You know how some people can "beat" you into submission with a look and a twitch of an eyebrow?
That was my Grandmother!
Not only was she the best storyteller in the whole wide world, she was also the best disciplinarian.
Know what? She never touched us! If looks could kill...
Don't get me wrong. Grandma loved us and we knew it because she would give us hugs and kisses and bake bread and cookies for us. But...we had to abide by her rules. It is amazing how she could encourage us to eliminate misbehaviour in a glance.
We all knew that look! Nobody ever dared to cross that look. We never knew what would happen if we disobeyed, and we didn't want to find out either.
Know what I mean?
Oh! And she would use our first and second names when we were in trouble. Yes, she incorporated all our senses. Somehow we knew how it would feel if she ever had to apply something physical, like a licking on the buttocks.
From the time we were very young, we learned obedience, work ethic, and self-discipline.
Grandma would let me go outside to play, but after I took off walking for a mile into a pasture coulee where nobody could find me, boundaries were enforced.
Grandma, Mom, Dad, Grandpa, the hired men and anyone within earshot on the ranch was commandeered to find me.
The pasture I had wandered into was muddy, and I got stuck in the mud along a hillside directly above a dam that my Dad had built to capture and save water for livestock.
No sooner had I begun to realize that I was in trouble, than I saw a big, grey dog flash by around the side of the hill and disappear.
Just then, my Grandma and Mom found me!
Grandma yelled, "The coyotes were going to get you!" That was what I saw disappear around the hill!
Well, to say that I was frightened of coyotes is an understatement, somehow I found my footing, pulled my feet from the mud and ran as fast as my little legs could carry me, mud clods flying, to the arms of my Grandma and my Mom.
Yup! I got the "LOOK"! I never did that again!
Many great things came from Grandma's "iron pot" besides great stories and her wonderful home made baked beans. Lessons of courage, integrity, honesty, being true to your word, respect, love and honour, to name a few. It was not just stories that were pulled from Grandma's iron pot, but love and life's experiences were also found there.
So, what were the two lessons that I learned from my Grandma's iron pot?
1. To always do what my parents and Grandparents told me, because that protected me from possible harm and helped me for the future.
2. To never question authority or be sassy back because life and living in this world is a privilege and not a right.
Yes, I learned to be polite to my elders and everyone I met and to accept the tasks that were given me. I learned never to complain when my back hurt from hoeing the garden.
Grandma taught me how to raise my own kids by her great example of hard work and integrity.
I really miss my Grandma!
These lessons I apply to my own business today. I have a huge work ethic and respect for others.
What are the lessons you learned from your childhood.
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Christine Till
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