

I grew up in a little place outside of El Paso Texas. It isn't too fair to cal it a town, really, because there wasn't much of a town to speak of, more of a few sparse houses grouped around a little country store. Times were tough, growing up. We lived on a dirt road and even the school bus didn't come close to our house. We had to walk about a mile to get to the bus stop in the morning. My folks were both hard working teachers, but they worked in Texas and I went to school in New Mexico. They started working at seven and my school didn't start til eight, so I had to ride the bus. My choices were either sleep in a little and walk, or wake up early and get a ride, but then I'd have to wait at school for an hour before anyone showed up. I suppose it wasn't too rough, I mean I did have everything I needed, though I didn't always get what I wanted. My friends used to go down to this place by the river and swim, but my folks were always too worried to let me go. I kept asking and asking but they wouldn't ever budge on their ways. One day I got a real itch to prove that I was grown up enough to do whatever I wanted to do, and I decided I would just go ahead and go to the river no matter what my folks said or what kind of trouble would be waiting for me when I got home. So I walked down to the corner store and bought me some corn chips and a bottle of soda. Back in those days the soda really did come in glass bottles so I needed to get me a bottle opener before I left. I went into the house to get one and somehow my folks knew exactly what I was up to. So they said, you aren't going down to the river are you? And i just lied right through my teeth telling em how I wouldn't dare disobey them. So they let me go, all the time knowing I was lying to them. They went down to the river and ended catching me red handed. It is sure hard to convince your folks that you are sorry for things when you disobey them so direct, but I did my darndest to do that. Sometimes I get to thinking about the few times I did disobey my folks and what they must have thought of me. I hope they realize how much I love them and that it did pain me something fierce to know that I hurt them even though they tried so hard to make sure I had everything I needed. Now that they've gone, I hope they see me in my moments of reflection, and know how much I love them even still. 

