Our family has lived in West Texas for several generations. West Texas, the area between the panhandle and the concho valley, is an area with unique attributes. We have wide open spaces, with very few trees and a very flat landscape. This causes the wind to seem fierce, especially when it kicks up dirt, but it also provides the best possible canvas for gorgeous sunrises and sunsets. There is plenty of wide open space here and it takes awhile to get from one small town to the next. This has led to a slower-paced life, and a bit slower drawl to our speech than even other Texans that surround us. This is the setting for my childhood and is a major influence on our family's culture as you will see in the following slides.

All of my extended family have lived and raised families in small towns. My parents both grew up in small west Texas towns and after they met and married they moved to and settled down in another small west Texas town. Small towns are truly a world of their own. People in small towns seem to know everyone in their town. Small towns take care of their own, but they are also in each other's business. In some ways, a small town becomes like an extended family. This gives kids many more adults to be accountable to and just as many adults to be proud of them when they accomplish anything. Culture and sophistication may be missing from small towns, but the sense of belonging and laid-back atmosphere makes up for that.

Part of my family culture included the lessons of successfully living in a small town. We were taught to keep our noses clean (stay out of trouble) and to value people for who they are. We also learned it was useless to be pretentious, since in a small town, you are always found out. Since I still live in a small town, I am still very much influenced by and living out our family teachings about living in a small town, and I am passing these lessons on to my own children as well.

My grandparents were a major part of our family. My grandfather was truly a patriarch and the extended family looked up to him in every way. He grew up on a farm in west Texas and embodied the characteristics of his hardworking parents. My grandfather expected all of his family, from the oldest to the youngest, to exhibit respect for others, especially their elders, and to use good manners in all situations. Being rude or disrespectful was a sure way to earn the ire of our grandfather. He was very involved with every generation of children as they came along and was quick to correct and redirect children when needed. He also exemplified respect and manners himself. I never saw my Pawpaw be rude to a soul, even when angry and he always treated everyone he met with respect. This expectation was clearly set out for us and was very much a part of our family culture. I truly appreciate this part of our culture. I am so glad that my family taught me to use manners and respect others. As a teacher, I strive to respect each of my students and to always use good manners in my interactions with them. I want very much for my students to feel respected and to have an example of good manners and know how it feels to be so treated by teacher at school.

My grandparents came from humble beginnings. They were both raised in small towns on homestead with crops and a few animals to feed the family. They had to work hard for all they had and they learned to appreciate it all. My grandfather worked in the oilfield and became an electrician with on the job training. He moved up the ranks, but never forgot his roots. Even though he made much more money than he ever dreamed possible, he never stopped working hard and being genuine. He valued hard work and honesty. He was also plain-spoken. He never flattered people or gave undue compliments. If he ever did pay a person a compliment, everyone took notice. He expected the same realness and genuineness amongst his family. Sweet-talking never got any family member anywhere, no matter how cute or small they were. Pawpaw instilled in us a disdain for flattery and empty speech. I still carry this with me today. My own family today lives in an atmosphere of realness and authenticity. We accept each other as we are, push one another to improve, and extend compliments that are heart felt and true. This part of our family culture is often in contrast to other cultures that tend to use flattery and empty compliments with little thought or concern of their genuineness. This has at times made it a little harder for me to make friends because not everyone appreciates a plainspoken friend, however, those friends that I have found are true and priceless because of their own genuineness.

Growing up in our family we constantly saw our grandparents, parents, and aunts and uncles helping those around, whether friend or stranger. I cannot count the number of times that we stopped on the side of some back country road or highway to help change a tire, or give a ride to someone having car trouble. We were always going to help people load or unload a trailer as they moved from one house to another. Doors were always held open for others to pass through and heavy things were carried for anyone going in our direction. These things were done without fanfare and with no real mention about what we were doing or why. Once in awhile, when a person offered profuse thanks, I would hear my grandfather or dad say they were happy to help, and "you never know when you might need help yourself." They lived by the motto of the golden rule and understood that what goes around comes around. I very much carry on in this tradition of kindness that was handed down from my family. At times it is harder than others, but I strive to do my best. My own children have taken note and even commented by saying, "Mom, you are nice to EVERYONE." While that may not be completely true, I do hope they let this part of our family culture affect them as well.

Since we have always lived in small towns, the school and the activities of the school have been central to our family culture. Even when we did not have a family member in the game, we were often at the events to cheer the home team on to victory. Our family sported the team colors and attended every parade and pep rally. We were taught to love our school and enjoyed following the teams wherever they may go. Football games were our favorite events and we had traditions that centered around them. When it got cold, we would fill thermoses with hot chocolate and bag up homemade cookies and rice krispie treats to take with us to the games. We looked forward to homecoming, when we would get to help make our own homecoming "mums" to wear to school and the game. We knew every single cheer and the moves to all of the spirit songs that the band played. By the time we got to high school we were more than prepared to participate in the activities ourselves. And once we graduated, we kept on going to the games, supporting the teams, and passing the traditions down to our children as well.

