Not long after we moved to Bertram, a new pastor was sent to the Methodist Church. He and his wife were very lovely people. They had arrived here after spending time in Goldthwaite, Texas. While there they had become acquainted with a young couple that had a young daughter and twin sons that were toddlers.

One time the little girl came to spend a few days with them in Bertram. They brought her over to our place see the donkeys and the lambs. I was heading down to feed the catfish in our pond so she wanted to go. I put her on my shoulders and gave her a ride. She was about 4 or 5 at the time. Madeline remembers her bouncing away on our trampoline that we had in the back yard.

I’m not sure I’d ever been around such precocious and cute child. She had so much personality it was unbelievable. Her parents had entered her in talent competitions and she had won several.

They told us she had just auditioned for a TV Series. Soon afterwards she got the part and it was only a short time later that her family moved to California from Goldthwaite and as they say, the rest is history.

The pastor was named Sweet. The little girl’s family was named Sweeten. I always thought that was a coincidence.

We anxiously waited for the pilot to that show to come on. We looked at each other and said, well I guess little Madylin and her family will pack their bags and be back in Texas before long. We called Pastor Sweet, and their opinion was about the same as ours about the likelihood of it continuing on. It ran from 1996 until 2005.

You probably remember her as the cute little Ally Barone and her little brothers on the show were really her little brothers, the twins, on Everybody Loves Raymond.

Yes I packed a little Madylin Sweeten around on my shoulders one afternoon in Bertram, Texas.

This photo is a few years old