A dose of Reality...

I heard a story lastnight about a young boy. He was the eighth child of ten. He had eight sisters, and one brother. They grew up on a farm in the midwest. His father wasn't real close to the boy, and struggled with alcohol. The family was really poor. When I say poor, I mean, rationing food poor. In fact, his Mother would cook up a chicken, and each kid got a small portion of the chicken, but it wasn't ever much. Mom always got the breast, Dad always got the wishbone, etc. etc. Multiple times in this boy's life he was sent to live with his older siblings because his parents didn't have the money to support him.
The young boy in this story is my Dad. At supper lastnight, I had the opportunity to visit with my Dad, my Uncle, and my Aunts Joyce and Diane. Diane flew in from Kansas this week to help my Mumsy take care of GI Joe. My Aunt Diane and Uncle Bob (Dad's siblings) talked a bit about life growing up. Hearing more details of my dad's childhood really put things into perspective.
I was a spoiled child. I really had it good. I had two parents who loved me, A LOT. They supported me and my siblings in everything we did. We were always involved in extra activities like dance, organ lessons, singing, gymnastics, softball, track meets, musicals etc. They both tried very hard to be at every recital, program, performance etc. My Mumsy always made sure we had new clothes for school each year. We always had a Christmas. We always had birthday presents, a home, food on the table, and a bed to sleep in. How grateful I am!
I hope I never take that for granted, I hope I can teach my children how to appreciate what they have. They have a lot. Listening to my Aunt lastnight made me realize, I have taken a lot for granted. I am so GRATEFUL!