Everybody Was A Cousin Back Then

I had the amazing experience of growing up in a small community in northeast Alabama called Roy Webb.  My assistant makes fun of me today because I am always referring to Roy Webb Road.  The funny thing is that I should be making fun of her...she can't say Roy Webb Road without mixing up the letters...go ahead, say it over and over.

Back in Roy Webb in the peaceful late 1970s and early 1980s, some of my closest friends and I attended this beautiful old country school sitting on a hill overlooking...yes...Roy Webb Road.  Life long relationships were formed in this old building.  I can still smell the beautiful hardwood as the fond memories dance around in my mind.

We all rode busses to school.  There was no need for a "car riders" line.  Our parents were all friends with each other and the bus drivers, so there was plenty of trust.  For many of us, our parents had attended that very school years earlier.

There were fun filled Fall Festival's where we enjoyed the Cake Walk, the Spook House, and just about every kind of fun activity you could imagine.  It truly was a time when parents took a vested interest in the education of their children, and people became educators because they cared.

I had the fortune of being in the same classroom with FOUR of my first cousins my entire time at Roy Webb and one THIRD cousin.  Did I mention there were only 25-28 kids in each class, so being related to that many of your classmates was a big deal.  Over the course of the six years we attended this elementary school everyone became family.  To this day I love those people as much as I could love anyone.  I was having lunch with a friend, Sherry Johnson-Morgan just the other day and I realized we had been freinds for over 32 years.  She starred opposite me in the first grade play.  I was the prince and she was the princess.  There was no name calling, no fighting, no judgement between me and my classmates.  We were taught to say I'm sorry right away for any wrongdoing and to mend our fences each day before we went home.  It was a simpler time.  I wish our children today had the opportunity to experience that kind of respect for each other.

In 1998, I had an amazing opportunity to address a sub-committee of Congress regarding the prevention of youth violence in our schools.  I drew on the experiences of my youth at Roy Webb in writing that speech.  The relationships our children form will determine what kind of adults they become.  In the south it means everything to be a "cousin."  I am so grateful that as I look back and remember each of those beautiful souls I encountered, it is evident to me...everybody was a cousin....and they still are today.  Much love to all the Roy Webb Family.