Page 18 - Amarillo Senior Link Magazine Winter 2020- Online Magazine

Exceptional

SENIORS

Lessons I Learned

From My Parents

by Bob McGinnis
“ Honor your father and your mother.

was blessed to have both a father keep a large garden, canning and ”
time, so don’t fuss and fret. She
and a mother. Many seniors my freezing mountains of produce. She made certain my sister and I had the
I age did. That is not so true today, raised two hundred chickens every opportunity to attend church and
unfortunately. This is my story, but year, selling and delivering eggs and Sunday school. Mom set an amazing
many who read it may relate to their fryers. I was given chores in both example, which I haven’t emulated
growing up years. the garden and in chicken raising. I well, as, in her entire life, I never once
helped in soil preparation, planting, heard her utter a profane word.
We all think we’re our own person. fertilizing, insect spraying, hoeing
And, yes, we are individuals, unlike weeds, and picking berries, fruit Dad was an electrical engineer.
any other, but we are products of and vegetables. I fed and watered Engineers seem to be meticulous,
our genetics, environment, and other chickens, cleaned the coop, gathered detail-oriented individuals, and
factors. Some of the strongest of eggs, killed and cleaned chickens for he was certainly this in all that he
these are the biological effects of our butchering. Mom was an excellent undertook. He was a precise teacher
parents and lessons they taught us in seamstress and made a great deal of and a firm taskmaster. I thought he
the years they influenced our lives. the clothing we wore. In fact, some was a little too tough on me in his
of those clothes were made from the daily work requirements. But dad
I look like colorful patterned material that came often was at my side in these jobs,
both my mom from feed sacks. providing father-son conversation
and dad. I time and opportunities for me to learn
have family Mother, by example, taught me proper gardening, how to plant fruit
mannerisms lessons in self-reliance, saving and trees, prune and graft them.
I picked up, thriftiness, patience, good humor,
either from a strong sense of family, caring and My dad was both a gatherer and a
the gene pool service for others. Mom was a quiet hunter. Not only gardening, he also
or being in Christian. She achieved taught me to
the same twelve years of perfect be a hunter.
household Sunday school attendance At an early
for eighteen growing up and continued age, I learned
years. I her faith walk throughout gun safety
attribute much her life. One of her frequent and received a
of who I am sayings was, “Don’t borrow BB gun, a .22,
to all the things I learned from mom trouble,” meaning don’t then a twelve-
and dad. My strong work ethic is worry, especially over that gauge shotgun
because both my parents modeled for which you have no and a 30-30
this behavior, instilling it in me at an control. It was her way of rifle. Together,
early age. My mother didn’t work saying God will take care we hunted
outside the home, but she helped of it in His way and in His squirrel, rabbits,

18 Amarillo Senior Link