5 Lessons From Grandparents

I was raised by my grandparents on a farm in Kentucky in the 1940s – long before the internet was even a concept. The fundamental lessons I learned during my childhood are as timeless today as they were back then.

#1 Value Education

By the time I started 1st grade when I was 5, in September 1944, I could already read and print - my grandparents and my great grandmother taught me. I was taught my numbers when I was four, and was allowed to read whatever I wanted as a child. As a result, school was always easy for me, and I began helping some of the slower pupils - those that had been kept back - so they could rejoin their proper class.

#2 Be Self-Sufficient

Family members praised me when I did things on my own, after asking questions: Was I allowed to use utensils or tools, was I allowed to work with the materials or whatever I needed.  Being able to do things for myself instead of asking for help made me feel very "in control" even when I was only five or six.

By the time I was eight, I knew how to repair small tack items - I didn't have to ask someone to punch a new hole in my stirrup straps - a very big thing for me.

#3 Listen

An important lesson was to listen to my elders when they had some information to impart, even though it was "old-fashioned" or not modern. My great-grandmother knew a lot about herbs, which she learned when she lived in England. She would take me and a couple of my cousins, carrying baskets, out into the woods and showed us which plants were good and safe and which were dangerous even to touch, much less pick and eat the berries. We gathered everything from wild onions and garlic to the bark and roots of sassafras. She also gathered mushrooms but advised us to not pick any on our own until we had learned more.

#4 Be Compassionate

The fourth lesson was compassion for others, no matter their station in life, generosity to those who could never repay. And always return borrowed items, no matter how trivial, because they might mean more to the person from whom they were borrowed. This has been with me throughout my life and when I was able, when I was working and had the means, I always went out of my way to repay those who had been generous to me and even a few who were not. Sometimes people took advantage of me, and I just let it slide because it hadn't damaged me fundamentally.

#5 Never Stop Growing

My grandparents raised me with the conviction that I was capable of being anything I wanted to be. And that I was “bright” and lovable. As soon as I was 18, I enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps. After being honorably discharged, I went to work for an Orthopedic surgeon for 39 years, first as an X-ray tech and surgical assistant. In my 20s, I got my first show dog, a Maltese, after which I showed Great Danes. In 1972 I got my first Basenji, showed him to his championship and never looked back. I bred and showed Basenjis for 30 years. I also sketched, learned French cooking, created glass etchings, and made custom jewelry.

A Strong Foundation

My grandparents gave me the best childhood and built a sense of innate self-worth and self-sufficiency that has lasted all my life. The strong foundation they laid allowed me to survive some devastating events because I was always confident I could overcome anything.

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