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Rural areas of Alabama wasn't what you would call a bushel of knowledge when you compared it to the urban townships. We were taught many things and had hands on experience and common sense accompanied what we needed to learn. Survival and how to make your own way was at the top of the list. Your neighbors whether they were right beside your property or a mile apart were treated like family because you learned early on that they or you may need help in some ways and you could depend on them. No matter if it was 3:00 in the morning or midday all we had to do was get word to them and they would drop what they were doing and come running. During the summers my brother and me along with my mother would walk down the road a couple miles a make some money helping the neighbor farmer pick cotton while dad tended the farm. The years rolled on by pretty quickly and before we knew it we were 17 and my brother 18. Now I know most stories are told of big families with tons of kids and that was true in most cases. On a comical thought we all went to bed almost at dark and rose with the sun so I guess some moms and dads had to scratch that itch before going to sleep. Not the case with mom and dad though, our farm was small and they didn't want a ton of kids to feed. Wasn't long until a new family bought the farm down the road and they had two beautiful daughters, lucky us and we didn't waste no time getting to know them. They were our age and we were rush to get done with our chores and walk to school with them, you know to protect them from wild animals and such. Two years passed and all four of us decided to get married and settle down. Wasn't long after our marriage day that dad had a heart attack and passed on leaving mama with a broken heart and lonely. After all they had been married some 40 years so losing your mate was painful. We promised mama that we would make sure all the farm chores were done and we did. She was so lonely that one night she went to bed and she didn't wake up. I guess you could say dad called for his bride. We sold the farm and bought my brother and me a place of our own not far from each other. We still get together on Sundays sit out on the porch and solve the worlds problems and recall the memories that we had. Every time we passed the old farm we grew up living on, its like I can still picture my dad feeding the hogs or my mom hanging out clothes on the clothes line. Those memories will live forever and the lessons taught to survive and care about your neighbors is worth its weight in gold.
