The web of life.

     In the multi media presentation I saw a young girl with an amazing support system.  I did not have that advantage.  Relationships were important to me but I had very few people whom I felt supported by.  As a child of the 50's I don't think anyone thought about supporting a child in the way Mahley family did.  I was expected to just obey the rules and go to school and then get a job.  No one expected me to have dreams or ambitions to do other wise.  Graduating from high school was the expected goal.  My mom had a two year business diploma from a women's college in South Carolina and my dad had 8 years in the Army with WWII under his belt.  And while education was highly thought of no one seemed to apply that to me beyond high school.  It wasn't until the summer after graduation from high school that my parents realized I was not prepared to meet the world in a meaningful way and decided I needed to go to college.  In contrast to Mahley I had not been prepared by my family to meet the world.  Even though I was involved in Girl Scouts and later 4 H my own parents did not have expectations of me that would give me goals and motivation to succeed.  Neither did the teachers in school nor the leaders in the organizations I was involved in.
 
    I did come up with five people who supported me in a way. My adopted grandmother, and three of my teachers in the 12 years I attended public school and one of the Girl Scout leaders that loved the out doors and took us camping and horse back riding. 

    Grandma Gilbert lived with her husband in an apartment of sorts.  There were two dwellings but it wasn't an apartment house like we think of them today.  They had the upper and a lady and her son had the lower place.  My grand ma always acted like she liked me and did not think of me as something to be taken care of.  She talked to me and played with me.   The people down stairs had a tortes and raised finches and the son (who was grown) had this amazing train set up and I loved to go down there and watch him and his trains and the birds and feed the tortes when it wasn't sleeping behind the refrigerator. 

    My fourth grade teacher Mrs Whittier, My 8th grade history teacher Mr. Hamptenstall and my 11th grade science teacher Mr Neubaur. All influenced me and for them I am thankful.  Mrs Whittier inspired me to read good books.  She would read chapter books to us after we came in form lunch.  Mr. Hamptenstall enlightened my love for history and treated me kindly and Mr Nuebaur saw that I could like and enjoy science and got me to open up to life sciences in a way that has served me well for the rest of my half-over life. 

   My Girl Scout teacher Mrs. Daniels was a person I could look up to and she kept our troop busy with lots of out door stuff.  I love the out doors and like any other young girl was horse crazy  Our region had their own horses so we went riding every other Saturday when the weather was nice enough to go.  She was a calm sort of person and was kind and fair.

    Even though these people has small parts to play in my life I can look back and see how they influenced me in ways that have lead me to succeed.   But in truth I know I have done the heavy lifting of getting to the point I am today. 

   As I raised my own children I made sure they knew I believed in them and I never told them "You can't do that" when they wanted to try something.  We tried it learned from it and moved on the next adventure.  All 5 of my kids have goals and dreams they are pursuing and even though the road has been rather winding I know they will out do me because I did seek out good supports for them in their growing up years and encouraged them myself as much as possible.  They are my true inspiration and support system as I have gone back to school and done my Montessori training and now going through the Masters program. 

    Now it's time to get ready to go to work for my second job.  Thanks for letting me share this bit of my world with you.