Running Through The Raindrops And Flowers: A young boys journey through life

By E. D. MIX

E. D. Mix grew up in a middle-income American family. His ability to travel and try different jobs in many areas enabled him to gain valuable experience in life and deal with the things that happen along the way. It is with great pride that he wrote this book for others to enjoy the journey of a young boy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 22, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685707637

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Running Through The Raindrops And Flowers

A young boys journey through life

E. D. MIX

ISBN 978-1-68570-762-0 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-68570-763-7 (digital)

Copyright © 2022 by E.D. Mix

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Beginning

Building the Boat

The Day I Almost Drowned

The Largest Event Ever to Occur

Life Continues

My First Rocket

Trouble Starts

The Raindrops

We Hit the Bottom

Learning to Stand Up

A Strange Happening

Learning Respect

A Few Flowers Begin to Bloom

Bicycles

More Raindrops

Flowers Bloom Again

Rain Seems to Come Again

About the Author

Introduction

I am sitting at my desk, and it has suddenly occurred to me that what was told to me over the passing years is that life truly goes by quickly.

You see, I just passed a milestone in life!

For whatever the reason, I have suddenly, with no warning, realized my mortality. All those years just seem like a blur, a blur that encompasses a whole life. A life that, in many ways, mirrors that of millions of others and yet is unique only to me.

It seems a shame to me that all those years and experiences, both good and bad, should just be allowed to fade away and never be told.

So it is with much humility, I will attempt to put into words the life of a boy who had the great privilege of growing up in this wonderful country, in what myself and many others would consider the best of times in history.

The Beginning

Early one morning, in the hospital maternity ward, suddenly there was a cry—no, more like a scream. Not once, but it blossomed into a melody of cries that stirred feelings of both awe and wonder, but also it was an announcement to the ward of the hospital, and to the world, that I had arrived.

I can remember that I was looking around at all the people staring at me, and I could not imagine what all the fuss was about.

I had done what I thought was considerable research, looking through all the parent books and believed I had been very careful to choose just the right set of parents. Time will tell if I chose wisely.

I was the first of what would be a family that had four boys. Certainly, more than enough work and worry for my mom.

But wait. I am getting ahead of myself. Let's take a step further back to the real beginning.

My mother was the daughter of a sharecropper in the South. She was one of eight children who toiled every day in the hot, dry fields, trying to scratch out a living.

She was a very petite girl. She stood five feet two inches tall and weighed about one hundred pounds. I guess the correct term would be she was skinny.

Her long brown hair set off a pair of the deepest blue eyes you have ever seen. She was a very pretty girl by anyone's standard. She was bright, witty, and full of mischief, which started back even when she was a very small girl. She had the same gleam in her eye as her father. Her bright blue eyes would sparkle at just the thought of doing something fun. She loved to dance and had a soft tenor voice when she would sing.

Working in the fields was so hard. I doubt if anyone today could imagine working stooped over in the hot sun, in the dusty, dirty fields day after day. They toiled with hoes to chop down the weeds, fending off snakes, mosquitoes, and other insects day after day for months just to bring in a crop of whatever the season offered.

Everything they had or wore had the smell of dirt on it. No amount of washing or number of baths would take away that musty odor.

The crops they grew, the product of their sweat and tears then would be sold for just a few dollars to the co-op. After the rent was paid, there would be just a little cash left over that they would use to buy a few meager supplies or staples that they could not grow themselves, such as sewing thread and material for making clothes.

By contrast, even though her mother came from a well-off family with a good background and was very well educated, she met and became enamored with a tall, dark-haired, half-breed creature with a mysterious fire in his eyes.

He was tall, thin, and had the deepest blue eyes, and he had hair that was as black as the blackest piece of coal you may have ever seen. He was a flashy, daring man who drew excitement everywhere he went because of his looks and demeanor.

He was an addicted gambler, and he would bet on just about anything. But above all of that, he loved to dance, and he brightened up any place He went with his charm and good looks. Women fell for him almost instantly because of the smooth way he moved, and of course his very deep, smooth Southern drawl.

The fire in his eyes and his dashingly handsome thin frame were much more than she had ever experienced, and it was more than enough to lure her away from her structured and comfortable surroundings.

They met completely by accident one summer afternoon when she had come into town with her parents to do some shopping.

She was looking in the shop windows while slowly walking down the sidewalk when she was bumped, accidentally and hard, by this stranger who was rushing by in the same direction.

It caught her so much by surprise that she stumbled and fell right down on her backside, right in the middle of the sidewalk! And of course, it drew a lot of attention. She was blushing, angry, and completely mortified by what had just happened.

It had happened so quickly; it took her a moment or two to realize what had just happened because nothing like that had ever happened to her before.

Realizing what he had done, he stopped, turned around, and offered his hand to pick her up, apologizing all the while with that big, sexy grin on his face. He was secretly laughing to himself, thinking about what had just happened.

Suddenly, without any warning, she became completely caught up in his binding spell and smooth manner. Oddly enough, it took only a few moments. With these strange feelings she was feeling, she decided right then and there he was the man she wanted to spend her life with. That seems rather odd, but it happened!

They managed to see each other several times over the next few months. She would make up excuses to get away from home so they could meet. They would spend the entire afternoon sitting on a bench in the park, and she would just become completely drawn in by the many stories he would tell, stories she could only imagine experiencing since she had never been exposed to anything like these stories she was hearing because of her very sheltered, orderly life.

On other occasions, they would go to a dance and would spend an entire evening just dancing, laughing, and talking.

After several of these meetings, it was becoming more difficult for her to make excuses to go into town. Her parents had become more and more suspicious of these trips, and she began to worry.

It was troubling for her to think about what would happen if her parents were to find out just what she was doing—and on top of it all, spending so much time with this strange man.

Although it was all very innocent, in those days, this type of thing just did not happen.

One day, when they were sitting on a park bench on a warm summer afternoon, they were chatting, and he had been talking about a really fun trip he had completed on a river boat when, very unexpectedly, he asked her to marry him.

Well, she was completely overwhelmed, and of course, she accepted. It did not take very long for her to realize there would be serious trouble from her parents, and she was right!

It took several days of hard thinking before she finally came up with a plan she felt would help in her attempt to get her new love accepted by her parents.

*****

On the day she decided to launch her plan, she first spent a long time chatting with her mom—just typical girl-to-mom talk because she was working up to the point of