The Raneys gathered for Christmas the weekend after the big day. The Sanders Family celebrated Christmas the first Sunday of December. There were always aunts, uncles, and cousins around and we spent lots of holidays together. You can probably tell from my photographs that family is important to me.

I followed her like a shadow and mimicked everything she was doing. Grandma Sanders loved to cook, sew, do crafts, and help out at her church. I used to take long walks with Grandpa Sanders. Granny Raney taught me how to take care of baby chicks and make a chocolate pie. Grandma and Grandpa Sanders lived nine miles down the road from Norwood in Mountain Grove, Missouri. Granny and Gramp Raney (Mom’s parents) lived on a farm in Norwood, Missouri. I also spent a lot of time with my grandparents. We planted flowers and tilled the garden in the spring, mowed the yard and played ball in the summer (my brother and sister were both much better than me), raked leaves and harvested pumpkins in the fall, and shoveled snow and made snow ice cream in the winter. We-Dad, Mom, Butch, Patti, and I-spent a lot of time at home. I loved books and often signed up for book clubs or contests where you’d get points for the number of books you read. I also spent a lot of time in libraries-public libraries, our church library, and the school library. When I was a kid I spent most of my time playing in the backyard, riding bikes, and inventing games. So compared to most cities, Springfield was a small town. My family raised chickens in our backyard, grew peach and apple trees, and had a huge garden (my dad’s hobby).

But my neighborhood on East Elm Street had no fences, and there were wide, open fields all around us. We thought we lived in the city, and compared to our grandparents, we did.

Pride by Rob Sanders