I Am From

by Carol Walter Russell

I am from parents Oma Beth and Esco; from grandparents LaNora and A.E. and Maude and L.P.

I am from West Texas red dirt in Abilene.

I am from red beans, black-eyed peas, barbecued pork chops, fried fish, venison strips, and yum yum banana pudding.

I am from Abilene First Baptist Church on Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, and Wednesday nights.

I am from a humorous father and a kind mother.

I am from parents who never forgot surviving the Depression and Daddy seeing his parents lose their house.

I am from “Be ye kind one to another,” and “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” and “Never owe anyone anything,” and “Money does not grow on trees.”

I am from sitting on a block of ice for air conditioning in our green Desoto on our summer vacation trips from Abilene to Ruidoso, New Mexico.

I am from “I Love Lucy,” and “Groucho Marx,” and “Loretta Young”  twirling through the door on Sunday nights in the first days of black and white TV.

I am from Democratic roots, mesquite trees, Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons,” and “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”

I am from Texas Baptist Roots and more recently, I am from Eleanor Roosevelt’s “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent,”

 and

I am from Gandhi’s “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” 

Be the change you wish to see in the world.