I was born in 1950 in Miami, Oklahoma. We lived in a little cracker box of a house (to which my dad later added a family room) but my sister and I didn’t know it was small – it was just our home. We would stand on the furnace grate in the winter to get warm and use window fans in the summer to try to stay cool.
My best friend was Jan Cole, and we had a rope tied between our bedroom windows, so we could reel notes back and forth to one another. At daybreak we would hit the ground running and only come inside for bathroom breaks. Bikes were our main mode of transportation and there was no limit to where we could roam. I remember riding all the way downtown, which was probably about 2 and 1/2 miles, but not before stopping at the local grocery to buy enough penny candy to fill our pockets. No one worried about pedophiles, wearing helmets, getting hit by a car, or getting lost. We were free to explore from dawn to dusk. I don’t think my dad could whistle, so we relied on Jan’s dad to send the signal to come home, and it could be heard for blocks.
I was taught to be dressed and sitting on the front porch if someone was going to pick me up, and that a person’s worth was based on how hard they worked, their word, and a firm handshake. Those lessons served me well in life. For a kid who loved to lie in the clover and watch jet streams pass overhead, I was blessed to have a 32-year career with TWA. It was crucial, that as a Flight Attendant, I was on time. Being mindful to work hard, be honest, and always use a firm handshake helped me to be successful in my endeavor to start my own estate sale business 10 years ago.
My parents divorced when I was twelve, and it wasn’t easy growing up in those formative years without a father. They were not on the best of terms, and the two things I took from that situation was to marry your best friend, and to never let the sun go down upon your wrath. Ed and I have been married for 42 years, and I will admit it hasn’t always been easy, but thank heavens we had a faith in God and a willingness to work things out. As for child rearing, well that’s an entire book in itself.
America has changed in so many ways since I was born, and I imagine our fore fathers would turn over in their graves if they saw the mess we are in today. Much of what they based their lives and the Constitution on were biblical truths, respect, responsibility, and love of God and country. It seems like we’ve become a nation of people who ask “what’s in it for me” rather than reaching out a hand and asking, “how can I help?”
I believe what this great country needs is a revival. We need another Billy Graham to reacquaint us with the God our country was founded on. We need someone to hold us accountable for our mistakes, someone to shepherd us out of the darkness and into the sunlight – someone who is bigger than all of our problems. We need God. I pray we find Him before it’s too late.
Silver Stories 