ROOTS

by Danna Shirley

As children, my sisters and I heard my mother yell out often, “Shut that door! You weren’t born in a barn!” I wonder if her mother said the same thing to her because mom grew up on a farm in Arkansas with a hay barn and a tractor barn right outside their back door.  And of course the outhouse was a little farther out. 

Dad used to say, “Shut that door! I’m not paying to heat the whole outdoors.” Dad grew up on a farm in Oklahoma and carried in wood every morning to build a fire in the wintertime so they could be warm and his mother could cook. 

Years later my parents moved to the California Bay Area where I was born. They wanted to give their three daughters better than they had growing up. 

• We had new clothes and a pair of new oxfords to start every school year.
• We had three meals a day, running water, and a furnace that kicked on as the temperature dropped.
• We rode the bus one mile to school.
• When old enough, we had a car at our disposal.
• Two of us wore braces to have a pretty smile.
• We learned to save and live within our weekly allowance. 

Material things aside, my parents taught us frugality. They never bought anything they couldn’t pay for outright. Even the house we grew up in was built a little at a time. Dad worked on it over the years as my parents saved the money to buy the materials.

Most importantly, my parents taught us integrity. Mom and Dad lived a life of honesty, reliability, and uprightness before their family and friends. When dad passed away at age eighty-nine, words of respect, honor, admiration, and tribute poured in from all who knew him.

Yes, I stand upon good roots passed down through many generations who lived exemplary lives. I pray I can live up to their example.