I Hope That Runs in the Family

My better half and I had dinner out with

my parents tonight.

After a discussion about white eggs vs. brown eggs 

(you never know what might come up at dinner),

I asked my Mom and Dad a little more about the time they 

lived rent-free on the chicken farm in exchange

for gathering and candling the eggs. 

After learning that most often a hen has a red earlobe

if she lays brown eggs,

that a fresh egg will have a yolk that will stay on top of the whole egg when broken,

AND that the type of feed a chicken

eats is what really affects the taste most,

I had a few more questions for my parents,

But NOT about eggs.

I wanted to know more about my Grandpa Owens, who worked hard all 

his life and raised his family without much of anything in

the way of what we are use to having.

Every day he would walk home from work and 

stop and pick up whatever was needed from the store for dinner, 

and would always bring a little sack of penny candy home for his children,

all nine of them!

How sweet was that!

(I hope that runs in the family.)

My grandpa must have really experienced life...
Mom told me that after his parents died when he was young,
he lived in a tepee for awhile with some Indians who took him in.
What resilience he had to acquire at such a young age!

(I hope that runs in the family.) 

I found out that when he retired, he had worked more years for the Santa Fe

Railroad than anyone else west of the Mississippi River.

 I know he worked hard all his life, walked to and from work every day,

always showed up,

and came home at the end of the long day to his family.

Talk about a work ethic to be proud of!

(I hope that runs in the family.)

I  was reminded about how he and Grandma and their first child 

and 

two of his brothers, and his mother-in-law

lived in a boxcar for awhile.

Grandma had a stove of some sort, 

and they didn't have much else, 

but they made it work.

And I bet they appreciated what they did have.

What grit and determination.

(I hope that runs in the family.)

My Grandma Owens had nine children,

all of them born at home.

(I had my boys via natural childbirth, and I'm 

getting sweaty right now just thinking about birthing nine of them.)

She took care of her family and extended family -

(my invalid great-grandmother lived with them for about thirteen years)

scrubbed their clothes and cooked their meals.

She didn't go out to eat

or

get to spend a romantic evening away from 

home and her kids.

And I bet she seldom ever complained about it, if at all -

especially out loud where someone could hear her.

Talk about a real woman!

(I hope that runs in the family.)

So Mom,
I understand a little better about what makes you

so compassionate and strong and determined

and hard-working...you went to school and got your
bachelor's and master's degrees, plus 60,  
you were a wonderful teacher and influenced my decision to be one...

 thank you for passing down those genes...

I'm hoping and praying they run in the family!

©2011tbowenblog