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.