Rags to Riches

I recall during a very young age somebody saying, "Oh, those folks are trying to keep up with the Joneses." Since there was nobody in our neighborhood named 'Jones,' I was confused. In time, I understood the saying's connotation, which seemed to coincide with that Commandment about 'coveting' anything belonging to your neighbor.

As a mid-fifties teenager, my parents permitted me to drive the family's 1950 Chevy auto. I did not always purchase the latest teen fashions but I never concerned myself with what others were driving or wearing. I suppose that is just one of the many ways that I lacked normalcy. Later when I married, I did purchase a pair of rather expensive wing-tip threadneedle shoes. I wore them one night to a gym in East St. Louis, put them in my unlocked gym locker and while playing in an Industrial League All Star basketball game some poor inner city kid 'coveted' my shoes.

At this age and stage in my journey I have even less of a inclination to pay any attention to what 'others' have. I married good. My wife has always been frugal and not so much into allowing fashion to define her. I appreciate her attitude regarding material things.

I will admit that after two-hours of grass cutting and trimming, I do covet a shady spot on the backyard swing with a cold drink and Toy Poodle,Yodie by my side. Why just the other day, I was in that spot and thinking about the ways of the world when the thought occurred to me that many times to become 'rich with material things' a fella must give up too many of his most valuable things. Me? I've  always been 'rich' in the right things.
(Touch)
Rags to Riches