Sad, though (almost) inspiring Story

    Once upon a time there was  a skinny little white girl growing up with poor but proud parents. Both her mother and father had to leave school before graduating. Her mother had lost her father when she was a baby, so the eldest son in the family, at only 16 years of age became the wage earner for his widowed mother and his younger siblings, one suffering from a disability. Unfortunately, he met his death in a work-related accident when he was only seventeen. So it was not long before her  mother had to leave school to contribute to the support of her family. 

     The girl's father lost his mother to cancer and the family farm he'd grown up on soon became lost, with too many mouths to feed and not enough support. He served in the military, during war time, and met the girl's mother on his return from service. Jobs were hard to find, transportation very difficult, but they worked hard and started their family. 

  But hard work at unskilled levels barely paid for the necessities of life; the family never called themselves poor because many others were in the same boat, but there was no denying times were hard. When her shoes wore out, and there was no money to replace them, her mother would cut cardboard and put them in the shoes. When the buckles on her hand-me down rubber galoshes wore out, canning jar rubbers held them on her feet. On the days when there was no money to buy food for supper, her mother would feed the family corn meal mush  and caution them not to tell anybody, not wanting her family to appear needy.

   So that little white girl followed her family's example, worked hard and earned a college diploma at the state university. No, she never made her way into becoming Vice-President of the United States. She never recited a poem at a presidential inauguration either,  or served as a cabinet member. When she was growing up, there were no books in the house except for a well-worn family Bible and a battered dictionary until one day her father brought home a few books someone had given him at work. One was a copy of Familiar Quotations. The girl loved reading that book; her hope was to one day say something so powerful and important that it would be included in such a book. 

   Now I will tell you: that skinny little white girl was me, and I never did realize my childhood dream.  Not all dreams come true you know.