Personal Narrative: Growing Up In Mississippi

Growing up in Mississippi as an African American young woman has given me a different perspective of life. As I reflect on my life, my childhood came with morals and values that were instilled at an early age. My mother and father had three beautiful children, two girls and one boy. We were taught to always be respectful to our elders. We were taught to say yes or no mam and sir. Respect was to be given in order to receive it. Be kind to others because you never know when you will entertain an angel. I grew up in a Christian home with a Baptist background. My father was Lead Deacon and my mother is a Minister. Working for the Lord, has always meant more than working the job God has allowed you to work. We went to church every Sunday and Wednesday. We rarely missed a service unless we were ill. Sometimes if we had minor pains, such as a headache my dad would tell us to go to church anyway we would feel better once we got there. Several spiritual lessons were taught that we now …show more content…
On Saturdays, I would spend time playing with my siblings and cousins running in fields. We would run and play in the fields. We would open watermelons and eat in the middle of the field. In our family, hard work was instilled at an early age. Although I enjoyed life playing and having fun there were times of hard work as well. My parents believed in living off the land. They also believed that you worked hard for your food. Most Saturdays we spent early mornings in the fields picking greens or beans. We had to pick greens, clean, and cook. We would work during summers to put food up for the winter. This taught us how to work for our food, clean and cook. Shelling peas was fun until your hand would hurt. My mother would tell us about her life growing up and history of working in the fields. She always taught us that nothing in life is free and that you had to work for whatever you