Mom and Dad had four children, Ronnie, Peggy, Steve and Sandy before either of them turned twenty- two. After a five-year gap, Billie Sue came along.

My folks were proud people and unwilling to accept handouts or any type of public assistance. Their dream was simple: to find forty acres of land to graze a few milk cows, grow a garden and raise their five children. Having farm animals a horse to ride, cows for fresh milk, and chickens for eggs, was also important in living a good life.

Growing up, I learned reality is harsh, and its onset should be accompanied with much explanation and caution. My parents, stifled by the harshness of their own reality, were more concerned about daily survival than the assimilation of their children into a social system, with which they themselves were unfamiliar.

Guidance for the kids around the labor camps be it social, psychological, or behavioral, was mostly delegated to the schools. Moving from camp to camp offered a myriad of translations of social rights and wrongs, unlocking a door to an uncontrolled environment where a child could become socially disoriented, if not completely lost.

More often than not, I found myself searching deep inside my mind for some sort of rational reasoning to so many unanswered questions. I desperately wanted my world to make sense, so I tried to think through the trials and tribulations of my past to help answer that which was now puzzling me. This self-imposed survival mode produced enough motivation to move forward into an uncertain future, and exist in a world that thought of me as a “retard.”

Even though I was misdiagnosed by my second grade teacher, the ramifications of having been told I was retarded, along with the hardships of being the child of poor migrants, left me vulnerable at times and struggling for answers. This took much effort and I fought from one success or failure to the next.

Adults that leave positive impressions with children are blessings to us all. Parents are the most giving and forgiving adults in our lives. They are the people that we can depend on. We trust that we will not be less loved because of the tremendous changes occurring within us.

Some adults are angels that cross our paths at just the right time, and provide positive influences in our lives. Those individuals are the core reason for our self worth. For me, these angels other than family members, numbered less than the total digits on one of my hands. They were: my mom’s father’s best friend, Irvy; my eighth grade teacher, Mr. Light; and two cowboys named Jim and Darrell.

While sitting alone, at my backyard patio table after my fiftieth birthday party, a couple of candles reminded me of my childhood. Too busy being an adult, I had not thought of my earlier years in a long while.

Thinking back, my memories began around the time two men came to our house and took our car away. This action sparked anger inside me, and hence the onset of my childhood frustrations. I was five years old and we lived in a little, house on a hillside in Springville, California. Until then, I was impervious to much of life’s difficulties.