My first Mentor(s)

One of my leading Mentors was my own mother. I guess that's true for a lot of us. Without actually intending to do so, I run things by her, as in "What would Mom do?"

For instance, Mom never owned a gun, never wanted one. Dad, neither. Maybe we would have been fatter children if they had, but I'm ok with the fact that they didn't, that the thought never occurred to them.

I distinctly remember when a prisoner got loose and was known to be in our area. I remember Mom saying, "If he comes by here, I'll give him something to eat." She was looking out at the snow-covered ground. "I bet he's hungry out there."

Dad once saw a rabbit at the spring and told a neighbor how cute the rabbit was, washing its face in the water. When Dad came back from town and the neighbor thanked him for the tip and held up the dead rabbit, Dad was depressed for days. He used to let the chickens out because he couldn't stand to see anything penned up.

I had kind parents. Their kindness extended to animals. And to us. I was never beaten by my parents and they didn't take their anger out on me with words. Mom told me what was right with me, not what was wrong. If she noticed something about me that she'd rather was different, she'd say, "I know you'd never do...." whatever it was. That was enough to make me think twice and change once.

Now, when I come up against people who think I'm not quite good enough for them, I remember that I was good enough for the very best person I ever met or ever hope to. And that's good enough for me.