Growing from the dirt to the sky.

Mam-ma always said, "Don't chue never ask nothing from nobody. Going round, aktin like you can't take cira ye self. If you need something, work ta geh it. Its nones job to tik cira ya but yourn." I think she would of rather had us dying of hunger than beg a meal from the gov'ment. We never did go compleatly hungry though, not that I can recall. When I was young if we couldn't afford anything else we could afford pennut butter and jelly sandwhiches. Sometimes we'd eat them sandwhiches for two, three meals a day, and we were greatful. At least we were eating for those meals. I tell ya what though, since I grew up and things got better I'v eaten a lot of things, but I will not eat them sandwhiches.

One time I was out with my mom and a friend of mine who was with his mom. She offered to buy us all a pizza, but remembering what mom always said I quickly said no thanks. We had food at home. I could tell five secounds later it was the wrong thing to say, I just didn't understand why. My mom and his mom were very polite, but we both made pleasent good byes and went to our homes. When I got there, mom laid down her secound law.

"Don't chue never refuze some'um offerd ya. You never, ever ask for nottin, but if'n someone offers you something jist siy thanks. If you refuse people's good will they'll jist think ya think you's above them. You hold yer head high, never look ta the ground when you walk, but ne'er, ever give the impression you think your above them. You aint a lird and you don't got that rat." That was the funny thing about our Mom. It didn't matter what anyone else did to us, we were always above it. Mom taught that to us. She taught us to always look people in the eye, not above or below.

To mom politeness was bread and cheese. I don't know how she manedged to raise us, alone as she was. All the other people in the area were either well to do, or on gov'ment money. Some people would have three, four members of their family old enough to work, but none did. In our family, till I turned eighteen, it was just mom. She worked two jobs, one in the middle of the night till early in the morning. She'd come home from it, wake us up and get us off to school with your sandwhiches for lunch, come back for an hour's sleep and then head off to work again. When she got done with her secound job it was time to pick us up from school.

She could have made more money by staying at work longer and letting us find our own way home, but she didn't. That was the third rule of the house. Work, money, all of it came secound to family.

"How im I sposet ta raise ya right ifn I aint the one raising ya?" She'd ask if we ever asked her why she worked the hours she did. "You can't raise nothing right by looking at for five minutes a day."

"Well, what about the other kids?" We'd ask, talking about our friends. "Their parents work all day. Shane's moms a lawyer and she works all day and all night and sometimes Shane don't see her for a week. Shanes nice though." Mom'd sigh and shake her head.

"Get that notion outa yer head." She'd say, rolling her eyes. "She aint better than us. They gots plenty of money, but they don't get to see their daughter at tall. I fill awful bad bout that for them. Couldn't live with it meself, but were jist lucky is all. Some people aint as fortunate as you kids."