Let me begin by briefly thanking John Leek and the other writers on Cotton Mouth Blog for the service you provide and for the opportunity to make a guest post on your site today. It is exciting to have a forum to speak to voters, media representatives, and political activists in a non-traditional way.
With that said, I want to share with you the fact that twenty-seven years ago today – Valentine's Day, 1981 – I married Tami Gibson, and that was one of the happiest days of my life. There are only two other days that can compete with that one – the days that our two children, Dustin and Lauren, were born. Thank you, Tami. I love you.
As I contemplated the invitation from Cotton Mouth to post an original piece on this blog, I considered several topics, but my mind kept drifting back to a day that was not nearly as happy as the Valentine's Day twenty-seven years ago. When I thought about stories that define who I am and what I stand for, my mind kept going back to what was undeniably one of the most difficult days of my life.
That day was Christmas Day, 1974.
On Christmas Day, 1974, I became a man. I was sixteen years old and naïve to the world in so many ways. Just the same, I became a man that day, not by choice but out of necessity. That was the day my father unexpectedly died, leaving my mother, my 9 year-old sister and me devastated.
At sixteen years old, I was already working a part-time job at the time of my father's death. Like most people in North Mississippi, my parents believed in a strong work ethic and instilled that ethic in me. It was just expected in my family that each of us would pitch in to help the family get by, and I was willing to do my share. But, after my father's death, my mother and I simply could not make ends meet from my mother's factory wages and my part-time work.
To help support my mother and younger sister, I went to work full-time on the night and weekend shifts at Booneville's first convenience store. I can still recall quite literally running from school in the afternoons to clock-in for my shift at work. I stayed until the store closed at night. As an adult, I sometimes half-jokingly tell people that my main extra-curricular activity in school was . . . work. In reality, though, work was my main activity. I worked forty-plus hours per week, every week, all the way through high school and college. There was nothing funny about it back then.
After knowing the joys of a wonderful family, successful businesses, and sixteen magnificent years in public service to the people of Prentiss County, it is a little bit easier to look back more than thirty years later on those early years. But, make no mistake, there is nothing nostalgic about that period for my mother and me. Those were, in fact, very tough times.
Yet, the struggles were worth it. My sister and my mother were certainly worth the struggle. The importance of that time together and the little bit of comfort that I was able to provide during my sister's formative years became ever more apparent after my sister's untimely death in her twenties.
For most of my adult life, I have been very hesitant to talk about my childhood, the deaths of my father and sister, and the struggles my mother and I faced. As I became older and watched my own children grow into two fine young adults, I came to appreciate the fact that those tough times I faced early in life played a major role in shaping my values and priorities in life.
While I am always mindful of the past, I live in the present and keep a constant eye to the future.
You see, family comes first. I knew that on those tough days in my life, and I know that today on this happy occasion of my 27th Wedding Anniversary.
But, the simple fact is that a family without jobs, without healthcare, and without educational opportunities cannot survive.
My family and I were fortunate enough to have access to much needed healthcare when I was a child. I was fortunate enough to have access to a much needed job as a teenager and young adult to support my family. I was fortunate enough to have access to public schools, a local community college, and affordable tuition and financial assistance at a state university so I was able to get an education.
I understand the importance of public investments in health, education, and economic development opportunities for our citizens, because I have lived those opportunities.
When your family has had to struggle to make ends meet, like mine did, then one of your core values becomes fiscal responsibility. That is why I am proud that I have been able to balance 16 consecutive budgets for Prentiss County as Chancery Clerk. When you have been in a situation where you had to have a job to get by, you understand that job creation and economic development are more than buzzwords. That is why I am proud that I have worked across regional, governmental and partisan lines to help bring over 1,000 jobs to North Mississippi.
America and North Mississippi have been good to me. I want to make sure future generations have the opportunities I have had.
Thank you again, Cotton Mouth Blog, for the invitation to post on your site.
Travis W. Childers
