We Three Cousins

Bynum Nelson was one of my first cousins. He lived in Nederland. Houston Hamby (we called him “Buddy”) was another of my first cousins. He lived in Port Arthur. And I lived in Beaumont. Bynum, Buddy and I were the same age. However, living in separate towns hindered our being able to visit very often.

One day during the late 1940s, we had a get-together of sorts. I guess you could call it a “mini” family reunion. The Nelsons lived in Nederland on the Koelemay Road next to the interurban. Next door to them were the Parkers. Nora Parker was my mother’s sister.

The families decided to meet at the Parkers for an afternoon of visiting. Mary Ann Parker and Wanda Hamby, another two of my first cousins were the same age as my sister, Ann. The three girl cousins went into one of the rooms to play. We three guy cousins ended up in another room to bide our time. The adults sat in the living room catching up on family stories that had occurred since the last time we all had visited.

The Parkers did not have any boys so that meant they didn’t have any boy toys. They only had stuff for Mary Ann. We male cousins really were not interested in playing paper dolls. Mary Ann loaned us her Jacks game. We began playing Jacks. That didn’t last long. There just wasn’t much excitement to bouncing a rubber ball on the floor and scooping up things off of the floor. Besides that we were not very good at it.

So we got to talking as boys are apt to do. The question arose, “What are you going to be when you grow up?” Actually we worded that question this way, “What are you going to do when you get big?” You see, “getting big,” and “growing up,” were synonymous terms. Bynum said he wanted to work with electronics. He had a flair for that. He could fix malfunctioning radios when he was only eleven years old. Sure enough, Bynum grew up and had a career with Houston Power and Light. I never knew what he did there but I do know he was in a field he loved.

Buddy stated that he wanted to become a medical doctor. And wouldn’t you know it? He became a doctor and still practices full-time in the Port Neches/Nederland area.

Me? I wanted to become a pilot and fly those fascinating airplanes. Eventually I did obtain my pilot’s license and flew some of those planes. However, the new wore off. I discovered that the only part I enjoyed was taking off and landing. Flying cross-country actually was boring. You really couldn’t see much and sometimes it took a long time to get to where you were going.

Well, after all these years I look at the Three Cousins. Where are we today? Well, unfortunately Bynum died when only in his fifties due to failing health. Buddy is still practicing medicine stating that he just does not want to retire. I ended up in four careers: Accounting, Banking, Church Ministry and Human Resource. I still am working full-time at age 71. I tried to retire back in 2002. That lasted about six months. Retirement was so boring that I went back to working and I reckon there is no time left for a fifth career. However, what I do have is a lifetime of beautiful and exciting memories.

Bynum, Buddy, and I all learned that “getting big” while living in Port Arthur, Beauxart Gardens, Nederland and Beaumont, certainly was no boring existence.

In fact, I am sure that we three cousins would do it all over again.

Winston Hamby
The Beaumont Enterprise
WinHamby@gmail.com