Thought you might enjoy this short read from my first book, “All the Difference.” Feel free to share it if you wish..... “THE BEGINNING … BE IT EVER SO HUMBLE” I don’t remember when Mom and Dad didn’t work. Mother did everything you can imagine to make extra money. She took in ironing, she wrapped presents at Christmas time, she picked up pecans to sell, and she did some sewing. For several years she worked at the woolen mills running a loom. Hard work. Long hours. Little pay. But she always did it with such an incredible attitude. She’d whistle and sing and make the very best of difficult times. Dad, too, worked so hard. Times were tough, and he’d do anything to make some money. When we moved to Brownwood in Central Texas in the late forties, he worked at a chicken slaughterhouse. It’s difficult to imagine my Dad in such an environment, but he did it because it was the only job available. A few months later, a better job came along – working on the city garbage and trash route. I remember once at the beginning of school in fourth grade, the teacher asked each one of us in class where our parents worked. “My father works at the bank,” one would say. “My father owns the lumber yard,” another would respond. “My Dad drives a garbage truck,” I innocently responded. Laughter. Everywhere. “What was so funny about that,” I remember thinking. That night, I asked my father about it. “Daddy, why did they laugh?” “Sometimes people see humor in the strangest things,” he gently responded. “I’m so sorry that happened. In the future, if you’re asked in public what your father does, you might just say that he works for the sanitation department. Maybe that will help.” And, as I would discover so many more times in my life, he was right. rineyjordan
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 20:55:40 +0000
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