Harold Lee and Robbie

Daddy looks all filled out and healthy here with my cousin Robbie. He must be home from the army? Aunt Noni, help me out here. All you have to do to leave a comment, I think, is to sign up with blogspot and then click on comment under this post. Otherwise, email me.

He says he never got enough to eat when he was at home. He thinks he was always hungry at home. That is hard for me to comprehend. We've had nothing but an abundance of good food as long as I've been alive. Daddy says that my Mom's family had more food and better food than his family did. Mom says they never went hungry, but she knows her Daddy did. Mom says they might not have always had a variety of things to eat at a meal, but there was enough of whatever they had, even if it was just a big pot of potatoes.

We always had a big garden when I was growing up. Mama canned and froze and pickled so that we had more than enough food. We had a cow, Louise, and she gave lots of milk. We had homemade butter! With this abundance I could even be a picky eater. That's a luxury, to be a picky eater! Can you imagine a hungry person being picky about what was offered? I liked chicken, chocolate milk, corn, sandwiches, steak, ham, boiled potatoes. I didn't like pickles, pickled beets, butter bean, green beans, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, okra, tomatoes, onions, collards, cabbage and so many other things. I enjoy eating all of these things now. I think that if I had ever been allowed to get hungry I would have learned to like all food.

I went to a Karate tournament with a neighbor when I was about 16. I had money to buy something to eat. I somehow got really hungry and ordered a hamburger. They put lettuce and tomato on it and that was awful, but I was so hungry I didn't even bother to take them off. I just bit into it and it was so good. I couldn't believe that something I hated so badly could taste so good. My thinking slowly changed after that and I began to try new things.

I've grown to appreciate my parents hard work to make sure we never went hungry. The abundance we have enjoyed was provided because of hard work and careful planning. My family was frugal and never wasteful. Mom managed the family's money carefully. There was never enough money to spend freely. I talk about the need for a budget to keep from spending too much in one category or another. I have categories like "entertainment" and "spending money" and "vacation" in my budget. My parents didn't have that option.

But you know what? My parents were careful and diligent and frugal because they had to be. Later in life when they didn't have to be so careful, they still lived the same way, it was a habit, no it had become their character. They have freezers full of fresh vegetables and pantries loaded with canned goods and they can feed an army at a moments notice. They have a nice home and they create an environment that keeps us coming home. They have all they need and more. The excess spills over and touches so many people.

But I'm only talking about material things. They have so much more to offer. Do you know what it is? Give them a chance and they'll give it to you, too.