August 8, 2022 - “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” 2 Timothy 3:1
Mother accomplished a near impossible task when she raised her ten children on so little…no car, no telephone… and often no food. Sometimes our food consisted of only what we could get hunting and fishing. We picked peas on the halves and cotton for 2 cents a pound… but were fortunate enough to have some better-off-than-we-were relatives that kept us in hand-me-down clothes.
But those hard times were also happy times. My brothers (Bill, John, Joe) and I spent most of our time exploring every patch of woods and every fishing hole within walking distance of our house. Leaving early in the morning, we’d pack our Sledge overall pockets with smooth rocks from the gravel pit, grab our sling shots and go hunting.
Mother always told us the exact same thing when we left: “You boys be careful”. Many times we were gone from daylight until dark while making the rounds down to Weaver’s Pond¸ Dellingers pasture…and sometimes we walked the four mile walk down the railroad tracks to Mill Creek, our favorite paradise.
We roasted crawfish tails and perch and grazed on possum grapes and wild plums to make it through the day. On good days we had watermelon, sugar cane and eggs borrowed from the neighbor’s henhouses. I have often wondered why Mother didn’t worry about our being gone all day. I guess it was because those days weren’t like these days. They were simple days and safe days. We never locked the doors at our house and rarely heard of rape, murder or bawdy house stories. We’d didn’t have drugs, drive-by shootings, gangsta- rap or X Rated movies. Sunday was a special day of rest and prayer and the pledge of allegiance was a part of our daily school activities. The Gideons visited our school every year to hand out New Testaments.
If Mother was raising her boys in our present days, I wonder what she’d say if we told her we’d be gone all day and be home before dark. Would she tell us go ahead and “just be careful”?
No… not in these days.
