My name is Chaz! Some that have known
me since school know me by Jeff. Please be patient with this story.
I am putting some bio in this so the actual story will make since.
Bear with me and I promise this will be worth the read!
I was raised in Fries, a cotton mill
town in southwestern Virginia. Raised by my grandma and grandpa
while mama worked 3rd shift in that cotton mill for $2.35
and hour. Now we didn't have a lot, but we had all we needed to be
happy and thankful for what we did have. I was raised to earn what I
had in one way or another. At home we had chores, like getting in
firewood, mowing the lawn, hoeing the garden, and so on. If I
wanted something special like a pair of “RED” Chuck Taylor All
Star Converse tennis shoes, well, I knew it was up to me to earn that
money because the family didn't have money for those 'EXPENSIVE”
shoes. Now they were only $13.00, but that may as well have been
$200.00 to them. And chores didn't pay cash. You got respect and
pride for doing your part around the house. So at 13 years old, I
was lucky enough that the local shoeshine boy at the barber shop
“Charlies” had to move one town over and quit. I needed shoes so
I could play basketball at the Y and Charlie needed a shoeshine boy.
Well, I did have enough money to buy the polish, dye and shoeshine
rags, and with that and a handshake with Charlie, I started to work
on the next Saturday morning. At 50 cent a shine and a few good
tips, I had my shoes within a week. I took care of those shoes,
played basketball, and kept that job for almost 2 years. I had a
great thing going. I was actually making almost as much as my mom
and I only worked 2 hours a weekday, and 9 hours on Saturdays! Mama
worked 50 hours a week every week. It kept me honest, gave me pride,
and I provided for me so the family wouldn't have to. I also earned
the respect of a lot of people, which meant a lot as the years passed
by.
Now, hopefully you are still reading
this. In the communities today, there are few people that know
their neighbors, few that know who runs the store a block over.
Where I was Raised I know every store owner and they knew me....I was
only a kid! Yes we went to church. We didn't always want to, but we
didn't argue about it either. When an elderly person was approaching
a doorway, we made an extended effort to open it for them. If a
family needed, the friends and community helped to provide. Nobody
turned around in a month and said “hey you owe me”! If an
officer of the law approached us, we stopped what we were doing and
did what he said in a 'Respectful manner”. If we did something
wrong, not only the law did something about it, our parents did more.
I know times are different now, but we actually carried “HIGH
POWERED RIFLES” to school. We knew the rules of handling and
respected what they were capable of doing. We hunted with them and
“DID NOT KILL ANYONE” with them. The keys to us growing up like
this wasn't because the times were different. It was because we were
taught by our parents how to act in life. They didn't have to stop
for an hour a day and sit down with us. They didn't have to send us
to a class to learn anything other than or regular school classes.
If we did something wrong we didn't and weren't able to, blame
society or our parents. We saw our parents do what we were supposed
to do. We had roll models! We had mentors! We had motivational
speakers. They were all called “Our Parents”! We had a
spiritual leader, our Preacher! We knew in our minds and our hearts
when we were in a situation, what to do. I am not saying we were
perfect. I got drunk at 14. I got into fights. But I didn't use any
weapons except my fists! My Dad was a criminal and he taught me to
stand up like a man, but not to be a coward and use a weapon on a
person. I didn't have to be told that if I wanted those shoes I
needed to work to get them. I also didn't have to be told that
stealing them was wrong. It was in my raising. My morals and sense
of humanity, that my family used every day, told me that anything I
wanted in life I needed to earn it and I didn't ever expect to be
rewarded for anything. I did expect the respect of those who were in
my ring of family, friends, and acquaintances, when I achieved my
goals, and I got it. But I will say, they demanded the same respect
back, and I gave it! Now, I am not a really religious person, but,
“EVERYTHING” I was taught or learned from observation, always
went back to my families faith in God, and the teachings of the
Bible. That is where all of our life lessons should come from. Now
I am not saying that you change your religion, or even that you need
to be religious! What I am saying, is that if we as parents and
peers, roll models and mentors, use the Bibles of our religion as our
laws of life. Our everyday standard, then we can change our society
for the better. If we do this through leading by example. And take a
little time to be with those that look up to us, then we a s a
society will be, and continue to get, to be a better society for all.
And no, I doesn't matter what bible you use. They all have
basically the same messages. Be kind and compassionate. Be generous
and unselfish. Be each day what you would want your children to be.
I could go on, but if you haven't got the message by now, I would be
wasting my efforts anyway!
Please take time to leave a comment
below! I am interested in anything you have to say! Thank you for
reading thi and hopefully my other blogs!
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