Sharecropping was a hard life that made for rough, work-worn hands
and sore bent backs but it also built a work ethic of honesty, and
a belief in fair dealing. It was a family affair everyone had to
pull his or her weight and contribute. An honest day's work for an
honest day's pay. A cliche, true, but it was the reputation that my
dad had with all those who knew him. Clyde and Naomi Crabtree
Holley were my parents. My dad was industrious, inventive and
virtually indefatigable. He was practical, straightforward,
tough-minded and plainspoken, and, from my standpoint, a strict and
harsh disciplinarian with a handy razor strap My mother was grit
and grace with a heartbeat. She worked as hard as any man, then
turned around and loved everyone around her selflessly. From the
flour sack shirts and dresses she sewed to the homemade jam she
made from growing, picking, canning and storing fruits; her
resourcefulness, initiative and originality seemed endless. Her
culinary creations were a special treat to the entire community,
and her patterns, handiwork and crafts as skilled and creative as
anything I've encountered since. Where dad was tough and unbending,
my mother was gentle, kind and compassionate, although she did keep
a peach-tree switch nearby, and knew how to use it. What I had was
hard-working parents with calloused and blistered hands who
provided me with everything that I really needed. Once in a while,
play and fun replaced work. Rainy days, Saturday afternoons and
Sundays after church were times set aside to relax and re-wind,
visit neighbors and friends with my parents or walk the hills and
valleys. A complementary, yet conspicuously opposite pair they
were, but together they created a sense of balance in my life. To
my young mind, being sharecroppers meant that we were poor folks.
There were times when I was ashamed that I didn't have the clothes,
toys or spending money that some of the kids of our more affluent
farm neighbors had. And naturally, there were always a few in every
community who looked down their nose at us, holding us accountable
for the life we were born into. While that same few might have been
dismayed by our lack of wealth, even they couldn't find fault with
hard work and a harvest reaped. My parents were quick to dismiss
their haughtiness as ignorance. We moved many times, and with each
move we made new friends, but remained connected to our former
neighbors. For me, each new community provided new faces, new
experiences and new adventures.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
(1)
(5)
