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Some Childhood Photos |
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I was raised in the mountains of Tennessee, a true hillbilly. I
really did walk to school through the woods, & I ate
from Momma's gardens that I had to hoe, (I still have a garden every
year!) I fished and swam in the creeks with cottonmouth snakes (Cotton in "The Picnic" is definitely NOT like the ones I remember!) and leeches (I still shiver about those!). I played with tadpoles, played "tree tag", built & set my own rabbit traps (cleaned and cooked them too), got sprayed by black & white "kitty cats" under the porch (actually skunks!) We had no indoor plumbing, used coal oil lights, went to the well to get water; sat on the front porch at night watching the sky. We could point out the big & little dipper and the milky way before we were old enough to go to school. We were taught moral values at an early age. I could go on an on but my story is written in my book "Trisha". It will be finished one of the these days....... |
 Me
about 3 years old - they called me "Droopy Drawers" & my 4th grade
school pic (note homemade dress) |
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In the school of my days, we wore dresses; we stood while the national anthem played, followed by our
principal leading us in a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance (with the
words "under God" proudly stated and with hand proudly over
our heart ). I earned a Bible in 5th grade
(it is one of my treasures today)for memorizing many, many Bible verses
(yes - in school!). We called our teachers by Mrs. & Mr., and
dared not talk back for
fear of the dreaded paddle hanging in the Principal's office. We
jumped rope, hide 'n seek, Ollie,ollie over, marbles (I could beat my
brother), rolled down grassy hills, and sat and looked for 4 leaf
clovers at recess. I carried my 'dinner' in a paper sack or lard
pail and we sat outside in good weather to eat. We were taught moral values, the Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments. Both of these were posted in every classroom and around the school. We were poor - but we were taught to stand up for what we knew was right and that no matter our station in life, that how we acted showed what was inside us. We took care to not needlessly destroy wildlife, forests, or other humans. |
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Daddy & Me about 2 years old |
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Times began to change as my children grew up and I felt the children
of the world were missing out on all the things I learned as a child.
Things like "Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You" and "The
Ten Commandments" and other moral values.
Margaret came to me when I was stressing out over the fact that
children of the 21st century faced a very different world than the one I
grew up in. I knew that I could give children books with stories partially
derived from my childhood that they could enjoy and perhaps learn simple moral
values from. Margaret and some of her friends in the Barnyard of my youth (yes, it's patterned after an old barn I played in) have unique differences, however Margaret who lives by the motto her mother taught her (which is what my mother taught me in real life) "Pretty is as Pretty does", usually figures out how to help everyone get along. Children's books to help children think about choices they make in life. |
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Here's my favorite. I always used my big brother's set of guns to play Roy Rogers. He pretended to be mad at me, but not really...... |
I have a quest. If just one child learns to judge others by what is inside them, and not how they look on the outside, I have accomplished what I set out to do for the children of the world with my children's books with moral values. |
