How many times have I heard those words from my Mother's lips. Very few excuses were acceptable in her eyes, regardless of the situation.
Today, as I was taking my medicine from the bag it came in, I noticed the nice white paper it was made of, and it brought this thought to my mind.
Mom was born in 1926, and times were bad for even the most affluent families. Not only was she poor,but she came from a broken home, abandoned by her father at the age of six or so. Her Mother ended up placing the children in a orphanage of sorts. She was separated from her siblings for quite some time, before being reunited with them again. She endured horrific treatment and conditions before reaching the age where she could finally get a job and take care for herself.
Nevertheless, this bag brings to my mind, the story Mom always told us of her school days,which were very few. She told me near the end of her life, that she had such a hard time with her schooling, they held her over several times. It seems she had grown as tall as the teacher, and was still in the third grade. That's when she dropped out of school, so as not be be made fun of. Since times were so hard, Mom had to do her lessons, many times on brown paper sacks. The teacher would hold her work up for the class to see, and tell them how not having paper was no excuse for not getting their homework. She'd say,"Look at Butch.(that's what everyone called her as a child).She had no paper so she used brown paper bags." Wouldn't it have been wonderful if Mom would have had access to this type of paper bag back then.
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| white paper bag |
Mom was born in 1926, and times were bad for even the most affluent families. Not only was she poor,but she came from a broken home, abandoned by her father at the age of six or so. Her Mother ended up placing the children in a orphanage of sorts. She was separated from her siblings for quite some time, before being reunited with them again. She endured horrific treatment and conditions before reaching the age where she could finally get a job and take care for herself.
Nevertheless, this bag brings to my mind, the story Mom always told us of her school days,which were very few. She told me near the end of her life, that she had such a hard time with her schooling, they held her over several times. It seems she had grown as tall as the teacher, and was still in the third grade. That's when she dropped out of school, so as not be be made fun of. Since times were so hard, Mom had to do her lessons, many times on brown paper sacks. The teacher would hold her work up for the class to see, and tell them how not having paper was no excuse for not getting their homework. She'd say,"Look at Butch.(that's what everyone called her as a child).She had no paper so she used brown paper bags." Wouldn't it have been wonderful if Mom would have had access to this type of paper bag back then.
Wow Sue -- such a powerful post. Your mom sounds like one strong lady. xo
ReplyDeleteShe was, indeed. She did not have the greatest life,but that never held her back. Her 9 children were her joy, for the most part, and even that came back to bite her in the end. Five of her nine children, deliberately abandoned her during the final three months of her life, causing her more heartache, than most mothers could endure.She was the strongest and toughest lady I have ever known.
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