There was a time in my life ,when I took everything
as none of my business, if it didn't have anything to do with my family
or my job. But as I stepped into the new century, I took a look back to
see if there was anything that happened, that could of been avoidable.
As far as family life, I ,and my brothers and sisters, could not have wanted
anything better than what we recieved. We were blessed with the love of
our father and mother, as well as all the uncles and aunts. We had some
pretty great cousins, and the friends back then are still our friends now.
Life was rough ,as far as what we had to do to
survive, but we went to bed at night ,with a full stomach that would keep
us warm until morning. We woke up to a new day, filled with love from mom
and dad, and each new day was the same. We had chores to do, and we had
school to attend, and each night we would go to bed ,knowing that we had
done our share of the work to keep the family together.
Back then ,it was choping wood and bringing in
the coal, so that the house would stay warm for all of us to enjoy ,while
we played our games, listened to the radio, or sitting with our mother
as she played on the piano. And when it was time for dad to listen to the
ballgames or the boxing matches, we were right there on the floor listening,and
sometimes acting out what we heard. We were all Chicago Cubs fans and the
fighters back then were favorites of ours, such as Sugar Ray Robinson,
Joe Louis, Essard Charles, Willi Pep, Sandy Saddler, Jersey Joe Walcott,
Joey Maxim, and Archie Moore. There were many more, but those guys were
the champions and we wanted to be the top dogs too.
There were many people, who were role models for
us, but I guess the best role models were Mom and Dad. I remember
many things, that both of them said to us ,and most of it lives within
us today. Dad was a cigar smoker, and he chewed tobacco, but he always
told us that it was a bad habit that should never of been started. To this
day, I have not wanted to do either one. Dad liked a beer once in awhile,
but he always told me, that if I ever started to drink, it would be hard
to stop. Dad stopped drinking his beer ,when I was about fifteen, and he
didn't start back the rest of his life. I have never wanted to have any
drinks, because of what Dad told us.
Mom and Dad both always told me, that if you think
something is wrong , than it is. They said that if you had to ask if it
was ok, than it wasn't. They said that to keep something that did not belong
to you, was the same as stealing it. They said that a friend was one ,that
would not try to get you in trouble, but he would always be there to get
you out of trouble. Mom always said, that to love your fellow man was to
love God, and likewise to love God was to love your fellow man. Mom always
made sure that we were clean, and that we knew how to care for ourselves,
just in case they were called home. In other words, Mom and Dad were always
thinking about our welfare, and they prepared us for the outside world.
They knew that one day, one by one, the young would leave the nest and
make a life for themselves and the new family that each would have.
But as we grew older, so did the outside world.
We went through times of turmoil ,in this world where we saw the hippe
generation, most of which finally woke up, and made something out of themseves,
and we saw the unkept dirty generation of bands ,who in some way , were
able to change that generation into loud noises that they called music,
which had no sense to the songs. They would repeat the same old words over
and over ,and the young people went wild. They didn't know why they liked
it, but it was the way to be part of a crowd, that slowly brought our young
people to it's knees with the use of dope and drugs that cost a lot of
money. To pay for those drugs, our young people in this world were ready
to do anything to get it. They would steal, offer thier bodies, and sometimes
kill, so that the habit that they started could go on.
When my daughter was dying of cancer, she said
to me these words; "Daddy, here I am trying to stay alive , and so many
of the youngsters out there are slowly killing themseves using drugs. Why
doesn't someone stop them? " I really can't find the answer to that question,
without thinking back to what my mother and father said. Don't start doing
it, and you won't have to stop doing it. That is just good common sense,
and that is what our life was about. Use good common sense in anything
that you do in life and you will be alright. Pass on all the knowledge,
that you were able to get from your parents, to your children and always
be there for them ,if and when they need you.
I have been richly blessed with knowing that all
my family and friends through the years, are there if and when I
need them, and they know that I will be there for them too. Someday it
will be time for me to take that trip back home, and I hope that everyone
will remember me, as one who loved life because of all of them. To be loved
and treated with respect ,is all anyone could expect in this life, and
I have recieved that. So if I have written anything ,that might get you
youngsters to stop taking drugs, and to stop drinking, as well as never
starting the bad habit of smoking, then I have accomplished my goal. It
is your life that you are destroying, plus the lives of any children that
you might have.
So until the next time that you pick up the newspaper
and check on my next article, I bid you "God Bless"
