Judith Ivey
I was born in El Paso and lived there for about a year before my family moved to Big Spring and later to Odessa. I remember sand and tumbleweeds. We lived in town, but all of my father's relatives lived on farms in East Texas, where I once ripped open my leg climbing a fence I was told not to. I always had cowboy boots and some kind of elaborate cowgirl outfit in various colors. I even shot guns at an early age, and I think my mother was a bit appalled. But we became misplaced or displaced Texans when we moved to Michigan, where my father finished his doctorate. I attended grade school there with kids from all over the world, but I was the only one in my class with a Southern accent. I remember the children would tease me when we played hopscotch. It was the first time I realized I had an accent, and it was a rude awakening.
