EXCERPT



I was born in a rat infested shotgun shack in East Texas. When it rained we knew to grab buckets to catch the leaks. In winter you could feel the cold through the cracks. The summers were unbearably hot.

Our house was located off a long-winding road, fifteen miles from a small town in either direction. We didnt have a graded road to our house until I was eight-years old. Prior to that, a pig trail led from that winding road to our house. Each family along that trail took responsibility for clearing the undergrowth and filling holes as they appearedusually after a hard rain.

We had no electricity until after the road was built. There was no indoor plumbing. We finally got a butane stove and heater after I was a sophomore in high school. We didnt get a telephone until Id been in college several years.

I had four brothers and five sisters. Most of them had left for larger cities before the road was constructed. I cant imagine how they survived, having spent all of their childhood navigating that pig trail, using a wagon as their major form of transportation.

We owned a small-dirt farm. My brothers had grown up and left home, because they were much older. I was the youngest of ten children, and inherited responsibility to run the farm. That meant during growing season I had to plow from sunrise to sunset, and take care of other chores on the farm. From eleven years of age until I went away to college, I was the man-of-the-farm. My parents were products of the old school. They were two generations removed from slavery, and had been sharecroppers themselves. My father worked about three-hundred miles away, and came home when he could.

I started to school when I was seven because my birthday came in October, and in that school district if your birthday came after September you had to wait a year before beginning school. I didnt have benefit of head start, day care, or any home schooling for that matter. When I finally started school I was still poorly socialized and inadequately prepared.

Children and others made fun of me because I had a terrible stuttering habit. My hygiene was poor. My clothing wasnt always appropriate. This along with my inadequate preparation made it difficult to be accepted by other children.

I was picked on, pushed around, and told I had no right to any claim to famethat my game was lame. Classmates talked about me and called me many names, but I tried not to let it get in my way.

Some teachers did a fairly good job, but others made no effort to provide adequate academic preparation. Although, I always ranked near the top of my class, I was shunned and ostracized because of my stuttering and the way I lived. I was seen as someone who wouldnt succeed.

I never knew anything but to believe in myself. There may have been some times when I had doubts, but I never allowed them to enter my conscious mind. I kept pushing forward as if I already owned a piece-of-the-rock.

My parents were poor as most other family members. People gave subtle and not so subtle hints that it was ridiculous to be nave enough to think I could be a success, but I continued to forge ahead. Even though there were few people to use as a role model, I found a few and relentlessly kept on pushing.

I was seldom encouraged, or told I had a good chance to overcome the odds. On the contrary, it always seemed as if there was someone trying to bring me down. Something within me served as motivation to work hard and keep moving.

Nevertheless, I graduated high school number three in a class of eighty. Nobody offered me a scholarship, but I went on to a high-ranking university and graduated in three and one-half years with a B average. I received Masters degrees from two different universities, and studied toward a Ph.D. in two others.

Today, I live in a Midwestern suburb, have a wonderful wife and two sons that I wouldnt trade for all the tea in China. I also have a beautiful home and reliable transportation. At fifty-seven Im pursing my dream of being a writer.

Ive finally come to terms with my background; and feel good about my past, future directions, and myself.