“You will have to stand on your own two feet.” -John Arnold Thurgood
Father took us as a family to a tabernacle to witness a play that had a profound influence on my life. Like the movie Mulan, the play depicted the influence deceased ancestors have on us. It was about a young teenager and her family. Sheer curtains were hung from the ceiling dividing this world from a spirit world. The play showed dead ancestors, as angels, helping the teenager and her family make decisions. The building was crowded and the seats all gone. I remember standing at the side of my father and leaning against him for support. Probably I begged him to hold me. It would be difficult for any father to hold a nine to ten-year-old. Quietly at the end of my begging, Father said, “You will have to stand on your own two feet.” It was kind, quiet, discipline. Dad loved me; I knew that because he was always taking pictures of me and my brothers and sisters. I knew it because he gave me strength to do difficult things such as driving a tractor, hoeing long rows of beets and potatoes, riding tall horses and cleaning the chicken coop.
The words of my Father and the lessons he sought to teach us impacted me throughout my life. Not just on that night standing, watching the play but even now as a Grandmother, I think of his counsel.. His words built self respect and self reliance. I would need to depend on inner resources to accomplish my dreams. He would be there encouraging me, but the final act was mine to do “You will have to stand on your own two feet.”
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