Growing up in a lower middle income family didn't seem like a hardship because almost everyone in our small community was in the same boat. We carried our lunches to school. We rode the bus. If we got in trouble at school, we were immediately in trouble at home. My sister and I sewed a lot of our own clothes and shared a bike. Frugality was a part of our lives, but my parents instilled so many values and happy memories in us that we mostly did not mind that we didn't have much. From Dad we received: work hard, persevere, enjoy family, be a good neighbor, "listen to the news and think through the issues". From Mom: work hard, be kind, honesty is the best policy, honor our Flag, "my job is to do the work in the house..your job is to work at school in order to go to college".
And these are only the tip of the iceberg. As I look back I so value the larger issues: their full
acceptance of each person that was added to our family (via marriage and parenting), their sacrificial
support and investment in all of our activities (how many band instruments did they purchase? how did they do that?), their
modeling of family priorities--consistent card-playing nights with their sibs, Mom's weekly Thursdays with her sisters, and especially purchasing the tiniest little place at Sandy Pines to enjoy the extended Knight family and to make memories for all of us.
I am me...by God's design and by my parents love and input. I miss them.
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