Parents-Appreciate Their Sacrifices

I was raised by two strong women who sacrificed almost everything to raise me and my sisters. My mother and grandmother were very strong, hard working women. To say we didn’t have a lot growing up is an understatement.

My daddy and mother divorced when I was 12, and there were 6 women in the house, my grandmother, mother and us 4 girls, Faith, Hope, Charity (me) and Joy (yes, those are our real names). We were all very bonded growing up because we were all each other had. We loved and cared for each other so much.

When daddy left, mother had no marketable skills and no education past high school. My grandmother worked at Avondale Mills during the early hours and came home and worked on the farm with mother and us girls until it was time for dinner and we’d all eat together.

At the time, none of us realized how little we had. And the reason we didn’t realize it was because they sacrificed so that us girls could have a beautiful life.

Mother was the backbone for the family. She got a full-time job, went to school full-time and worked her fingers to the bone to make things better for us. She went to school during the day and worked 3 p.m. – 11 p.m. at night as a nursing assistant.

Because we lived so far from the college she was attending, she sat in her car between classes and studied. Some days were bitter cold and she carried blankets with her to keep herself warm in the car while she was waiting for the next class. When she finished her classes for the day, she went to her nursing assistant job.

She sacrificed sleep, hot meals, time at home and many more things to do what she had to do to make our life good.

Mama (our name for our maternal grandmother) cooked for us, sewed all our clothes, and kept the home fire burning for all of us. She always had hot meals for mother to come home to. No matter how tired she was, she cooked.

I will forever be appreciative of all their sacrifices. I am who I am because of what they sacrificed for us.

Blessings of happiness, gratitude love and light to you from Sterrett, Alabama!

Charity M. Richey-Bentley