Poor Boys Have A Dream and Story Too

My father died on my sixth birthday. Times were hard and mom would go out of her way to make up for dad being gone. She worked two jobs as long as I can remember. She did not send me to church on Sunday; she took me to church on Sunday.

I can still see myself, wearing some clean "hand me down" clothes that some neighbor had given to mom. I would put the pants and shirt on and I was just as proud as I could be. But with all of that, this poor boy had a dream. My dream was one day I would have an education ,money and a home; I would be able to move mom out of this run down house we were renting and move into a home of comfort.

As we walked to church, mom would tell me stories about how things were when she was growing up. This would help the time past and I really enjoyed the stories. She would tell me about events that took place in her day and the results they had on me. It was like a walking classroom. Sometimes she would say "see that man sitting under the tree?" That is what happens when you have no job, education, or dream for the future. You will become a loser.

She would always talk to me about the ups and downs of my friends, most of whom were no better off then we. She would show me the kids that got in trouble in school, but they were playing ball every evening . She said education was the key to the future. Sometimes I would get mad with mom because she made me study. She would make me read a story to her every night. All my friends would be playing ball until dark. There were times it would be dark when I completed my homework.

Mom was not an educated person; she was raised in the south, worked hard in the fields, but she had "mother wit." I guess it took all of that and some more to get me in line. I was a hard head kid that thought I had the answers. Love, patience and the "never give up" attitude by mom, brought me around. I was a good reader and bit by bit mom took me to the place in my life that many of these things I would do on my own.Without my knowing it, the struggling stopped and I started to look forward to the challenge of the next book or science project.

One day, a friend of mine and I had a foot race and I won. I did not know at the time he was the fastest boy on the track team. The coach wanted to talk to me immediately. I told him, I was too busy with homework and I had a job delivering groceries after school. Coach talked with mom and the deal was made as long as I kept my grades up.

This proved to be a very busy school year. I must admit, I really did like running, and the attention I received around the school. All of this led to a scholarship and I felt my dream was going to come true.

I ran high school track for three years. I didn't know it, but coach, had several college coaches watch me run. They liked my style and my grades. By the time I was a senior, college was a forgone conclusion. Think about it; mom was so happy. I was the first in the family to go to college.

After college, teaching and coaching drew me into the school system. I had never made so much money in my life! Elven hundred dollars a year! I started looking for a place for mom and I to live.

Thirty passed so quickly, and now its time for retirement. There is so much more to the story. The wife and kids; how I tried to instill in them the things mom had instilled in me. I don;t know if I will be successful with them as mom was with me me, but you know what, I am going to try!