Most of our children adapted to Iowa right away. When we moved in the neighbors across the
street invited the kids to jump on their trampoline, so they made immediate
friends. All three of the younger
children enrolled at Erskine Elementary school, and soon found their new way of
life to their liking.
It wasn’t quite that easy for Elliott. He was a teenager. He had emerged as a leader at Sharpstown High
School, in Houston and he was just another face at Washington High School in
Cedar Rapids. That would eventually
change, but it was tough at first.
He had numerous ways of mentally resisting his new
surroundings. For one thing he is the
only one of our children who is a native Texan.
At that point in his life, he was proud of that distinction. Shortly after enrolling at Washington, he
addressed his speech class on the topic, “Why Texans Brag.” In his speech he pointed out that you can
visit Atlanta, Paris, Athens, New London and Rhome (Italians don’t use the H)
and never leave Texas.
Because we have lived in so many different places, he does
not naturally communicate with a Texas drawl.
The minute we got to Iowa he began speaking that way. Later on students remarked about how
quickly he lost the accent. They didn’t
know he never actually had it.
Elliott could and still can use any regional speech dialect
he wants to use. If he so chooses, he can confer with a West Texas rancher, who
might well think he was born and raised in Lubbock. He can also make an Englishman think he’s
from London.
One day they had western day at school. He borrowed my boots (which really didn’t fit
him), and probably looked the part of an authentic cowboy. He even managed to get a real pistol and
holster, but they took that away from him.
They explained they usually have to do that every year on western day.
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