Instilled Values

Two pharmacists recently asked me, “Are you from the South?” and “Did you come from a military family?” My answers were, “Yes, sir” and “Yes, ma’am.”

Apparently, my use of sir and ma’am is fairly distinctive. When I say the phrases, I never really think about it, but it is a byproduct of how I was raised.

In my household, you used the terms to show respect (even when you felt they didn’t deserve it) to those in authority or just older than you. It was a lesson they instilled in my siblings and I and one not soon forgotten.

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

This week was the first week of school for many, and it is another year where our children are closer to leaving home.

Two of our youth at the church are starting their first year at university; they will go and become their own person, just as I did when I was their age. I know during that time of growth I made some mistakes, but in the end I remembered what my parents taught me.

I am still my own man, different from my parents, but I still hold many of the same values that I was taught, just as these two youth, or rather young adults, will remember the teachings of their parents.

Published in Delta Optimist September 6 2013

Photo Credit 竜次 ryuuji