Does anyone remember those last days of summer before returning to school? Does anyone dare to remember? Come on - you remember how hectic they were. How exciting it was to go to town for your back to school supplies and clothes. For me, it was two pair of jeans, two pair of socks, two shirts and underwear. If lucky, I might get a pair of shoes. I wasn't too concerned about the pencils, paper and notebooks, but it was important that I had new clothes at the beginning of school. Somehow it made me feel less poor, at least for a few days, and that was important.

On the first day of school after doing my chores I, along with my brother and sister, would don our clothes and walk about a quarter mile to the bus stop. Soon the bus would come and we would climb aboard. There on the bus were other children dressed in their "back to school" clothes. All us boys were kind of alike… blue, stiff, new jeans that resisted bending when you walked. They also made that rough noise as the legs rubbed together. I didn't care - they were new!

  It was funny how careful we were for the first few days. We refrained from wrestling, rolling on the ground or sliding down the bank. We all insisted that we could not spoil our clothes. But time has a way of taking "new" out of clothes. Pretty soon, we were our old selves again with grass stains, missing buttons, rips  and tears.  Oh well, the new was nice while it lasted.

  After a few washes, those jeans had lost most of their blue color, would bend, and gradually conform to our bodies. Now they were practical.

What good it is to remember those times in our lives when we had to struggle? Well, I am convinced that those experiences as a child helped us learn about hard work and honesty. They helped us to discover who we were. But most importantly, they helped us realize that we never needed as much as we thought we did, and that good character is more important than the possession of many things.

  Think about it.

                                                              Larry