Family Zero Divide ©

The Story

The following information is copyrighted and may not be used by anyone for any purpose without the prior written consent of Customized Technology Services Corporation.

Prelude
My name is George P. Smith. I am married to Laura B. Smith. We have been married for 39 years. Laura graduated from Fayetteville State University with a degree in education and completed a career with Verizon. I graduated from Johnson C. Smith University with a degree in mathematics and completed a 31-year career with IBM. Over these years I earned two (2) sets of skills, a software engineer (a programmer), and an Information Technology Specialist. We raised three (3) boys who are living on their own, Kindal, Cory, and Shaun.

Introduction
There are two (2) problems today that are devastating families. Problem number one: "all about me - I have to lookout for myself", and problem number two: "greed" - I have to have enough for tomorrow." These problems divide families, and defeat the very purpose for which families exist. For "myself" problem, no one is an island, and for "greed", tomorrow never comes.

As a young man raising my family, I started to experience problems teaching, practicing, and promoting traditional family values. I started to spend a lot of time, screening TV programs, toys, comic books, school programs, and even some churches, and what other families were permitting their children to watch on TV and do. A vision came to me to do something about the problem. This was before my third son was born. My oldest son was 10, and my second son was 4. Before long, it was difficult to locate another family who was also practicing and promoting traditional family values. So, I decided to do something.

I spent years struggling to define a concept that could be implemented with affordability to help my family and other families. As soon as I thought I had a solution, all the things that I was screening would move further away from family values and unity, and would make my solution obsolete.

I finally decided that I cannot do anything about things that I cannot control, nor can I force anyone or any family what to practice and promote. But I can use my God given talents and create a family platform using technology. A platform free from selfishness, and greed, and obligated to no one but God. One that any family in the world can use to practice and promote family values and unity. So was born Family Zero Divide © platform.

My family pointed out that Family Zero Divide © is based on my family life, and convinced me to reveal something about my family life as I offer Family Zero Divide © to others.

My Family Life
I will only give you an insight about events and conditions concerning my family life, because there is far too much information to give details.

I am one of 22 children. My mother had 14 boys and 8 girls. I am a twin, and there was another set of twin boys. We made a living farming as a sharecropper. In its simplest term, a sharecropper is a tenant who resides on another person's land (land owner), and farms that land to earn a living. There were multiple crops to farm, for instant, cotton, tobacco, corn, wheat, beans, and oats. There were also multiple animals to raise or attend, such as hogs, cows, chickens, and mules.

As soon as a brother or sister was old enough to work within the household, and on the farm, he or she was given a task. Unity was a must within the household and on the farm. I started to work on the farm around 6 years old picking cotton.

We knew nothing about welfare or any other program to assist the family in making a living. Each family member took full advantage of the measure of talent given by God and worked as one big team to make a living.

Living Conditions
We had no refrigerator, no telephone, no television, no inside facilities, such as, a toilet, bath tube or shower. We also had no water within the house. Water had to be gotten from outside either from a pump, which could be nearby, or from a spring, which could be a half-mile away from the house. I lived in these conditions about nineteen years of my life. The conditions would vary as we moved from place to place sharecropping.

Health
My mother was about 5 feet, 4 inches, and weighed around 120 pounds. She receive no doctor or nurse care during her many pregnancies, and my twin and I were born at home without a doctor or a nurse. Yet, we were born healthy. This was the same for those who were born before me, and for most of those who were born after me.

Health was the family treasure, and we supported each other in not taking or using anything that might cause a health problem.





 Prayer
My mother prayed in a closet in silence 3 times everyday, and something rather unique would occur. Whatever we were doing in the house or outside of the house, we would stop still until she came out of the closet. Some could be working, some could be going in or out of the house, some could be playing a sports game.

We who are still living do not know when or how this practice was started. But we do know respect was a given, especially with spirituality and we never lost faith or hope. We also learned that some things could not be stopped and restarted without creating a problem, such as, a sports game.

Education
Due to sharecropping and other circumstances, I was not able to attend school until I was about 10 years old. Every year during this time, I would go off to cry when I saw the school bus go by. My mother would appear, and say, "You WILL finish school son". I would respond and say, "mommy, it does not make sense, I cannot read or write, and I have yet to start school". But that was all she would say and walk away.

One year this routine stopped when my mother came up to me and said, "not only will you finish school, you will go beyond that". IN MY MIND, I said, "my mother has had too many children, it is useless to try to explain to her I will never go to school.

Not One for Adoption
After my father passed away, land owners would visit my mother to try to adopt one of her sons. They would tell her all about a better living they could provide for her son - food, clothing, good shelter, college education. My mother response was always the same - "I do not have one to give away", God has always taken care of me, and he will continue to take care of me". She did not give up not one of her children for adoption.

This was the most vulnerable time of her life for giving up some of her children for adoption. Not only were we always lacking for food, clothing, good shelter, and education, my mother could not read or write, had no job skills. She didn't even have a social security card.

 Family Club
After my mother passed away, a family club was created to continue the tradition of helping and supporting one another even though everyone had their own family and children. The family club has one uniqueness - it has only one (1) rule, and that rule is love. This is one gathering (usually once a month) all family members can attend, including extended families, to stay connected or reconnect, no matter what is the status or condition of any member.

This club is still functioning today, and I have been one of the leaders for more than 30 years.