Words of Wisdom from My Father

I was reminded last week of the words of wisdom (I had no idea it was wisdom as a child or teen ager) my daddy gave to me.  At least, I listened, and I remember.

I can hear him start his sentence with, “Miss Patricia” and then simple words of wisdom would come forth. Although few, sometimes, words, all very impressive.

1.       Almost everyday I can remember him saying, “It’s a good day, the sun is shining.”  Even when it was pouring rain, he would say “the sun is still shining behind all the rain.”

2.      When he would have one of his philosophical moments which turned into hours, he often said this, “Don’t get in a rut”.  Do things differently, at a different time, in a different way.   He was quite creative mechanically and I now know what he means from a creative stand point and in general for life.

3.      “Don’t ever stop learning, read as much as you can about as many different subjects as you can.”

4.      “Smile, Miss Patricia, the world needs it.”

5.      “Never eat too much, never drink too much, never work too hard without rest”.  In other words, “All things in moderation.”  He said he learned that from his Grandmother Wade whom he lived with for some time.  She had a crew of men for the fields and at age 7 my dad helped.  Every man was expected to start their day with a good meal, stop when they heard her ring the bell at lunch and at “rest time” and at the end of the day.  If “Grandmother” (he said it with such respect and awe) rang the bell and you did not either eat, rest or leave, she would grab her knife from the pocket of her apron, cut a big switch and proceed to give them a good whacking.  It did not matter how big or how old either.

6.      “Never give up…”

Carus Wade lived a hard life, without a father and through the depression with a young family and through the war.  He became hard, but the wisdom, love and compassion came through to the surface in the “second half” of life as the book “Falling Upward” by Richard Rohr describes.

Those words of wisdom are even more valuable because of the struggles and hard times.  He never gave up.  He mowed just hours before he sat down to rest for the last time. 

Listen, Miss Patricia

Words of wisdom,

Indelible in the heart,

Buried in the mind,

And resurrected by memories.

Given by a man,

Who was desperate to give,

But not knowing how.

Until the end.

He and mom got married in 1932,  He was 19, she had just turned 17.  Grover came in 1935.