I Am One Of The Lucky Ones

I'm a little older than a lot of the bloggers I know, and lately I've been thinking about the times I grew up in, and how that has affected my entire life and made me a better person. In the last few years, I've come to the conclusion that I'm one of the lucky ones.

I don't mean lucky in the sense of having a lot of money or worldly possessions - my family was poor. I grew up on a 160-acre cotton farm in North Texas. The farm was not big enough to make much money, and most of his working life my father had a second job in addition to farming.

As a child, I was barefooted most of the time because my one pair of shoes was designated to be worn only to school, to town and to church. But I was still one of the lucky ones.

I was lucky because I was not taught to hate at home. You see, I am old enough to remember that the "good old days" were not all that good. I can still vividly remember seperate water fountains, bathrooms and schools for Whites and Blacks. I can remember African-Americans being denied access to resturants. It hasn't been all that long ago - just a little over forty years.

I remember Gays having to stay "in the closet" to avoid being beaten and ostracized. I remember women being denied an equal opportunity to better their lives. I know that much inequality still exists, but it was worse back in those supposed "good old days".

I never understood why things were that way, and still don't. I remember asking my father why. He just said, "Some people are stupid" and wouldn't discuss it further. I think he was frustrated that his children had to witness such insanity.

My father required only three things for another human to earn his trust and respect, and none of those three things had anything to do with a person's race, ethnicity, religion (or lack of it), sex or sexual preference. His requirements were:

1. Be a hard worker
2. Be honest
3. Be willing to help your neighbors

If you did these three things, then you could easily earn his respect. I guess he taught me well, because to this day I still think he was right.

But one thing he didn't teach was hate. Hating a person for something they had no control over simply did not fit his simple moral code. Thinking you were better than someone else didn't either.

It was my good fortune to be raised by this hard-working, honest and generous man. Perhaps you are fortunate enough to say the same, but there are many in our world who were not so fortunate.

That is why I say - I am one of the lucky ones.