Growing up in a large family certainly has an advantage.   If you are the junior  person in the family you learn more by watching instead of actually participating because you have all of these siblings to learn from just by observing. The following is a true story written by my nephew, Paul, on how he came through family life and which I can attest to because his mother was my oldest sister, Nettie. As the story goes,  

“The other day, someone at a store in our town read that a methamphetamine lab had been found in an old farmhouse in the adjoining county and he asked me a rhetorical question, ‘Why didn’t we have a drug problem when you and I were growing up?'”  

“I replied, I had a drug problem when I was young:  I was drug*  to church on Sunday morning.   I was drug to church for weddings and funerals.  I was drug to family reunions and community socials and no matter the weather.”  

“I was drug by my ears when I was disrespectful to adults.  I was also drug to the woodshed when I disobeyed my parents, told a lie, brought home a bad report card, did not speak with respect , spoke ill of the teacher or the preacher, or if I didn’t put forth my best effort in everything that was asked of me.”  

“I was drug to the kitchen sink to have my mouth washed out with soap if I uttered a profanity.  I was drug out to pull weeds in my Mother’s garden and flower beds and cockle burrs out of  Dad’s field.  I was drug to the homes of family friends and neighbors to help out  a poor soul who had no one to mow the yard, repair the clothes lines, or chop firewood; and, if my Mother had ever known that I took a single dime as a tip for this kindness, she would have drug me out to the woodshed.”

“Those drugs are still in my veins and how they affect my behavior in everything I do, say or think.  They are stronger than cocaine, crack or heroine; and, if today’s children had this kind of drug problem, America would be a better place.”  

“God Bless the parents who drug me!”  

Don’t we wish that all children could be fortunate to have a set of parents like this and could be hooked on this kind of  drug?

Thank you, Paul, for speaking out for a set of parents who are a rare breed.

*Colloquial 

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