In our family, church was not considered optional. Our family was not legalistic about going, but I don't think it ever occurred to any of us to not attend for any reason. Some of us were Methodist, some Baptist, and some Church of Christ, but every Sunday it was a sure bet to find each and every one of us in a church pew. My Pawpaw led the charge in this as well. He not only attended church, he brought to the church the same level of commitment and hard work that he used in all of life. If the doors were open he was there. And if a task needed doing, he was the first to volunteer. You might find him washing dishes or up on the roof repairing a hole, but he was there and he expected his family to be present and helpful in their own churches as well. He saw this as his daily act of worship and he led our family culture and beliefs in this direction. To this day, we are all in church and I have learned to make my grandfather's faith my own. Now I serve out of gratitude to God, but I was led to that place through the culture present in my family.

My grandma was the best grandma and a wonderful example to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She was content in every circumstance and she taught us all to enjoy the little things in life. My grandma loved wildflowers, and the Texas bluebonnet was her absolute favorite. I have memories of riding with her in a car along a highway and her pulling over and having us all pile out so that we could stop and enjoy the beauty of a field of wild flowers. She also loved watching children play and seeing hummingbirds hover around flowers and feeders. She enjoyed just sitting with her family on the front porch and listening to the birds. She would take us for strolls and look for interesting rocks or animal tracks in mud puddles. Her easy-going manner and joy in life greatly influenced our family culture. We all learned to stop and smell the roses, to take in the rainbows, even to enjoy the rain. In large part, I adopted my grandma's way of being in the world. Through our interactions and our family culture I learned to truly value and look for the small joys this life brings. I live slower and more intentionally because of my grandma's example, and I am teaching my children to do the same.

In our family and in most of west Texas, there was a prevalent idea that "your word was your bond" and a handshake was a binding oath. Our family expectation was for every member to always keep their word, to be reliable, and to be trustworthy. My grandfather was a strong negotiator and was smart with money, but he was never greedy or dishonest by any means. I watched him negotiate deals on cars, trucks, trailers, and even furniture. And once the deal was struck, the handshake would seal the deal. This greatly affected me and taught me the importance of my word. In a world that often devalues integrity, my family culture of following through on your promises has kept me on course. In my job, there have been times when going along to get along and going back on my word would have been easier and encouraged by my colleagues, my family culture kept me strong. I always have and always will strive to make my family (and my grandparents) proud.

We gathered at my grandparents' house for every holiday and many birthdays and we all traveled together to my grandma's family reunion every single summer. It was not an expectation that was talked about, it just happened mainly because we enjoyed spending time with my grandparents and with each other. Never was a person made to feel guilty if life got in the way of their attendance at any family gathering, though that person or family was greatly missed. I am not sure where this tradition got started or why it continued until my grandparents' death, but our regular gatherings as a family was a natural thing that we all learned to appreciate and look forward to even as we all grew older and started families of our own. Even now, I see the culture of valuing family being repeated within my own family. Even though most of my children are still at home, they greatly enjoy and look forward to spending time with extended family anytime we can. I went through a time in my young adulthood when I didn't appreciate this part of our family culture, but as I have grown older, I am so very grateful for all the time we spend among family because I can see how these gatherings are the very things that shaped our culture and passed our values on to the next generation.

West Texas is mostly oilfield country and my grandfather and father both worked in it. It was a rugged setting, putting the workers out in all kinds of weather for long hours. Oilfield life was hard back then, but it fit in well with our family culture of independence and self-reliance. My grandfather and my father neither one had a college degree, yet they faithfully worked hard to provide for their families. Both my Pawpaw and my dad entered the oilfield straight out of high school and were married within a year or two of graduation. They learned independence and self-reliance at young ages, and they raised us to be the same way. They did not believe in giving handouts to anyone, especially their own kids. If any of their adult kids ever had a need, they would provide that need with the expectation that their kids would pay them back with interest. They taught us to stand on our own two feet and to not be a burden on anyone. This lesson served me well after my high school graduation when I went to college and payed my own way, graduating as a first-generation college student with no loan debt.

Our family was not the most demonstrative with physical affection. We would hug one another when we arrived at a gathering and when we left, but those hugs were perfunctory at best. Our love and affection for one another most often came out in the orneriness that we showed towards one another. My pawpaw loved to pick on everybody. He would sneak up behind his kids and grandkids and goose them or stick his finger in their ear or some other form of orneriness. Our family gatherings were always full of laughter and joking, with most all of us constantly picking on one another. This was how we showed our love. This was how we were taught to be together. I carry this part of our family culture with me even now. I am still not very demonstrative with physical affection, but I do certainly enjoy picking on people that I like, and do not mind to have them pick back. This can be interesting when I am interacting with someone from a different type of family culture. The physical demonstration is not usually a big issue, because I have learned to adjust as needed to that, but when someone doesn't understand my culture of orneriness, that can create some interesting interactions.