Sunbonnet Soliloquy

By Jewell Ellen Smith

 

Be a Joiner -- Alabama Mothers

 

For some sixty-five years, yes, even longer, I have been what is classified as a “joiner.”  And it has paid off.

It was as a pre-schooler that I first became part of a real organization -- a sort of mid­week, church-sponsored group called “The Sunbeam Band.”

Ah, but I was proud to be a Sunbeam!  We sang a little song that started off like this:

“Jesus wants me for a sunbeam,
To shine for Him each day;

In every way try to please Him
At home, at school, at play.”

What else we did I can’t say.  I just remember the song.

The next organization I joined -- soon after I started to school -- was the 4-H Club.  To me, that was also great.  We had meetings.  We learned things.  I remember instruction in how to set a table -- where to put the knife, the fork, the spoon, the glass, the cup, the napkin, the plate.  Everything!

There were lessons in cooking.  (Mamma had already told me that I was to learn to make corn­bread -- real eggbread, not dogbread or hotwater bread -- by the time I was ten years old, biscuits before I was twelve.)

And there were 4-H lessons in sewing, especially darning socks.  Grandpa warned me that I really should learn how to darn socks, for I might marry a poor man.  I told him no, that I would marry a rich man.  Neither of us dreamed that I would wed a soldier and that I would have to darn and patch and mend far more than socks.

In High School there were numerous clubs to join.  The same thing during college days.  Being inducted into the National Honor Society was the highlight of my High School years.  It thoroughly convinced me that I must be a genius.

In college, being elected presi­dent of the International Rela­tions Club was a big thing.  (I was required to learn “Robert’s Rules of Order” and how to con­duct club meetings.  This was ex­cellent training, though I did not recognize it as such at the time.  I just thought the instructors were having us students form an international club so that we could change the world.)

Now, let’s skip many clubs and many years, also World War II, and come down to Alabama and the Fort Rucker Officers Wives Club.  This is one of the most worthwhile organizations it has ever been my privilege to belong to.

It was in the 1960’s that I became a member of Fort Rucker OWC.  Why?  I wanted to be associated with other Army wives who had interests like mine and who saw the OWC as an opportunity for service.

Long before I reached Alabama, I had observed that the way to accomplish any given thing is to work with other peo­ple.  So I became affiliated with several civilian women’s clubs, church and cultural groups, civic organizations. Somehow, I overdid it -- slightly -- for as of this summer, I had become a card-carrying, dues-paying member of nine different local, state, and national organiza­tions.

Now, guess what?

Right!  Another club!

When I was fortunate enough to be named “Alabama Mother of the Year, 1987”, I automatically received membership in the Alabama Mothers Association of American Mothers, Inc.

American Mothers, Inc. is a grand old organization, the of­ficial sponsor of the National observance of Mothers Day.  Its stated purpose is “to strengthen the moral and spiritual founda­tions of the family and the home.”

Before a person joins any group he should find out what the organization stands for, what its objectives are, and, what each member is expected to do.

In the coming weeks and months (before Mothers’ Day, 1988) I will be asked to help thousands of other mothers across America gather up hun­dreds of thousands of signatures to send to President Reagan, tell­ing him and the Nation what parents can pledge to their children, to their homes, and to America.

Key parts of this pledge to be circulated throughout the USA are as follows:

 

“AS A PARENT IN TODAY’S WORLD, I PLEDGE:

1. To encourage honesty, integrity, patriotism, and application of moral values in every area of American life beginning in my own home. ...

2. To advise my Congressman, Senator, Governor, and Mayor of my deep concerns for improving the moral and spiritual values of the American home.

3. To wage a vigorous campaign against the distribution and sale of pornographic materials.

4. To instill the work ethic in my children at home and support organizations that are creating positive programs for youth. ...

5. To set an example for my children and my community by obeying the law and seeking justice for all.

6. To educate myself and my family to the consequences of the abuse of drugs and alcohol ... and to fight the sale and distribu­tion of narcotics.

7. To strive to develop good parenting skills, keep physically fit, and nurture and educate my children. ...

8. To share my faith within my home and encourage my family to regularly attend a church or synagogue.

9. While working for these goals I will remember the power and influence of a joyful home.

10. To ask God’s help through prayer, recognizing that with God all things are possible.”

 

Why do I tell you all this?

It is to encourage you, as young Army wives, to be joiners.  Become a member of worth­while organizations.  Not nine.  But some.  This will not prove that you are a genius.  You will not change the world.  But you will learn much.

And you might just become a real Sunbeam.

 

Published October 1987.  Click your browser’s “Back” key to return.