I know I have talked about my life, my family, my friends, and my God. One of the things I have shied away from was my younger life. When I was in school. When I was in school I lived with my mama. My mama has always worked way too much and given up way too much for me. She gave up dating so I would never doubt her love for me, she gave up new clothes for her so I didn’t have to wear old clothes, and most importantly she gave up time with me so she could provide.
As any of you know meeting all of your needs when you’re a single income household can be a struggle. What’s even more difficult is meeting all of the wants of an often times too ungrateful child. Mama done what she could, but I didn’t always have the nicest of everything. I was excluded from some groups because I didn’t dress a certain way or have the things they thought were cool.
The things…..I was denied because of things. People overlooked my personality, my heart, my friendship over the fact that we didn’t have as much money. Being overlooked for any reason is disheartening but being left out because of things is hard for a kid. They didn’t understand my mama was doing all that she could, they didn’t understand that she went without new shoes for years so I could have new Nikes, they didn’t understand that my mama would have our cable cut off two months before school so she would have enough money to buy me new school clothes and supplies. They didn’t understand this but neither did I. I blamed my mama for falling short, I thought it was her fault I didn’t have, it was her fault that I couldn’t fit in with the other kids.
As I got older I realized what she had done, I realized what she had given up, I realized how hard it was and how hard she had worked to make it as good as it was. Without realizing it my mama had taught me one of the greatest lessons about life that I could ever have hoped to learn. My mama had taught me that what you have in life is a lot less important than what you give.
I have always made sure my kids had everything the needed, most of what they want, and tried to teach them that giving is more important than having. One thing I have failed at is practicing this outside of my house. I will do better about that. I will do more, help more, and give more.
When your time on earth is done you can’t take all of your stuff or all of your money with you. At the end of this life would you rather be known for what you had or for what you gave?
I love you.
bradglenn79 