The Cornn family lived but a block past the schoolyard playground. Frequently kids lingered after school for a game of touch football or some other physical game. I was occasionally one of the participants but more likely I would go on by with my friend Billy, youngest of the Cornn family. Billy and I were classmates and buddies. We found lots of things to talk about but seldom about schoolwork. Now and then I failed to turn left to head for my home and we ended up on Billy’s front porch. I felt no urgency to get home so I hung around for a while.

We showed up at Billy’s house often enough that Mrs. Cornn invited me to come in out of the cold. That must have been the time when I became a transient part of the Cornn family. My visits were by no means a daily affair. Ordinarily I stayed only a little while and then I went on home.

There was nothing fancy about Billy’s mom. She was a friendly woman who accepted me as a friend of her son and treated me as one of the family. She was a typical, pretty well off housewife of the depression era, ready to help where she could.

Billy’s dad owned a garage and worked there. He wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. I don’t have much recollection of him because he was usually still at work when I visited.

Billy had a brother and a sister. His brother worked for his dad at the garage and, as with his dad, I saw little of him. Billy’s sister was away at college most of the time but I saw her more often than I saw the men. She was a well-fed looking young lady with a good disposition and fun to be around.

Billy was a slightly built, straight-haired fellow, not as tall as I. Few my age were that tall. Even at his young age he was a student of racehorses. I think he studied them since he learned to read. He knew the names of all the good ones as well as many of the nags. I was fascinated that he could keep track of so many horses. I learned that the Louisville Courier Journal had a section devoted to horse racing. It not only reported the race results, but also had stories about horses and their careers. After all his studying it was no surprise that Billy took up betting imaginary money on the races. It became his main hobby. I became his listening audience. Every few days he reported his winnings when we saw each other at school. His two-dollar bet had gained him a hundred, two hundred, or even four hundred dollars. All that changed the day he went with his brother to Churchill Downs and he bet his own cash savings. He managed to parlay his two-dollar bets to zeros. He resumed his amateur status.

Let’s not forget Mutt the family dog. She was a white terrier with brown ears. She looked to be the best fed member of the family. Think long watermelon with short legs. She rarely caused any trouble; just waddled around.

As we grew to high school age our interests began to change, and while we were still great friends we didn’t meet at Billy’s house often. I became interested in football and girls. I went out for the team which used my after school time during the season. Girls attracted my attention any time. And it came to pass that I drifted away from my second family.