Not long ago my wife and I were returning home from our daughter’s home and we were listening to 50s music on the radio. Each song reminded me of the great times I had when I was a young boy in my hometown I lived in when growing up. As I strolled down memory lane with the playing of each song, I remembered that each morning my mom would turn the radio on and we would listen to the music and hear the news of the day.
Mom and dad had six children at home. It was a home of about 1,000 sq. ft. with three bedrooms and one bath. My sister had one bedroom, my mom and dad had a bedroom, and the five boys shared a bedroom. At that time we thought nothing of having to share a room and we made it fine. We had unity and harmony among the family because momma wasn’t going to let it be any other way. Even though we had our disagreements - they usually stemmed from the younger three children against the older three - but they were quickly taken care of because momma didn’t allow dissention among the tribe.
The older three were two years apart in age. Then four years later I came along with my younger brothers coming at two-year intervals after. We had a family of love because momma saw that we all got along and respected each other. Should there be any lingering problems, dad was the enforcer when he came home from work.
We all made it through our younger years and today we remain close, mainly through phone calls. It is great to have the memories we have, even though my sister and older brother said the three younger siblings had it easy and we probably didn’t have to go through what they did.
The main thing we were taught at our home was love and respect and that continues to be our focus for each other today. We don’t hang up the phone or walk away from one another without telling each other “I love you” and it means so much to hear these three words. Our faith in God is well-grounded as we attended church as a family and each of us continuing worshipping the Lord even after we went our separate ways.
Our family’s love for each other and for the Lord is strong and goes with us wherever we are.
As a child in the 50s, I never realized how fast I would become a senior citizen. It seems as though it was only yesterday that I rambled through the neighborhoods of my hometown playing pickup baseball, football, or basketball with anyone that wanted to play. Oh, such sweet memories I have of this great city and the fun times we had as a family!
As I said earlier, I didn’t realize growing old would come so fast, but I have so many friends that didn’t have the chance to do so and I do miss them being around.
God Bless all of my friends in my hometown. I thoroughly enjoyed my years there and reminisce about them often. I hope for all of you that your understanding of love and respect is as strong as mine is toward my family and friends.
