Growing up in the south…

I was born a poor child, another legacy of the great depression and sure enough, we had to walk to school in the rain and snow.  Times were hard and the only way that we ever received new shoes, was when one of my other sixteen brothers or sisters out grew theirs. Which sometimes made things difficult for me, wearing the white buckle tops to school. They did however look nice with some ruffled edge socks. Daddy plowed the fields to make a living for us, from daylight until the cows came home. Wait a minute…

That was a complete work of fiction…

Okay, this time lets add in a touch of reality…really. I was born a poor black child….just kidding! Actually I was born and mostly raised in South Florida. Back in the glory days. When the coast was still clearly visible from the highway and not visually obstructed by some ginormous concrete monstrosity such as a condominium. We were poor, but we never knew that we were poor.

"Camping out with my family, around 1968"

One of my  fondest memories was the beauty of the waterways, both salt and fresh. My parents although not wealthy, had a richness of togetherness and a true love of the outdoors about them, that allowed me to grow up around some of the most beautiful places on earth. We fished and camped and went to the beach, more than you could possibly imagine. A little boys dream.

My memories are full of wonderful things, like; the blue aluminum drinking cups that my mother had with our names written on the bottom on a piece of tape. She always took them to the beach with us when we went, to serve up some ice cold Kool Aid from the cooler, which she always packed with a sandwich for each of us. She in my eyes, was an angel from heaven.

"At the beach in West Palm with my mother."

My Pop loved to hunt, so from a very young age I learned how to handle a gun, and because of him, became fearless of the outdoors. I’ve walked through many a darkened woods in search of a deer, or a turkey and nothing could erase the joy of a dove shoot in a plowed field. He taught me how to do all of these things and how to catch a fish with a worm and a cane pole. He was the ultimate outdoors man. Larger than life to me. A hard working man. He gave me my love of the outdoors, which I have never lost.

"Fishing on Lake Okeechobee with my dad, in the 70's"

Most of all they both instilled in me, the love of life that I have. The knowledge that no matter how bad things are, life goes on and you do posses the ability to rise above life’s greatest challenges. Courage and strength, along with a strong spiritual belief can conquer adversity. Add a touch of love and family to that mix and you are invincible!