This is an excellent story. It brought to mind my life and the stories I was told growing up; the stories (or should I say) the lessons that I was taught. I was raised Catholic; very, very Catholic. My parents and the Catholic Schools that I attended, taught me to believe things like purity, truth and honesty; giving, loving and caring were the most important things in life. I was taught that you go to church, you get an education, you work hard, you meet boy, you fall in love and you get married. You then buy a house, have children and raise a nice little catholic family. If I just do all of these little things I will ALWAYS be happy and live a wonderful life. Well, what I was not told is this: my grandparents on one side were never married and that my grandfather had seven other children with his wife. My grandparents on the other side were also playing around, just as their parents before them. In addition, just like most of the rest of the world, I was told to be a good little girl and Santa would bring me toys. The only question I had about that was this, how was he going to do that? We had no chimney. Nevertheless, I believed and I always got my presents. Now, I ask myself, how much damage was done? Well, as I think about each story, I believe it was told out of love. Each teaching was given out of love. I didn't know my grandparents weren't married until my grandmother's death noticed appeared in the Times Picayune three days after her death. Was I harmed by this? I don't think so. All the stories and teachings were done to make me a happy or a better person. I have never felt bad or less loved because of any of it. I believe today, that we were taught from our parents experiences. I believe that all parents want the best for their children. I KNOW that my very loving, hardworking, uneducated and financially poor parents were rich in love and gave and gave and gave so that their children could be happy. My pains as a child and as an adult were and are the pains from racism, classism and sexism. The pains from the lies told by my Federal, State and Local Leaders are the lies, stories or teachings told, not out of love, but out of greed, power, control and hatred. Rosa Parks lived her life as most African Americans live theirs. She fought for her rights (and others rights). She worked hard and she loved hard. While there were many unfortunate and unnecessary experiences in her life, IÌ¢âÂã¢m sure she met a lot of good people, great fighters and good leaders. I believe, however that many of her painful experiences occasionally lead her into joyful and loving arms. She was indeed a Special Lady. And, unlike those who learned about her each February, we, African Americans, never had to be taught that Mrs. Parks was not just a little lady who just got tired of being pushed around one day, we knew there had to be more because of our own personal voyages.
In reply to <p>Excellent article. Thank by TKThorne
This is an excellent story. It brought to mind my life and the stories I was told growing up; the stories (or should I say) the lessons that I was taught. I was raised Catholic; very, very Catholic. My parents and the Catholic Schools that I attended, taught me to believe things like purity, truth and honesty; giving, loving and caring were the most important things in life. I was taught that you go to church, you get an education, you work hard, you meet boy, you fall in love and you get married. You then buy a house, have children and raise a nice little catholic family. If I just do all of these little things I will ALWAYS be happy and live a wonderful life. Well, what I was not told is this: my grandparents on one side were never married and that my grandfather had seven other children with his wife. My grandparents on the other side were also playing around, just as their parents before them. In addition, just like most of the rest of the world, I was told to be a good little girl and Santa would bring me toys. The only question I had about that was this, how was he going to do that? We had no chimney. Nevertheless, I believed and I always got my presents. Now, I ask myself, how much damage was done? Well, as I think about each story, I believe it was told out of love. Each teaching was given out of love. I didn't know my grandparents weren't married until my grandmother's death noticed appeared in the Times Picayune three days after her death. Was I harmed by this? I don't think so. All the stories and teachings were done to make me a happy or a better person. I have never felt bad or less loved because of any of it. I believe today, that we were taught from our parents experiences. I believe that all parents want the best for their children. I KNOW that my very loving, hardworking, uneducated and financially poor parents were rich in love and gave and gave and gave so that their children could be happy. My pains as a child and as an adult were and are the pains from racism, classism and sexism. The pains from the lies told by my Federal, State and Local Leaders are the lies, stories or teachings told, not out of love, but out of greed, power, control and hatred. Rosa Parks lived her life as most African Americans live theirs. She fought for her rights (and others rights). She worked hard and she loved hard. While there were many unfortunate and unnecessary experiences in her life, IÌ¢âÂã¢m sure she met a lot of good people, great fighters and good leaders. I believe, however that many of her painful experiences occasionally lead her into joyful and loving arms. She was indeed a Special Lady. And, unlike those who learned about her each February, we, African Americans, never had to be taught that Mrs. Parks was not just a little lady who just got tired of being pushed around one day, we knew there had to be more because of our own personal voyages.