Wake up, Wake up

This month I turn 31. Fuck. I'm getting old. I know, 31 technically isn't old but it is to me.
I've done a lot in these last thirty years. A. LOT. I survived my childhood so that says something. Not to say that it was terrible but it sure wasn't full of sparkles and glitter. We grew up poor. Very, very poor. I was just telling Tyson about going to the store for my mom to get her a Coke and a rocky road candy bar, which in return I would get the change to spend  on whatever I wanted. Here's the kicker. I had to purchase these said items with food stamps. I'm not talking  fancy debit card looking food stamps that blend into the crowd. I'm talking about the O.G paper stamps that came in the booklets of ones, fives and tens. Yep, there I was walking down the street to the store to spend my food stamps. Proud as fuck too. I didn't know embarrassment at that age. All I cared about was getting 40 pieces of penny candies with the leftover change. Shit, I'd still use a food stamp if I had to. That's something my Mom always taught us, NEVER be ashamed of who you are or where you came from. We rarely ever had a car but that didn't stop us from getting to where we needed to be. Grocery shopping sucked.We lived in these apartments about 3 blocks up hill from the grocery store. Every 1st of the month my mom would single one of us out to go with her to the store. Not me, not me, not me...shit, ok I'll go. Off to the store to spend over two hours combing the aisles for food that was supposed to last five people an entire month. Once that mission was complete we had to bag it all and attempt to fit it all into one cart because pushing two carts up a hill home was hell. Oh, what's that you say? Why didn't you put the groceries in your car? because...we had no car! So up the hill we went, pushing the (hopefully just one) heavy ass cart home. Can you imagine asking a kid these days to push a grocery cart full of bags home? They'd look at you and laugh in your face. Kids are different these days. That's for another blog though.
I look back on some of the things that went on during my childhood and I could be embarassed or ashamed but I'm not. I know who I am. I know that my mom did everything she could to get us to where we are today. I'm proud to say I grew up poor. It made me appreciative. Today I live in a beautiful secluded home. I drive a BMW and can afford to buy food with a real debit card. And for that, I would like to thank my Mother, for instilling in me that happiness doesn't come from material things. It comes from love. I can only hope that my children get the same message. Just not the hard way.
xoxo