The summer before my 10th birthday my father moved our family of nine kids to a farm.We had always lived in a small city,in the house my dad had gotten from my grandparents who had wanted fresh air,green food and lots of room for their children but failed.My father held the same will.He'd worked multiple jobs and saved for many years and could finally afford a place in the countryside.Now a minor concern: the house had no running water or electricity.But there were 150 acres to run around in!
That first year my dad put in electricity,because my mom simply announced,"I won't have oil lamps with children running around!" Indoor plumbing (管道系统) had to wait another year.Different friends,who my dad knew from work,asked if he'd take their large dogs who couldn't run free in the city.So we all now played with a big orange-brown boxer and a sporty German Shorthaired Pointer, who we named Billy and Molly.
Minimalism was our goal,and also our only choice.Absolutely our clothes were hand-me-downs.Bananas and oranges were rare "imported" fruit we'd seen at holidays.We felt we were younger than peers there was ONE birthday party a year! We'd take turns once every 9 years a child would have his/her own party!
While money was so scarce, we had joy to hand all the time. My mother was always singing, yelling, or hugging.And she told us we owned plenty!To this day,each of us remembers those years as an abundance of things,laughter,arguing,making peace,and playing together! Every challenge was a game to defeat, and any failure was a chance to learn there.
微信扫码预览、分享更方便
