across the coast
There was Gus Stevens’s restaurant with the huge Marlin Sign hanging out
Gus Stevens and the sign are long gone now and Jeff Davis Home was there also,
Not sure if it is still there
We drove through the coast after Camille and saw what seemed to be utter devastation
We have not visited since Katrina which was so much worse
We have stopped at the Gulfport casinos and when I was young
I went to Ship Island where I was burned to a crisp
This is another State that I have no strong need to ever return to and
The Voice is the best thing I remember
The picture below was taken in Biloxi
Just before we left Keesler Air Force Base to move to Japan
Me at 11, Maggie, Suzi, Patrick and Betty Jo, so very young
My mother almost died in Biloxi,
I learned to serve Mass and depend on Priests who thought they were God
They imposed themselves along with others on me
They are not God but when you are little you take what you can get even if it is pain
Strong memories of a very Southern State!
John