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In the almost 67 years I've been on this earth, I've learned a few lessons. Maybe they weren't big, important ones, but they are the ones that I learned-and probably needed to learn! So, for whatever they are worth, I pass them on to you, dear reader. What you do with them is up to you, and you alone.

First, as a small child, I learned to mind my own business. My parents were "old-fashioned", and they wouldn't let us children barge in and tell on each other or on someone else. If we did, we might get a spanking for being a tattle-tale. So I learned not to tattle, and I tried to teach my children not to, too. I think they learned fairly well; I never had to remind them, at least!

I also learned to keep my mouth shut when I ate. With anywhere from seven to ten people around the table at any one meal, and many of them older than me, I didn't talk much when I ate. I chewed my food, swallowed it, and when I was through, asked to be excused. If Mother saw me chewing with my mouth open, she told me to shut it. I tried to teach my children to do the same thing. They do a good job of it, too, and the youngest is trying to teach her children the same thing. No one wants to see partially chewed-up food dripping out of someone's mouth when they are eating; it doesn't make a pretty sight!

And I learned to play by the rules. Whatever game we played, we did it by the rules, and we did it without arguing. If Mother heard anyone sounding as if they were arguing, the game was immediately stopped and put away. She didn't take it kindly, either, when anyone tried to tell her they weren't arguing; a sister-in-law learned quickly that to try to explain was tantamount to arguing with Mother, and that was really a no-no!

I learned to do what I was told, when I was told to do it. To Mother, putting off doing what you were told to do was the same as disobedience, and she expected instant obedience. To her, there was no excuse, short of death or dire illness, to keep one from doing what one had been told to do. So I learned not to put off whatever she said to do, or what I knew needed to be done. (I've since learned that it's OK to leave some things for later, but she would still disagree, if she were alive and here.) I tried to teach my children the same way, but was more lenient with the time frame.

From my father, I learned to be accepting of people who didn't believe the way I did. He was the only person that my mother let tell her what she needed to do. Because of him, and his instructions

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