I know this woman who...

I've read a couple of articles lately about how Bush's budget cuts are going to be bad for the poorest Americans, the homeless, the welfare recipients, the uninsured children, the working poor. All the while, the tax cuts that Bush made happen and wants to make permanent will only help the richest Americans. (I must be one of the richest Americans because I sure did get some of my money back last year and I look forward to paying less tax than I have been paying. Thanks GW.)

In that context, let me tell you about a woman I know. She grew up in a home with a single parent. Her mother moved the family between Texas and Arkansas, staying one step ahead of creditors and bill collectors. When she married her sweetheart she was sure it was going to be better. He was a handsome, skilled electrician. She was a beautiful young woman who hadn't graduated high school yet, but in rural Arkansas in the early '50s most young women aspired to be homemakers. She was no different. She and her husband soon had their first child, a son. Dad worked all day on powerlines and she kept the house and raised their boy. They lived on very little money but they had food and they had clothes and they had a reliable roof over their heads. Ten years after their son, they had another child, this one a daughter. Everything was going according to the woman's plan until her husband died. When the son was 11 years old and the daughter only a year old, the woman was widowed. With two children, no education and no life insurance nest egg she might have understandably chosen the easy path of welfare, reliance on family or quickly sought another marriage to a man who would provide for her. She did none of these things. She moved her family to Texas where she believed she would have better opportunities. She courageously worked through a GED and a course of study at a local college to become a licensed nurse. All the while, she raised her son and her daughter, kept an immaculate house, saved and scrimped to make her single paycheck provide a much better life for her children than she'd had herself. Her children are both grown now with families of their own. She paid for their college educations. She is still very frugal except when she's buying gifts for her grandchildren. She recently retired from the hospital where she'd worked for years and now she volunteers for a local Habitat for Humanity.

She doesn't talk about any of this with me. She's my wife's mother and she doesn't particularly like me. I know this story from hearing my wife tell it. I know it because it's part of what makes the divine Mrs. L who she is, a very strong, very stubborn, very independent woman.

I started to write this down as evidence that government programs aren't any good if the recipients don't have personal strength and integrity. That would tie back to the beginning of this essay. I started to share it with you to point out that determination will overcome all kinds of unbelievable obstacles and a handout from Uncle Sam will never create the kind of success, the complete 360 degree turnaround that this woman has created in her family's history. All this is true, but I've changed my mind about this entry in this blog.

To my mother-in-law, all my respect.